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.
Lucky
Gang of Four Lyrics
Jump to: Line by Line Meaning ↴
Play by the rules but still you lose
Stick or twist, I hold my nerve
Nobody ever gets what they deserve
All the years is a long time
But what costs the most is free
(Yeah it's free)
I specialize in mimicry
(Mimicry)
When I look at my life
I see how I've been used
I'll never pay back the money I spent
Never return the favors I was lent
Some have no luck with love
But I'm a lucky man
Because I mock or 'cause I choose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
We know what it's about
All your luck has run out
Leverage your self doubt
Chewed you up and spat you out
We can leave the scene of the crime
We can turn back time
We can change
Yeah we can change our minds
Some have no luck with love
But I'm a lucky man
(He's a lucky man)
Because I mock or 'cause I choose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
Nothing's too special for you
When you two help me through
Please say you won't refuse
But you got everything to lose
(Everything to lose)
(Everything to lose)
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
The lucky get the luck
And the longshots lose
You work hard, you pay your dues
You put effort into something and follow the correct procedure to get it, but it doesn't always mean that you'll achieve it
Play by the rules but still you lose
Even though you follow the rules, you may not always win
Stick or twist, I hold my nerve
I can take risky decisions and maintain my calm
Nobody ever gets what they deserve
In life, you don't always get what you deserve
All the years is a long time
Time feels much longer when you're stuck in the same routine
But what costs the most is free
Things that are free can have long-lasting effects
I'm a double-jointed conman
I can manipulate people smoothly in more than one way
I specialize in mimicry
I excel in copying the behavior and actions of others
When I look at my life
On introspection, I realize
I see how I've been used
The extent to which others have taken advantage of me
I'll never pay back the money I spent
I can't pay back the favors others have done for me
Never return the favors I was lent
I can't return the kindness shown to me earlier
Some have no luck with love
Not everyone is fortunate in love
But I'm a lucky man
But in this aspect, I am lucky
Because I mock or 'cause I choose
I mock love, or maybe I am just choosing not to have it
The lucky get the luck
Fortunate people become more fortunate
And the longshots lose
The underdogs have to bite the dust
We know what it's about
We understand what is going on
All your luck has run out
You're out of luck
Leverage your self-doubt
Use your insecurities to your benefit
Chewed you up and spat you out
It has exploited you to the core
We can leave the scene of the crime
We can escape from this situation
We can turn back time
We can go back to the past
We can change
We have the power to transform ourselves
Yeah we can change our minds
We can alter our opinions and outlooks
Nothing's too special for you
You're not too important for anything
When you two help me through
When both of you assist me
Please say you won't refuse
Don't deny me your help
But you got everything to lose
If you fail, you'll lose everything
The lucky get the luck
The fortunate only become luckier
And the longshots lose
And the unlikely candidates have nothing to gain
The lucky get the luck
The fortunate people keep getting more fortune
And the longshots lose
The underdogs can't seem to win
The lucky get the luck
The people blessed with good luck continue to have it
And the longshots lose
Those who aren't seen as contenders stay that way
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Andy Gill, Thomas McNeice, John Sterry, Tobias Humble
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Big Jaspy
Glad to see this wonderful band still going strong
Qué Curioso
I really like this song, congratulations guys!!!!!!
Shice Squad
Brilliant show in Hamburg last night! It was like a religious experience to see my heroes back in action with new material! I just hope I didn't talk your heads off too much when John and Thomas showed up in front of the club after the show 8D
rhynoxray
I first saw Go4 in Austin Texas in 1984 the night Ronald Reagan was re-elected. This new song Lucky (and the new song Ivanka) are hands down the best new music from Go4 since Songs Of The Free. The reworking of the hits LP they put out a few years back is brilliant but these 2 new songs finally have the newer band members fully integrated and engaged in working as a seamless unit to pull the classic Go4 sound and improve upon it to push it into the 21st Century. Cheers to Andy Gill and the new crew for not giving up the fight against the powers that seek to exploit the people. Here’s to another 15 minutes of fame in 2019.
mick2101
I saw them in Houston around then, they were so young!
Greg Taylor
Nice new track. Awesome bass player is too far back in the mix; nice to see backing vocals again ala 'Songs of the Free' era.
Claudia Heckener
I remember the Gang of Four right from the beginning and the bass line was always their stamp. Still. A new try.
Greg Taylor
Soundscapes is right, excellent album; including 'World at Fault' track from that session - finally scored a copy of the 7" 45 rpm version.
MrMarco33333
Yeah I like the female vocals too. I wish they would revisit some of the Songs Of The Free guitar soundscapes as well.
Robert Mooney
Wow. This sounds more like another incarnation of the TV game show INXS but I have heard some say they do pretty decent covers of Gang of Four oldies.