Formed in 1977 by Leeds University students Jon King (vocals), Andy Gill (guitar), Dave Allen (bass), and Hugo Burnham (drums), Gang of Four produced some of the most exhilarating and lasting music of the early English post-punk era of 1978-1983. Gill and King, the creative forces in the band, brought together an eclectic array of influences, ranging from the neo-Marxist Frankfurt School of social criticism to the increasingly clear trans-Atlantic punk consensus. In fact the term "Gang of Four" refers to the "big four" Structuralist theorists: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, and Jacques Lacan, not to be confused with the Maoist Gang of Four in China. Despite the fact that this sounds rife with the potential for being long on rhetoric and short on groove, such was not the case. What made Gang of Four's polemical clang'n'roll so compelling was that it worked as harsh, bracing, and ultimately liberating rock & roll.
The Gang's debut single, Damaged Goods b/w Love Like Anthrax & Armalite Rifle became a No.1 indie chart hit
This led to two outstanding Peel radio sessions, 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 by EMI records. The group's début single with this label, "At Home He's a Tourist", charted in the British Top 40 in 1979. Invited to appear on top rated BBC music program Top of the Pops, the band walked off the show when the BBC told them that they must sing "packets" instead of "rubbers" as per the lyrics of the song, as the original was too subversive for this TV slot. The single was then banned by BBC Radio & TV, which lost the band support at record label EMI, who began to push another band instead - Duran Duran. A later single, "I Love a Man in a Uniform", was banned by the BBC during the Falklands war in 1982..
The music on their debut album "Entertainment 1 ' shows clearly the influence of punk, yet also incorporates funk and less-obvious influences of reggae and dub, similar to other bands at the time such as Public Image Ltd., Pere Ubu, and Au Pairs. As with these other influential post-punk bands, the bass is mixed much more prominently than it typically is in rock or punk.
The second album Solid Gold was released in 1981, a troubled American tour saw the departure of Allen (who later co-founded Shriekback) , he was replaced on bass by Sara Lee. Songs Of The Free followed in 1982, Hugo Burnham left (got sacked ?) after this album, while Gill, King and Sara Lee recorded the misguided "radical soul/R&B" album " Hard", it signalled that the end was nigh, the now "Gang of Two" released a so-so live album (At the Palace) and called it quits in 1984. But legends die hard, and Gang of Four experienced a mini-renaissance in the early '90s with the release of two excellent collections (A Brief History of the Twentieth Century and The Peel Sessions Album). King and Gill put together a new Gang of Four and released the tepid but not disgraceful Mall in 1991. Another reunion, from 1995, yielded Shrinkwrapped. Three years later, a double-disc compilation -- 100 Flowers Bloom -- surfaced on Rhino, and the original lineup reconvened in 2004 to tour extensively and release 2005's Return the Gift, featuring re-recordings of their early material.
01 - At Home He's A Tourist (3:32)
02 - Damaged Goods (3:29)
03 - Naturals Not In It (3:07)
04 - Not Great Men (3:07)
05 - Anthrax (4:23)
06 - Return The Gift (3:07)
07 - It's Her Factory (3:10)
08 - What We All Want (Live) (5:12)
09 - Paralysed (3:23)
10 - A Hole In The Wallet (3:24)
11 - Cheeseburger (4:07)
12 - To Hell With Poverty (4:37)
13 - Capital (It Fails Us Now) (4:04)
14 - Call Me Up (3:36)
15 - I Will Be A Good Boy (3:11)
16 - The History Of The World (4:40)
17 - I Love A Man In A Uniform (4:08)
18 - Is It Love (4:34)
19 - Womantown (4:31)
20 - We Live As We Dream, Alone (3:38)
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