Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. 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 2004, the original line-up reunited and stayed together until 2008.
They play a stripped-down mix of punk rock, with strong elements of funk music, minimalism and dub reggae and an emphasis on the social and political ills in society. Gang of Four's later albums (Songs of the Free and Hard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towards dance-funk and disco. Their debut album, Entertainment!, ranked at #490 in Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. David Fricke in Rolling Stone 1980 said "Gang of Four are probably the best politically motivated dance band in rock & roll."
Studio Albums
* Entertainment! (EMI, 1979) - UK #45
* Solid Gold (Warner Bros., 1981) – POP #190, UK #52
* Songs of the Free (Warner Bros., 1982) – POP #175, UK #61
* Hard (Warner Bros., 1983) – POP #168
* Mall (Polydor, 1991)
* Shrinkwrapped (Castle, 1995)
Live albums
* At the Palace (Mercury, 1984)
* Solid Gold (Warner Bros., 1995)
Compilation albums
* A Brief History of the Twentieth Century (Warner Bros., 1990)
* The Peel Sessions (Dutch East India, 1990)
* 100 Flowers Bloom (Rhino, 1998)
* Return the Gift (V2, 2005)
Posts
0 comments