Gang of Four | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Leeds, England |
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| Past members | SeeMembers |
| Website | gangoffour |
Gang of Four were an Englishpost-punk band, formed in 1976 inLeeds.[1] The original members were singerJon King, guitaristAndy Gill, bass guitaristDave Allen and drummerHugo Burnham. There have been many different line-ups including, among other notable musicians,Sara Lee,Gail Ann Dorsey,Mark Heaney andDavid Pajo. After a brief lull in the 1980s, different constellations of the band recorded two studio albums in the 1990s. Between 2004 and 2006 the original line-up was reunited; Gill toured using the name between 2012 and his death in 2020. In 2021, the band announced that King, Burnham, and Lee would be reuniting for a US tour in 2022 with David Pajo on guitar and Sara Lee returning to the band. They continued to perform live, including at theCruel World Festival inPasadena, California; headlining Luna Fest inCoimbra, Portugal, and a UK Tour in October 2023. They announced that their "Long Goodbye" tour in 2025 would be their last. For this tour, King and Burnham were joined byTed Leo on guitar andGail Greenwood on bass.[4]
The band play a stripped-down mix ofpunk rock,funk anddub, with a lyrical emphasis on the social and political ills of society. Gang of Four are widely considered one of the leading bands of the late 1970s/early 1980s post-punk movement. Their debut album,Entertainment!, was ranked byRolling Stone as the fifth greatest punk album of all time[5] and at number 483 in their list of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2004, the album was listed byPitchfork Media as the 8th best album of the 1970s[6] and, in 2020, byPop Matters as "Best Post Punk album ever".[7]Entertainment! continues to be influential, and was voted 49th in Rolling Stones' 2023 poll of "100 Best Debut Albums of All time".[8] Their early 80s albums (Songs of the Free andHard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towardsdance-punk anddisco. David Fricke ofRolling Stone described Gang of Four as "probably the best politically motivated band in rock & roll."[9]
The band initially consisted of vocalistJon King, guitaristAndy Gill, drummerHugo Burnham and bass guitarist Dave Wolfson.[10] After two or three gigs,[10] Wolfson was replaced byDave Allen.[11]
Gang of Four's music brought together an eclectic array of influences, ranging from theFrankfurt School of social criticism to the increasingly clear trans-Atlanticpunk consensus.[citation needed] Gang of Four was named by Andy Corrigan, a member ofthe Mekons, while driving around with Gill and King when he came upon a newspaper billboard on the intra-Partycoup against China's "Gang of Four",[11] the joke being that King's name was a pun forJiang Qing.
The band's debut single, "Damaged Goods" backed with "(Love Like) Anthrax" and "Armalite Rifle", was recorded in June 1978 and released on 10 December 1978, onEdinburgh'sFast Product label. It was a Number 1indie chart hit[12] andJohn Peel radio show favourite. "Damaged Goods" was voted one of the 100 Greatest debut singles of all time in 2020's Rolling Stone Poll[13] Two Peel radio sessions followed, which, with their incendiary live performances, propelled the band to international attention and sold-out shows across Europe and North America. They were then signed byEMI Records. The group's debut single with this label, "At Home He's a Tourist", charted in 1979. Invited to appear on top ratedBBC music programTop of the Pops, the band walked off the show when the BBC told them to sing "rubbish" in the place of the original lyric "rubbers", as the original line was considered too risqué. The single was then banned by BBC Radio and TV, which lost the band some support at EMI. King's lyrics were always controversial and a later single, "I Love a Man in a Uniform", was banned by the BBC during theFalklands War in 1982.[14]
Critic Stewart Mason has called "Anthrax" not only the group's "most notorious song" but also "one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time".[15] It's also a good example of Gang of Four's social perspective: after a minute-long,droning,feedback-laced guitar intro, therhythm section sets up a funky, churning beat, and the guitar drops out entirely. In one stereo channel, King sings a "post-punk anti-love song",[15] comparing himself to a beetle trapped on its back ("and there's no way for me to get up") and equating love with "a case ofanthrax, and that's some thing I don't want to catch." Meanwhile, in the other stereo channel (and slightly less prominent in the mix), Gill reads (on the original EP version) a detailed account of the technical resources used on the song, which on the re-recorded album version is replaced by adeadpanmonologue about public perception of love and the prevalence of love songs in popular music: "Love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about 'cause most groups make most of their songs about falling in love, or how happy they are to be in love; and you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time." Although the two sets of lyrics tell independent stories they occasionally synchronise for emphasis.
