Gang Of Four Reissue

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 11:09 am

I'm ashamed to say

that I only know a couple of their songs, but I've just come across something that some of you might find exciting:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-04/01.shtml

Gang of Four to Reissue Entertainment!

Aaron Mandel reports:
Some people relish the idea of unflattering comparisons to their younger selves. When we find ourselves pushing 50, for example, we plan to tell anyone who'll listen that we used to be smarter and wittier in our salad days, not to mention more attractive. But Gang of Four seem particularly hellbent on reviving their younger selves, first with a reunion album that, they've announced, will actually be split between re-recordings of their old songs and reworkings of songs by the bands they've influenced... and now with a reissue of their classic Entertainment!, an album that, with all due respect, they've already failed to outdo five times and counting.
Rhino Records has announced a May 17 arrival date for the reissue, which supplements the original 12-track record with the four-song Yellow EP and four further bonus tracks that, as far as we can tell, are previously unreleased. The songs from Yellow have already been used as bonuses for earlier editions of Entertainment!, though one of them, "Armalite Rifle", was left off of the most recent pressing in England. (The U.S. reissue on Henry Rollins' Infinite Zero Records had it, but the British version has had the distinct advantage of actually, you know, being in print.) Tracklist:

01 Ether
02 Natural's Not In It
03 Not Great Men
04 Damaged Goods
05 Return the Gift
06 Guns Before Butter
07 I Found That Essence Rare
08 Glass
09 Contract
10 At Home He's a Tourist
11 5.45
12 Anthrax
13 Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time (Yellow EP)
14 He'd Send in the Army (Yellow EP)
15 It's Her Factory (Yellow EP)
16 Armalite Rifle (Yellow EP)
17 Contract (alternate recording)
18 Guns Before Butter (alternate recording)
19 Blood Free (live song, unreleased)
20 Sweet Jane (live) [Velvet Underground]

To catch the reunited Gang of Four live for a night of what bassist Dave Allen recently called "white sexless funk," you can go to one of the shows listed here:

05-01 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
05-02 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
05-03 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
05-05 Portland, OR - Roseland
05-06 Seattle, WA - Showbox
05-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore
05-10 Minneapolis, MN - Quest
05-11 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-12 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-14 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix
05-16 Boston, MA - Avalon
05-17 New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
05-18 New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
05-20 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-21 Philadelphia, PA - TBA

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 11:25 am

I can't think of another band that ever disappointed me more than the Gang of 4. Their first two records (Entertainment and Solid Gold) were nearly flawless and completely different than everything else at the time - they were great live - I saw them in support of both of those records and was blown away both times. After Solid Gold they came out with a pretty good ep (Capital It Fails Us Now/To Hell With Poverty) and then I think they sacked their bass player and drummer and turned to complete and utter shit - fancied themselves some sort of funk for the future band and could in no way pull it off. I had a chance to see them on their on their reunion tour in London a couple of months ago and ultimately decided to pass on it - it looked like a good show from the review in Uncut, I kind of wished I gone - but they were such a political band (or seemed to be at the time) that the nostalgia in this case somehow rings false. I do have the two Infinite Zero reissues and they still hold up well.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 2:24 pm

Boy With A Problem wrote:I can't think of another band that ever disappointed me more than the Gang of 4. Their first two records (Entertainment and Solid Gold) were nearly flawless and completely different than everything else at the time - they were great live - I saw them in support of both of those records and was blown away both times. After Solid Gold they came out with a pretty good ep (Capital It Fails Us Now/To Hell With Poverty) and then I think they sacked their bass player and drummer and turned to complete and utter shit - fancied themselves some sort of funk for the future band and could in no way pull it off. I had a chance to see them on their on their reunion tour in London a couple of months ago and ultimately decided to pass on it - it looked like a good show from the review in Uncut, I kind of wished I gone - but they were such a political band (or seemed to be at the time) that the nostalgia in this case somehow rings false. I do have the two Infinite Zero reissues and they still hold up well.

Interesting....that's the only GO4 stuff I own/even know of (entertainment, solid Gold, and the EP)....Might have to get the re-issue - my vinyl's only collecting dust, these days, and Entertainment's a definite aural way to tick of my mrs.....hehheh....EC used to have that power, but she's come around this last year or so......there's always hope, eh ??? Still can't get her to listen to the Fall, though...she leaves the room, or house, even...LOL

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:16 pm

I have been listening continuously to "Entertainment" since I picked it up on CD. I purchased it on vinyl when it was first released more than 2 decades ago. What a great, great record. This is what "guitar" rock should have evolved to...not what was left behind. To me, this record is as fresh and different today as it was then.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:01 pm

Entertainment! should be required listening for anyone interested in popular music. The Gang Of Four may have inspired many bands, but no-one has come close to matching the greatness of this debut.

