Alain Jourgensen was born on October 8th, 1958 in Cuba. Yet when he was very young the family moved to the US. First stop Denver, Colorado, but they soon headed further north to Chicago, which has sort of been the Ministry quarters ever since. There he was a local DJ.
His first musical experience came at a very early age when he recieved his first acoustic guitar (could´ve been fun to hear). Al´s love for cars has been quite well known over the years. No wonder as his father worked a lot with cars himself and took him to stock-car races frequently.
Al, who´s got a lot of odd, sometimes even quite hilarious, experiences with illegal substances didn´t take long before he was put in a Drug-clinic. But as i´ve heard, he didn´t have any problems getting hold of the stuff when asking for it anyway.
´77 It wasn´t until in 1977 when Al Jourgensen, studying at University, came in contact with Frankie Nardiello, who introduced him to his newly founded band "Special Affect". The new lineup consisted of Frankie Nardiello, more known for his later work as "Groovie Mann" with "The Thrill Kill Kult", Al on guitar and Harry Ruschicov on drums (later Concrete Blonde). Al who was more refered to at this time as the "hippie" by the others, jamming on "Led Zeppelin" songs from time to time, finally became a part of recorded music history (as far as i know).
Dressed up in vinyl suits and makeup (yeah, Al too), Special Affect played new-wave, punk rock, quite typical for the early eighties.
The band at least recorded one LP in mid 1980 by the name "Too Much Soft Living", supposedly a soundtrack for the same movie, before they, i guess, went seperate ways. But Al and Frankie still seem to keep in touch now and then somehow.
´81 1981 was the year that "Ministry" finally emerged on the music scene with the debut release of the single "Cold Life" on WAXTRAX! records. The name Ministry taken from the movie "Ministry of Fear". Only two singles had previously been released by the bands "Strike Under" and "Divine" on the label.
The two men behind WAXTRAX! were Jim Nash (who sadly died of AIDS in the autumn of ´95) and Danny Flesher. A company which came to play a very big role for the industrial music scene in US.
´82 - ´83 In 1982, Alain Jourgensen produced a single for "The Blackouts" on the same label. This is where he first came in contact with Paul Barker, who six years later would become the most important collaborator of Ministry´s success. Did he know this at the time? I hardly think so. Well known names as Roland Barker and William Rieflin were also in The Blackouts (later joined Ministry).
Cold Life is released in Europe under the UK based record company "Beggars Banquet" known for releases by bands like "The Cult" and "The Fields Of The Nephilim".
But the same year Ministry signed contracts with the major label "Arista" and were "shipped" to London. A big mistake you might say as the band, consisting mainly of Al and Stephen George (drums), were more or less controlled by the executives of the company, hardly beeing able to decide their own music. That´s how Al puts it anyway. Still, they toured in ´83 with "Culture Club"(Boy George) among others,and three singles were released followed by the pop album "With Sympathy".
Today it´s a well known fact that Al sees the debut album as an abortion. You can understand that.
Al spent a very short time on Arista and and already in ´84 he was back on good ol´ WaxTrax! records again (not for long though).
´84 First launch was the single "All Day", in which Alains now former wife Patty Jourgensen made her first appearence, background singing on the title track. On the other side is a nowadays classic called "Everyday(Is Hallowen)".
At the same time the legendary belgian EBM band Front 242´s single "Endless Riddance" was released in the US by WaxTrax! and they ended up supporting Ministry on an american tour.
It was during this time that Al and Richard 23 of 242 started stiring together their ideas that soon were to result in Al´s first major side project,"The Revolting Cocks".
´85 A re-release of Cold Life appeared in the stores in ´85 along with the single "The Nature Of Love" featuring both Patty J (on the cover?) and Richard 23 on additional vocals, before Al moved over to the next major label "Sire/Warner Bros".
But there were no arguments or any evil word exchange whatsoever between him and the WaxTrax! people. Alain remained very good friends with Jim Nash and has kept releasing side projects over the years on the label.
´86 Then in 1986 came the release of the second full length bearing the name "Twitch".
Ministry, newly signed to Sire finally started to move in the right, more harsher direction that they´re most known for. It was produced by Adrian Sherwood and engineered by Gareth Jones. Both known for their work with such 80´s bands as "Depeche Mode", "The Fall" and "Nena".
But Al (now a solo artist) also played the production part in some places, as well as performing all the music. A few guests appeared and Stephen George still played percussion on "All Day Remix", a bit heavier than the single version. The cheezy disco sound from "With Sympathy" had been completely dropped and much more darker and politically oriented.
A tour followed shortly after as well as the release of the single "Over The Shoulder". A promo video for the song was also shot.
In January 1986 Al once again met Paul Barker (remember The Blackouts?) which became the line up of the following breakthrough album in 1988. But that´s later...
´87 In 1987 Al Jourgensen met up with Nivek Ogre (Kevin Graham Ogilvie), lead singer of the infamous industrial pioneers "Skinny Puppy". No one really knew much about the others´ band. It happened when Al was putting together a song for the Robocop soundtrack calle "Show Me Your Spine" under the name "PTP" (Programming The Psychodrill), when Ogre entered the studio and a few minutes later he´d already found his place behind the mike.
Show Me Your Spine´s played during the disco scene when Robocop walks across the dancefloor and grabs one of the dudes who killed him in the past by the hair and beats the shit out of him (that´s what i remember).
Al and Ogre became very good friends after that experience and worked together years to come. Al producing the SP album, "Rabies" in ´89, which didn´t bring all happy faces among the SP fans (some thought it was a bit too Al-influenced),and Ogre touring a lot with Ministry between 87-90.
The same year WaxTrax! put out a collection of the old Ministry singles released on the label.
´88 1988. A dramatic change in the sound. Al picked up his dusty guitar he hadn´t used since Special Affect except a few shy riffs back in 1983 maybe. Partner in crime Paul Barker entered the studio and the band started showing it´s ugly side.The result, "The Land Of Rape And Honey" is released on Sire along with the single "Stigmata" which is one of the most popular tracks ever. Exploring new territories with one of the coolest most agressive albums on the industrial scene, the band got their breakthrough with a much more fierce metallic sound than ever combined with lyrics stone cold, provocative and painfull as hell. This album just couldn´t go wrong.
Great to put on when you´re really pissed, in both ways maybe. Sick and tired of society, sad after a break-up or just test driving your new stainless chainsaw, the choice is yours. That´s what made this album so popular i suppose.
Additional musicians on the album were "William Rieflin" and "Chris Connelly" who soon became full time members. The Land Of Rape And Honey was with no doubt a mile stone in the history of guitar based industrial.
Stigmata (lite intressant info): The track "Stigmata" appears in Sci-fi movie "Hardware" from ´91. But for you who´ve seen it it´s "Gwar" who perform on the TV screen (in the movie).
Other cool artists who appear in the film are: Lemmy of "Motorhead" (boat cabbie), Carl McCoy of "Fields of the Nephilim" (zone wanderer) and Iggy Pop (radio host).
"Tonight We Murder" also appears on the soundtrack to the movie "Demon Night".
Writen By: Oliver Vowden