According to criticPaul Morley, "The Gang spliced the ferocious precision ofDr. Feelgood's working-class blues with the testing avant-garde intrigue ofHenry Cow. Wilfully avoiding structural obviousness, melodic prettiness and harmonic corniness, the Gang's music was studded with awkward holes and sharp corners."[16] At the time, the band was recognised to be doing something very different from other white guitar acts. Ken Tucker, inRolling Stone, 1980, wrote: "...rarely have the radical edges of black and white music come closer to overlapping... the Gang of Four utilize their bass guitar every bit as prominently and starkly as the curt bass figures that prod the spoken verses in (Kurtis Blow's "culture defining" huge summer hit) "The Breaks."
In 1981 the band released their second LP,Solid Gold. LikeEntertainment!, the album was uncompromising, spare, and analytical. King's lyrics in such songs as "Cheeseburger", "He'd Send in the Army" and "In the Ditch" exposed the paradoxes of warfare, work and leisure. Van Gosse, in aVillage Voice review said: "Gang of Four embody a new category in pop, which illuminates all the others, because the motor of their aesthetic is not a 'personal creative vision.'"
Dave Allen (who later co-foundedShriekback,King Swamp,Low Pop Suicide andthe Elastic Purejoy) left in 1981, and was briefly replaced byBusta "Cherry" Jones, a sometime player withParliament,Brian Eno andTalking Heads. After working with Gang of Four to complete their North American tour obligations, Jones left and was replaced bySara Lee, who had been bassist inRobert Fripp'sthe League of Gentlemen. Lee was as good a singer as bassist, and she helped give the band's third studio album,Songs of the Free, a more commercially accessible element. Although "I Love a Man in a Uniform" from the album was arguably the band's most radio-friendly song, it was banned in the UK shortly after its release because Britain went to war in the Falkland Islands. In the spring of 1983, Burnham left the band after the release ofSongs of the Free and formedIllustrated Man. Gill, King and Lee continued Gang of Four, releasingHard in 1983.
After that, the band broke up, and Lee moved to the United States where she has worked with a number of artists, includingThe B-52's,Ryuichi Sakamoto, andAni DiFranco.
1986 saw the release ofThe Peel Sessions, a collection of rawly rendered material recorded during the period 1979 to 1981 for British radio BBC.Melody Maker dubbed the album "a perfect and classic nostalgia trip into the world of gaunt cynicism."
Gill and King reunited to recordMall in 1991, and finallyShrinkwrapped in 1995.Mall featuredGail Ann Dorsey, later famous for her longtime association withDavid Bowie, on bass.
The original lineup of Jon King, Andy Gill, Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham reformed in November 2004. A UK tour in January 2005, shows in Europe and Japan and tours of the United States in May/June and again in September cemented their fierce live reputation. In October 2005, Gang of Four released a new disc featuring new recordings of songs from the albumsEntertainment!,Solid Gold andSongs of the Free titledReturn the Gift, accompanied by an album's worth of remixes. The album featuredMark Heaney on drums.
In January 2011, the band, now featuring Mark Heaney on drums who replaced Burnham in 2006, and Thomas McNeice on bass, released a new album,Content, which was called "their best record since the Seventies".[17]Jon Pareles, in aNew York Times 4-star review, declared that [the band] "have reclaimed, with a vengeance, their old attack".[18]Following successful tours of the US, Australia and Europe in 2011, King and Gill disagreed about the band's direction and ceased working together.
