“Change” by Killing Joke

"Change" is Killing Joke at their most sinister-funky, and it reached the world in a roundabout way. The English post-punk band recorded it for John Peel on 5 March 1980 and pressed that version up the same month as a limited-edition promo single on their own Malicious Damage label, offered at gigs with no advertising at all, backed with a Peel take of "Tomorrow's World". The song then turned up on the American edition of their self-titled debut that October, and that version also served as the B-side of "Requiem".

Jaz Coleman wrote the words, and the music is credited to Coleman, Paul Ferguson, Martin Glover and Geordie Walker. The band have owned up to its likeness to War's "Me and Baby Brother". Its shadow runs long: DFA's Tim Goldsworthy named it the key inspiration for LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.