The politics of the Gang of Four was largely drawn from a libertarian Marxist group of artists, writters and filmakers called Situationist International (SI). SI was the moving force behind the revolt of 1968 in France where students in Paris paralyzed the French goverment with massive strikes. By 1972, SI was defunct but the politics of SI had a profund influence on Andy Gill, Jon King and Hugo Burnham who were students at Leeds University when they founded the Gang of Four. Bassist Dave Allen was a truck driver. Amoung the hangers-on in the Gang of Four entrourage were fellow Leedsmen from the aspiring Mekons, who have ironically outlasted their mentors as a performing band. Both the Gang of Four and Mekons became occupied with SI themes of class struggle, desire and need and commodity fetish. Both "At Home He's A Tourist" and "Damaged Goods" are excellent examples of the SI agenda. "5:45" consists of a voice-over reading the evening news while vocalist Jon King complains that he "can't eat his evening meal with all of that blood on his T.V."

The Gang of Four imploded following the departure of bassist Dave Allen in 1981 to form Shreikback. Andy Gill was one of the most interesting guitar players of the era with his trademark tense, choppy, dissonant chording which errupted into barrages of feedback. I saw them at the Metro club in Boston during their 1993 final reunion tour and they were still a magnificent performing band but the magic was gone. "Entertainment" is the Gang of Four's finest moment. Okay...got to hurry...time for Wapner.

One of the most
Gang of Four took punk and turned it onto its funky edge. This strongly political album came out in a year that also gave us "Fear of Music" (Talking Heads), "154" (Wire), "Setting Sons" (The Jam), "Armed Forces" (Elvis C.), "Unknown Pleaseures" (Joy Division) among other great works. But "Entertainment!" has a different kind of edge all its own thanks to Andy Gill's razor sharp guitar riffs and Dave Allen's awesome fluid, slithering bass, and Hugo Burnham's machine-gun assault on the drums. The lyrics are delivered unforgettably by Jon King. "I Found That Essence Rare", "Damaged Goods", "Anthrax" (with its double vocal track put much of today's music to shame. And, of course, "Not Great Men" is so funky it's indescribable. You have to move to it somehow. This album is "bloody essential" as the UK music mags like to put it. I'm just disappointed I couldn't see Gof live.
This album is freakin awsome. Its one of the the greatest punk/funk albums ever. the guitar work is so alienated.It sounds like the great guitar works of the 80s.

in your face
This is going to be a bit of a rambling review, but I promise to make it worth your while.

You see, I was in my crappy Volvo tonight, driving around town, blasting Entertainment!, and pretty much feeling as cool as Kevin Bacon in the opening scenes of Footloose. I rarely give a five star review, but any album that makes me feel like Kevin Bacon deserves either a five of a zero. Kevin Bacon in Footloose? A five for sure as long as it's not a Kenny Loggins record that puts me in the mood.

Now, there are a lot of so-called "seminal punk albums" that are either overly simplistic or purely unlistenable. Many are good time capsules, but little else. However, Entertainment! is none of these things. The crisp, clean songs sound more like the Clash than anyone else, but where the Clash was influenced by reggae and early ska, Gang of Four rode improbably on the back of disco - quite a feat for a group that was one of the pathologists dissecting the "disco is dead" movement. While the connection between Gang of Four and disco is not strong, it is fully evident in the band's bouncy bass lines which give the music more energy and immediacy than a lot of its droning contemporaries. The bass work also gave birth to a legion of disciples, ranging from Fugazi and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to dance punk outfits like The Rapture.

Some other Gang of Four albums, like the recently re-released Hard/Solid Gold compilation fit squarely into the "time capsule" category, but Entertainment! is consistently clean and engaging. In addition to the great bass and tight drums, hard, haltering, funk-infused guitar chops round out the backing music while John King's vocals are passionate without ever getting sloppy or obnoxious. Perhaps this album's greatest asset is that is continually listenable.

As I was driving around singing along with "Natural's not in it" -- this heaven gives me mee-graine - a migraine headache was the furthest thing from my otherwise tortured little mind. I parked my car in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, and went to see a mediocre show by a band who ought to be paying royalties to Gang of Four. When I came out, the window to my car was smashed, and though I had tons of stuff lying around my car, the only thing that was gone was my stereo. But on the passenger seat, placed carefully and unscratched, was Entertainment! I don't know why the thief left Entertainment! (or any of my other stuff) behind, but I'd like to think it was because he respected my choice in music. I'm a little pissed about the broken window and lost stereo, but as I sit here listening to the song "5.45," I know things could be worse.
It would be a pretty bizarre idea to say that James Brown studied with the Frankfurt School, yet that's the only way I could describe Gang Of Four to friends. Some groups have great technical ability but lack musical force, some have great anger but without lyrical insight and yet others refuse to take away from the poigiancy of their words and use an undynamic backing. Go4 were suberb players with impecable timing, lyrical broadsides that were a college education in themselves and enough power and anger to start a small guerrilla war.

On 'Entertainment' the dehumanizing effects of mass consumerism have never sounded so good! On 'Ether' Jon King deals with the then explosive situation in Northern Ireland, evoking a time when paramilitary conflict was as frequent as the football scores on British television. Although primarily identified as a punk band, 'Natural's Not In It' is an exercise in pure funk with King drawing inspiration from situationist slogans.

My favourite track on the album is 'Damaged Goods'. There are few rock tracks on which you can say the guitar plays backing rhythm and the bass plays lead, but here it is! Dave Allen's bass is sometimes so spontaneous it threatens to overwhelm the track. 'Glass' could almost be a minor Samuel Beckett play portraying as it does the mundane alienation of everyday life. The Go4 were supposed to appear on the BBC chart show 'Top Of The Pops', performing 'At Home He's A Tourist', but were denied because they wouldn't change the lyric about 'the rubbers you hide'. '5.45' was warning us about the dangers of news as entertainment a decade before it became widely appreciated.

And all the way through you just can't stop stomping!
1995 re-issue of their debut album. 15 tracks in all. EMI UK.
Remastered 1979 debut record from the Leeds, England post-punk quartet. Features two of the band's signature tracks, 'Damaged Goods' & 'At Home He's a Tourist', plus 'Anthrax' & thirteen more.