Gill, against the wishes of King, continued to tour and record under the Gang of Four name. With new lead vocalist John Sterry, as well as a returning McNiece, the band releasedWhat Happens Next in 2015,Complicit in 2018, andHappy Now in 2019, which featured a range of guest artists. XSNoise said "The album [Happy Now] is as intense as any ever released on their discography."[19]
Andy Gill died on 1 February 2020, and obituaries across the world hailed his legacy and impact. He was "one of the most influential musicians of the post-punk era, leading his band Gang of Four to huge acclaim with his intense, angular, staccato guitar work that blended rock with funk," said theIndependent.[20] Gang of Four's "brusque, angular style would directly or indirectly influence post-punk and indie-rock bands likeRed Hot Chili Peppers (who chose Mr. Gill to produce their debut album),The Jesus Lizard,Nirvana,Rage Against the Machine,Franz Ferdinand andProtomartyr," said theNew York Times, adding: "Michael Hutchence ofINXS once said that Gang of Four’s music 'took no prisoners,' adding, 'It was art meets the devil viaJames Brown.'"[21] The NME wrote: "Great musicians encapsulate their age; the very best echo endlessly onwards, and Andy Gill...has been reverberating along the baseline of alternative culture for 40 years."[22]Two EPs,This Heaven Gives Me Migraine, andAnti Hero were released after his death featuring some final studio recordings.[23] A tribute album,The Problem of Leisure: A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four, was released in June 2021.[24]
In October 2021, Gang of Four's social media accounts posted a photo featuring King, Burnham, Lee, andDavid Pajo ofSlint.[25] They later announced that this line-up would be touring in 2022 in support of the77-81 box set.[26] In 2022, the box-set 77-81 earned Jon King a Grammy nomination.
In 2025, the band embarked on their "Long Goodbye" Tour of the US and Europe, claiming it was their last. The tour featuredGail Greenwood on bass andTed Leo on guitar.[27]
Gang of Four influenced a number of successful alternative acts throughout the 1980s and 1990s.R.E.M. frontmanMichael Stipe cites Gang of Four as one of his band's chief influences;[28]Flea of theRed Hot Chili Peppers has stated that Gang of Four were the single most important influence on his band's early music.Kurt Cobain, who has stated thatNirvana started as "a Gang of Four andScratch Acid ripoff", rankedEntertainment! 13th on the list of his 50 favourite albums in hisjournal.[29]Buzz Osborne ofMelvins has listedSolid Gold as one of his favorite albums, adding that "I think that was a massive influence on our band – much more so than people think actually. Certainly, on our second record,Ozma. That was one of the main records we were listening to and one that probably influenced it more than most. I’ve never not listened to that record."[30]
Andy Kellman, writing inAllMusic, argued that Gang of Four's "germs of influence" can be found in manyrap metal groups "not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it".[31]
Other bands that have cited Gang of Four as an influence includeHelmet,[32]Band of Susans,[33]Mission of Burma,[34] andSaccharine Trust.[35]
From the 2000s, the band enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, initially due to emergence of newpost-punk revival bands such asRadio 4,[36]Clinic,Liars,the Rapture,Neils Children, and then the rise ofFranz Ferdinand,We Are Scientists andBloc Party.[37] Entertainment! continues to be influential, and was voted 49th in Rolling Stones' 2023 poll of "100 Best Debut Albums of All time"[38]
When we were still active withBand Of Susans, we listened to a lot of Gang Of Four and were on tour with Wire. Also those bands had a big influence on us.
The objective was to try to experiment with a different kind of rock music, influenced by the Minutemen but trying it our way. We were also into some of the same groups they were, British groups like the Fall and Gang of Four.
In the beginning, we were pretty influenced by late-Seventiespost-punk, something rhythmic with scratchy guitars –Au Pairs,Delta 5, Gang of Four.
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