> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Throbbing Gristle 20 Jazz Funk Greats Vinyl: The Industrial Album With a Joke for a Title - URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/throbbing-gristle-20-jazz-funk-greats-vinyl/ - Published: 2023-06-20T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T12:19:38.000Z - Description: 20 Jazz Funk Greats is the 1979 album where Throbbing Gristle, the band that invented industrial music, made their most melodic and mischievous record. Here is the story and where to start. - Author: unknowndivide staff - Tags: Music *Unknowndivide may earn a commission from purchases made through links in this post.* The title is a joke, and so is the cover. Four smiling people stand on a sunny clifftop like a middle of the road pop group. The music inside is something else entirely. Released in 1979, 20 Jazz Funk Greats is the third studio album by Throbbing Gristle, the band that coined the term industrial music, and it remains the friendliest way into one of the most confrontational catalogs ever made. ## Who Throbbing Gristle were According to their [official Mute artist page](https://mute.com/artists/throbbing-gristle?ref=unknowndivide.com), Throbbing Gristle were Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Sleazy Christopherson and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. They formed in 1975, and over the next six years, in Mute's words, they fully delivered on punk's failed promise to explore extreme culture as a way of sabotaging systems of control. A Conservative MP famously called them wreckers of civilisation in 1976. Before this album they released The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle in 1977 and D.O.A. The Third and Final Report in 1978\. They split in 1981, regrouped in 2004 for live shows and new records including TG Now and Part Two: The Endless Not, and disbanded in 2010. ## What the album sounds like Earlier Throbbing Gristle records are harsh, noisy and often deliberately difficult. 20 Jazz Funk Greats keeps the unease but adds rhythm and melody. Chris Carter's electronics drive many of the tracks with sequenced pulses and drum machine patterns that sound decades ahead of their time, and the band play with lounge music, disco and exotica the way a cat plays with a mouse. It is not a jazz record or a funk record. It is an industrial record wearing their clothes, which is exactly why it has influenced so many electronic artists who came later. ## Songs to start with - **Hot on the Heels of Love.** Cosey Fanni Tutti's breathy vocal over a cool, pulsing sequence. It is the closest the band came to a dance track, and it sounds like a blueprint for a whole strand of electronic pop. - **Persuasion.** Slow, menacing and spoken rather than sung. This is the darker side of the band in a nutshell, and Mute features a live version in its video archive. - **The title track.** A brief, deceptively light opener that sets the tone of playful misdirection. - **Beachy Head.** Named for the chalk headland on the south coast of England where the cover was shot, it is eerie and atmospheric rather than violent. ## Why own it on vinyl This is an album where the artwork is part of the art. The contrast between the cheerful cover photograph and the music inside only works when you hold the sleeve, and twelve inches gives it the full effect. Mute keeps the album in print as part of a catalog that also includes Greatest Hits, D.O.A. and the TG Berlin box set, so there is a clear path to follow once this record clicks. If you are new to the genre, read our [industrial music starter guide](https://www.unknowndivide.com/industrial-music-starter-guide/) first, and for the label's wider history, our [Mute Records starter guide](https://www.unknowndivide.com/mute-records-starter-guide-essential-albums/) places Throbbing Gristle next to the artists they influenced. Fans who want a louder, heavier descendant should try our ranking of [every Ministry album](https://www.unknowndivide.com/every-ministry-album-ranked-hate-to-go/). ## How to listen Play the album from start to finish the first time. The sequencing moves between sweet and sour, and the jokes land better in context. Then go back to the tracks that stuck. Many listeners find that Hot on the Heels of Love opens the door and the stranger pieces reveal themselves later. The [Mute Records site](https://mute.com/?ref=unknowndivide.com) lists the band's reissues, so you can follow the catalog once you are hooked. ## Who it suits 20 Jazz Funk Greats suits curious listeners who want to hear where industrial and a lot of modern electronic music began, collectors who love records with a strong visual identity and anyone with a dark sense of humor. It is a fine gift too, and our list of [gifts for vinyl collectors](https://www.unknowndivide.com/gifts-for-vinyl-collectors/) has more ideas. ## Where to buy **Shop 20 Jazz Funk Greats** [Throbbing Gristle at Mute](https://mute.com/artists/throbbing-gristle?ref=unknowndivide.com) [20 Jazz Funk Greats on vinyl](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BWAZHX2?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) [20 Jazz Funk Greats, standard edition](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005UPOB0A?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) For more records from the edges of electronic music, explore our [industrial hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/industrial/).