The copy I have on CD includes Outside The Trains Don't Run On Time, He'd Send In The Army & It's Her Factory. The new reissue sounds more tempting. I also have the compilation A Brief History Of The Twentieth Century.

The complilation is a great way to get hold of the best of a chunk of the Solid Gold lp & To Hell With Poverty. BWAP is extremely accurate. There is a sharp decline in quality after that. It is almost remarkable how poor the rest of their career has been.

For a band that were so political it is surprising how well their lyrics still sound relevant. Even if their ideas don't make you want to man the barricades the music will challenge your perception of what a four piece guitar band can achieve.

Way back in the 80s Dave Allen the original bass-player toured with his group Shriekback (they had a couple of good singles if memory serves me well) but I never made the effort to see them. In London in the early 90s Andy Gill & Jon King played as Gang Of Four but never went to see them.

So now the original line-up is back & going by the setlist Uncut reviewed it is largely the great early material being played. So although I am willing to admit nostalgia is the motivator, I am going to see them in May in Minneapolis.

Surely they can't be as disappointing an experience as the Velvet Underground reunion was for me. (I actually went to be disappointed twice I was such a sucker!)

If anyone has seen the Gang Of Four tour please post. I would love to hear what you think.

guidedbyvoices · Post by **guidedbyvoices** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:33 pm

All I know of Go4 is Love Like Anthrax, and it's intersting and OK, but does it get better? I feel like if I buy it, it'll be like those first 3 Wire albums (not musically, but in my music discovery experience). A few good songs, but a you-had-to-be-there for it to matter.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 7:32 pm

Was playing Entertainment on vinyl today, funnily enough. Was telling my incrasingly music-obsessed 12 year old soon what a great band they were and how much influence they've had, and it was amazing to put it on and hear a lot of echoes in many current bands. Still sounds great.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 7:37 pm

I'm so buying that. An ex of mine used to play it, so I'm familiar but haven't heard more than a few tracks in years.

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 9:35 pm

My daughter, currently in Italy, required her Dad to put "Entertainment" in its entirety on her new Ipod. She has a group of 7th and 8th graders at the International School of Milan all fired up about it. I received one email from her host family questioning the lyrics, so I had to settle her down and have her play more Miles and Kill Bill soundtrack selections. Here it is , 2005, and the band is gaining a new audience around the world. I wonder if they would ever be able to recapture the sound of the first two records...

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:20 pm

Guided By Voices, don't be put off by Anthrax. It is a track that has grown on me over the many years since it was released,but is by no means representative of either sound or the quality of the rest of Entertainment!

Although if those first three Wire albums did leave you cold, I don't know what to say. Gang Of Four may not be for you either.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:50 pm

Confession: I've never heard any of the Wire LPs! Have always wanted to get my hands on Pink Flag, and never quite got round to it. They were on my list aged 16-18, but the pocket money never stretched that far.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:25 pm

Otis,

In my opinion Pink Flag is more of a nostalgia piece, bar the classic 12XU. Chairs Missing heads in the right direction. The one that still delights is 154.

Listening to this they are obvious contempories of Joy Division & Public Image circa Metal Box. Wire never got into my conciousness the way those other two did. At the time (& probably still now) Joy Division were the benchmark that all other rock music was measured.

It is hard now to fathom just how influential Joy Division were at the time. You can't hear early U2 without realizing the Edge took the guitar sound almost note for note. The first two thirds of the Cure's lack-lustre career was carved out of the void left by Ian Curtis' death. Even Bowie, always a performer with his ear to the zeitgeist incorporated some Joy Division like sounds on Scary Monsters.

That has always been my take anyhow.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:11 am

And Paul Weller was busy listening to Transmission and Unknown Pleasures at the time of recording Setting Sons. It's funny cos all the current articles and focus on JD/IC/NO rfer to the massive influence they've had on current bands such as Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers et al. As the Orange Juice link IP posted said, old-time fans should take heart, it's better than seeing your band disappear into relative obscurity. I wonder if the film will be any good. NO are sceptical about it, but that's not surprising. I loved the moment in twentyfourhourpartypeople where the camera moved into the club to reveal Digital in all its glory. I thought the IC in that film was a little too over the top, but not bad at all.