Entertainment!

Gang of Four

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Highly Concentrated Punk Polemic

Scores of bands followed the Sex Pistols–led punk revolution. Very few of them ever made a record that's simultaneously as informed and enraged as Gang of Four's debut Entertainment! Here are essays on post-Marxism and materialism ("Damaged Goods" makes the case that accumulating stuff ends up killing the soul), as well as angry tirades against ruling-class society and withering critiques of nationalism ("Not Great Men"). Heard from the cushy confines of consumer culture thirty years on, some of the songs are downright prescient: "Natural's Not in It" begins with "The problem of leisure, what to do for pleasure."

"There has always been a misconception that we were just a bloody-minded bunch of miserable socialists intent on overturning society," bassist Dave Allen says in the liner notes of an anniversary edition. Instead, he argues, Gang of Four was really looking for alternatives. "We were questioning the herd mentality."

That questioning can be overt, but it often functions like a stealth bomb within the songs of Entertainment!—it's possible to enjoy the ragged forward thrust of the music without getting hung up on its rhetoric. That's because the four former Leeds University students embrace more musical diversity than many of their anarchy-minded peers. The rhythm section pumps out proud, unironic snatches of disco, dub reggae, and deep funk. They're hardly genius musicians, but as a group use worldly, slightly off-kilter rhythms to propel the commentary along. You might find yourself disagreeing with the Gang's polemics, but it's hard to argue with them when you're dancing.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1979, EMI
Key Tracks: "Natural's Not in It," "Damaged Goods," "I Found That Essence Rare," "At Home, He's a Tourist."
Catalog Choice: Solid Gold
Next Stop: The Clash: London Calling
After That: Wire: Pink Flag
Book Page: 298

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Comments:

#1 from Gavo, UK - 02/02/2011 6:42

Tom, what’s your verdict on the new Gang of Four album, ‘Content’?

#2 from Tom Moon - 02/14/2011 11:06

Hi Gavo…

When I first listened I was somewhat dismayed that after all this time, it sounded like the band was trying to make an INXS album. Which, it should be said, isn’t inherently a negative thing—there’s a nice “lock” going on in the rhythm arrangements of Content. I’ve warmed to it since then, as lines from the sharp, wry lyrics have lodged in my brain. It’s a grower—I’m still checking it out, which is more than can be said for many recent records.

Happy exploring!
TM

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About 1,000 Recordings

Celebrate the joy, the revelation, the mystery, the fun, the sheer shivers-up-the-spine pleasure of great music.

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