Gang Of Four

Gang of Four is one of the most radical, and radically important, rock groups of the last 30 years.

Their music, starting with 1978s Damaged Goods EP, offered a danceable solution to the problem of where four-piece guitar bands could go next after punk. They also provided the perfect answer to the question: how to be polemical without being po-faced, ponderous, banal or doctrinaire?

More than anything, Gang of Four were about visceral, high energy, maximum impact rocknroll. They made you dance and they made you sweat just as they made you think. That exclamation mark at the end of the title of their 1979 debut album Entertainment! incidentally, one of the greatest debut albums ever made; in fact, one of the greatest long-playing records, period was no accident or sleight of design. Economic, emotional, political, musical and yet it remains as true, as resonant, as relevant, as universally applicable three decades on as it was the day it was released.- Q Magazine

Formed in Leeds in 1976, Gang of Four first performed in May 1977. The big bands of the 80s, the Chilli Peppers, INXS, REM, U2, have all spoken of their debt to Gang of Four but in more recent years, the bands influence has become almost universal with the emergence of post-punk influenced bands such as The Rapture and Radio 4 and then the rise of Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party.

The band is led by guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Andy Gill, widely acclaimed as an innovator and much copied around the world. Gill also produced most of Gang of Four's output, including the 2005 release Return The Gift and 2011s Content and also albums for many other artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Jesus Lizard, The Stranglers, The Futureheads, Michael Hutchence and Bono, Therapy? and Killing Joke. His most recent production work was in Beijing in December 2012, recording successful Chinese rock band AV Okubo.

Bands occasionally get described as being 'ahead of their time'. Usually it means nothing; mere hack hyperbole employed to describe the latest fledgling bunch of chancers. In Gang Of Fours case, its a stone-cold, empirical fact.- The Independent

Tight and rambunctious, precise but deliberately human: Gang of Fours rhythm sectionThomas McNeice on bass and Mark Heaney on drumshas won acclaim over years and across continents as the engine of the bands compelling live performances and anchor of the creatively and critically successful Content. Singer John Gaoler has been described as captivating, with an uncommon voice, and eerie vocals and has been working with Gang of Four for the last 18 months, recording new material and performing live.

In recent years, the biggest bands in the world have proclaimed their debt to Gang Of Fourthe Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Rage Against the Machine , U2 but now everybody sounds like Gang Of Four. From Franz Ferdinand to Kaiser Chiefs to Bloc Party to Futureheads, todays pop tyros are making cerebral, angular rock music that has GO4s influence and imprint all over it. Mojo's Editor in Chief: 'Sometimes I think the whole world's gone a bit Gang of Four'.- Mojo Magazine