Gang of Four
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Leeds, England (1977 – 1984, 2005 – present)
Gang of Four are a British post-punk group from Leeds, England. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill. In 2005, the original lineup reunited.
The group had a single in the British Top 60 with “At Home He’s A Tourist” in 1979, which was blacklisted by Top Of The Pops for its use of the relatively innocuous term “rubbers”. Storming, Doc Marten-booted and fueled by a heady cocktail of Gramsci, Marx and lager, out of the Leeds art-school scene that produced The Mekons and Delta 5, they played a stripped-to-the-wire, funk-fueled permutation of punk rock. This is best exemplified by the dry production and forceful polemic of debut effort Entertainment! - Gang of Four’s later albums (Songs Of The Free and Hard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towards disco.
Critic Stewart Mason has called “Love Like Anthrax” (their first single, later re-recorded as “Anthrax”) not only the group’s “most notorious song” but also “one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time”; it’s also a good example of Gang of Four’s social perspective. After a minute-long, droning, feedback-laced guitar intro, the rhythm 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”, 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 of anthrax, and that’s some thing I don’t want to catch.
The group had a single in the British Top 60 with “At Home He’s A Tourist” in 1979, which was blacklisted by Top Of The Pops for its use of the relatively innocuous term “rubbers”. Storming, Doc Marten-booted and fueled by a heady cocktail of Gramsci, Marx and lager, out of the Leeds art-school scene that produced The Mekons and Delta 5, they played a stripped-to-the-wire, funk-fueled permutation of punk rock. This is best exemplified by the dry production and forceful polemic of debut effort Entertainment! - Gang of Four’s later albums (Songs Of The Free and Hard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towards disco.
Critic Stewart Mason has called “Love Like Anthrax” (their first single, later re-recorded as “Anthrax”) not only the group’s “most notorious song” but also “one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time”; it’s also a good example of Gang of Four’s social perspective. After a minute-long, droning, feedback-laced guitar intro, the rhythm 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”, 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 of anthrax, and that’s some thing I don’t want to catch.
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Top Albums
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Gang of Four Hit Pac - 5 Series
Gang of Four
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Entertainment!
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Entertainment
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Solid Gold
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Shoutbox
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huelsi2 wrote:
entertainment!
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radiogra7 wrote:
It's been over a year since I got it and I still play Entertainment! every day, generally all of the way through.
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captainpopovich wrote:
if yall like this, check out http://hauntedhorses.bandcamp.com/
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AlCapwnUK wrote:
Gang of Four, Wire and The Fall.
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cdax2307 wrote:
i'm shout 600
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northernbeach wrote:
What do you think about my band? You'll find us here: http://www.facebook.com/northernbeach
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morris21 wrote:
Pure class
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thaynalmeida wrote:
Cadillac
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more-post-punk wrote:
Hello, in this week's post-punk update: 2 new bands entered the top10, and 4 had to step down, is in the top5 list. The analysis includes >270 bands from "post-punk" last.fm groups, Gang Of Four http://www.last.fm/user/more-post-punk/journal
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megsins wrote:
Another Day/Another Hour 12" is definitely some of the best music ever made
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madameobscure wrote:
<3
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Anira_Sugar wrote:
Entertainment! one of my tops fav albums ever
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chimbonda wrote:
The corpse is a new personality.
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Salvatore_Smith wrote:
@prominence_la: I do like Solid Gold
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prominence_la wrote:
Are any of their other albums worth listening to? Surely Entertainment! can't be their only masterpiece (although it's clearly the greatest).
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LifeHatesMe wrote:
Holy shit, I've just realized this band is the main Fugazi influence :O
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hamisugar wrote:
classic guitar !!!
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MarioYoho wrote:
http://www.last.fm/music/Gang+Of+Four/+images/67686864 OFF Festival
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diss_everything wrote:
they definitely should... seeing them live brings only pain to one's heart
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twistedlane wrote:
they should just stop playing live.
Videos
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Who Am I?
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You'll Never Pay For The Farm
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You'll Never Pay For The Farm…
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i love a man in uniform(yeah…
1 shout
News
Berlusconi – Image from ‘Content’
14 Nov 2011 | from www.gangoffour.co.uk
The special edition of ‘Content’ has several
books in it. Each book has a word embossed on the cover:
music, words, smells, emotions, blood and history. ‘Music’
…
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New York Times article on Thatcher and GO4
3 Oct 2011 | from www.gangoffour.co.uk -
‘Not Great Men’ performed by a Gamelan Orchestra
12 Sep 2011 | from www.gangoffour.co.uk -
Andy in the studio with The Kills & Cage The Elephant
12 Sep 2011 | from www.gangoffour.co.uk
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Recent Activity
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ali_millar, herpesschmerpes, danoniss and 8 other people added Gang of Four to their libraries. 2 hours ago
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MarieAnabel tagged Gang of Four with indie, british and post-punk. yesterday afternoon
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