“Follow the Leaders” by Killing Joke

"Follow the Leaders" was the only single Killing Joke took from their second album, What's THIS For...!, and E.G. Records put it out in May 1981. The writing credit is split four ways, between Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker, Paul Ferguson and Martin Glover, and Nick Launay produced.

It's post-punk with a grim, hypnotic pull, and it found its audience in an unlikely place. At home it crawled to 55 on the UK Singles Chart, but in America the dance clubs carried it to 25 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The single came backed with a dub version of the song and "Tension", and the 7-inch pressings in Italy (on Polydor) and Spain (on E.G.) each carried a different take on the A-side from the one on the 10-inch.

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