Gang of Four are a British post-punk group from Leeds, England. Original pe… Read Full Bio ↴Gang of Four are a British post-punk group from Leeds, England. 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 2005, the original lineup reunited.

The group had a single in the British Top 60 with "At Home He's A Tourist" in 1979, which was blacklisted by Top Of The Pops for its use of the relatively innocuous term "rubbers". Storming, Doc Marten-booted and fueled by a heady cocktail of Gramsci, Marx and lager, out of the Leeds art-school scene that produced The Mekons and Delta 5, they played a stripped-to-the-wire, funk-fueled permutation of punk rock. This is best exemplified by the dry production and forceful polemic of debut effort Entertainment! - Gang of Four's later albums (Songs Of The Free and Hard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towards disco.

Critic Stewart Mason has called "Love Like Anthrax" (their first single, later re-recorded as "Anthrax") not only the group's "most notorious song" but also "one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time"; it's also a good example of Gang of Four's social perspective. After a minute-long, droning, feedback-laced guitar intro, the rhythm section sets up a funky, churning beat, and the guitar drops out entirely. In one stereo channel, King sings a "post-punk anti-love song", comparing himself to a beetle trapped on its back ("and there's no way for me to get up") and equating love with "a case of anthrax, and that's some thing I don't want to catch." Meanwhile in the other stereo channel (and slightly less prominent in the mix), Gill reads a deadpan monologue about public perception of love, and the prevalence of love songs in popular music: "Love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about, 'cause most groups make most of their songs about falling in love, or how happy they are to be in love, and you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time." The simultaneous vocals are more than a little disorienting, especially when Gill pauses in his examination of love songs to echo a few of King's sung lines.

Allen left after Solid Gold and was replaced briefly by Buster Jones (who never recorded with the group), then by Sara Lee; Allen later co-founded Shriekback, Low Pop Suicide and The Elastic Purejoy.

Their angular, slashing attack and liberal use of dissonance had a significant influence on their post-punk contemporaries in the States, including Mission Of Burma. Gang Of Four went on to influence a number of successful funk-tinged alternative rock acts throughout the 80s and 90s - even, arguably, many rap-rock and nu metal groups who were "not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it" (Andy Kellman, on allmusic.com) - although few of their followers were as arty or political. Michael "Flea" Balzary of Red Hot Chili Peppers has stated Gang of Four were very influential on his band's early music.

Gang of Four can also be credited as one of the early influences on techno or electronic music; they released dance remixes of several later singles.

Recently the band has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, initially due to emergence of new post-punk influenced bands such as The Rapture and Radio 4 and then the rise of Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, which led to the renewed patronage of the NME. The original Burnham/Allen/Gill/King lineup reformed in November 2004. In October of 2005, Gang of Four released a new LP featuring new recordings of past songs, entitled Return The Gift.

Dave Allen also co-hosts a twice-weekly "New Music Hour" radio show with Portland, Oregon's 94.7 alternative radio station.

Andy Gill died on 1st February, 2020 from, according to reports, a respiratory illness caught on the group's tour in Asia the preceding year. He was the only original member still playing in the Gang Of Four.

A Man With a Good Car
Gang of Four Lyrics

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Who is that?
Just what is your business
Fate is in your hands
And your decisions

A man with a good car needs no justification
Fate is in my hands and in the transmission
I know that you think that you know what I said

(Poor Tom, monkey on his back)

But do you realize that what I said's not what I meant
I don't have wise blood
I'm deep in mystery
I asked luck to dance
The lady she's the wallflower

Well, she played the good cop
Took identification
Said "Don't trust to chance
Or believe in what you can't touch"

A man with a good car needs no justification
Fate is in my hands and in the transmission

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Gang of Four's song "A Man With a Good Car" are about control and power. The first verse addresses someone who is inquisitive about another person's business, but ultimately their fate is in their own hands. The following verse highlights how having a good car makes a person feel powerful and justified, and that fate is also in their hands, specifically in the car's transmission. However, there is a play on words as the next line mentions "Poor Tom, monkey on his back," which could refer to someone who is burdened with something they can't control, despite having a good car.

The chorus reiterates the idea that a man with a good car needs no justification, which could be interpreted as a commentary on how society values material possessions and consumerism. The next verse further plays with language, as the singer states that people may not understand what they're saying, even if they think they do. The singer also claims to not have "wise blood" but is instead "deep in mystery," perhaps suggesting they are misunderstood.

The final verse brings all of these themes together, with the singer asking luck to dance and personifying fate as a "lady she's the wallflower." However, the "good cop" comes in and warns the singer not to trust chance or things they can't touch, perhaps implying that there are still limits to the control one can have in their life. Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on power, control, and the illusion of freedom that comes with material possessions.

Line by Line Meaning

Who is that?
Identity unknown, who are you?

Just what is your business
What is your purpose, why are you here?

Fate is in your hands
Your destiny is within your own control

And your decisions
The choices you make define your fate

A man with a good car needs no justification
I am confident in myself and my possessions

Fate is in my hands and in the transmission
I control my own destiny and the mechanics of my car

I know that you think that you know what I said
You misunderstood my words and intent

(Poor Tom, monkey on his back)
A reference to a common phrase about someone struggling with addiction

But do you realize that what I said's not what I meant
My words were misinterpreted, my true intentions were different

I don't have wise blood
I am not particularly intelligent or insightful

I'm deep in mystery
I am enigmatic and difficult to understand