Karma (UK): Neo Prog?

Karma was active from 1982 to 1986 and played live around Hertfordshire, recording two cassette albums, 'The Joke's On You' (1983) and 'The Last Man To Laugh' (1985). The vocalist is Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, who was only 16 years old when the first of these cassettes was recorded. These tapes contained early versions of "Small Fish", "Nine Cats" and "The Joke's On You", which were subsequently resurrected as Porcupine Tree songs.

Karma - The Joke’s On You (October 1983)

Cassette:
UK Private Cassette – no catalogue number (Hunchback cover) [deleted]
UK Private Cassette – KM01 (Map cover) [deleted]

Players:
- Steven Wilson / guitars, vocals
- Tom Dussek / piano, keyboards
- Pete Rowe / bass
- Mark Gordon / percussion

Tracks:
SIDE A
1. Intruder D'Or (3:57)
2. Tigers In The Rain (7:48)
3. Small Fish (4:51)

SIDE B
1. Nine Cats (14.33)

Credits:
All titles written by Karma, lyrics by Alan Duffy
Production by Karma
Engineered by Steven Wilson and Marc Gordon
Recorded October 1983 at The Close.

There seems to be confusion regarding the spelling of Mark (Marc?) Gordon's name. Here's a plain TDK C60 demo cassette of the album, with "KARMA - THE JOKES ON YOU" written in pencil on both sides, housed in photocopied b&w sleeve which has been hand numbered 135 on the inside. The "Thanks" credits go to Solstice, Gothique, R.J. and Wheatsheaf, and it looks to me as though the correct spelling of the drummer's Christian name is 'Marc'.

Note:
The tracks "Nine Cats" and "Small Fish" were later re-recorded and included on the Porcupine Tree albums "On The Sunday Of Life" and "Up The Downstair".
There are two different covers for this release, the one with the hunchback seems to be the first one.
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Karma - The Last Man To Laugh (1985)

Cassette:
UK Private Cassette - no catalogue number [deleted]

Players:
- Steven Wilson / guitars, bass, vocals
- Tom Dussek / piano, keyboards
- Si Vockings / keyboards
- Mark Gordon / percussion

Tracks:
SIDE A
1. Where Is The End If There Is No Beginning? (9:25 )
2. A Peace Of Earth And Good Swill To All Pigs (Part 1 and 2) (20:59)

SIDE B
1. Counterparts (30:00)

Credits:
All titles by Karma, lyrics by Steven Wilson
Production by Karma with engineering by Steven Wilson and Mark Gordon at The Close.
 
Note by SW:
"Counterparts" was 30 minutes of remixes and alternate takes of material from Side A all under the one title. There may also have been an edition of the tape that did not include the "Counterparts" material, I don't recall.

Edit: I think Apostolis is already familiar with this band, since he reviewed 'The Joke's On You' on RYM: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/karma/the_jokes_on_you/.
 

Edited by yam yam - September 12 2014 at 15:56

But how can we allow a lesser rival site to have them, when we don't: http://www.proggnosis.com/ARTIST_DETAIL.aspx?AID=10352. It's Steven Wilson for goodness sake!!  - The undisputed King of prog! This band is a major part of prog history!     Edit: I didn't find them on progfreak...but they're there now! http://progfreak.com/Karma-159701.html.

Edited by yam yam - September 12 2014 at 13:04

Then how can we call ourselves 'Your Ultimate Prog Rock Resource' when something like this isn't allowed?

Yeah, I guess so...  One (or more) of them will probably see all this, rap me on the knuckles, and explain it to me right here.

So, I was just listening to this (I found the tracks on youtube), and it's so interesting how Steven Wilson sounded when he was starting out at 16 years old.  The sound quality is not so great, but the songs are decent enough especially considering all of the members were 16, and the keyboards are somewhat dated, but they are the real focal point of the music.  Steven's singing is somewhat shaky, but you can tell it's him, but his guitar work is surprisingly good.  With the right production and management, these guys would have been awesome.  There are some really excellent prog moments here too.  I can see why Steven Wilson is the prog god that he is, because he grew up with these experiences with his early bands.  This is a little cheezier (mostly because of the outdated keyboards) than his other early attempt under the name "Altamont", but the music is more listenable for sure.