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.
Money Talks
Gang of Four Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Centre cannot hold, things fall apart
Sex and death walk hand in hand
And Elvis's body will never be found
Put another quarter in the bandit machine
And then you come alive in the Vegas Dream
I'm still waiting for payday to arrive
And the groove's our only guide
In the Promised Land
Money talks in the street so we walk
Look at the world that's real, Money makes it a deal
Lovers wish in the night for something that they missed
Money talks in the street, so we walk
(U.S. forces in defence of democracy)
(Sounds complicated!)
Aliens are born in space, but make their base in Russia
The curtain tears, but Bush don't care
Fights on like General Custer
Marines maintain control
The newspaper said you can weigh the human soul
Here's the dope on Noriega's jones
A pineapple on the U.S. payroll
I'm still waiting for payday to arrive
Money is law in the 10 cent store
And the bible belts are tightening
I'm still waiting for payday to arrive
Money is law in the 10 cent store
And the groove's our only guide
In the Promised Land
Money talks in the street so we walk
Look at the world that's real, Money makes it a deal
Lovers wish in the night for something that they missed
Money talks in the street, so we walk
In the Promised Land
Money talks in the street so we walk
Look at the world that's real, Money makes it a deal
Lovers wish in the night for something that they missed
Money talks in the street, so we walk
Money talks in the street so we walk
Look at the world that's real, Money makes it a deal
Lovers wish in the night for something that they missed
Money talks in the street, so we walk
The lyrics to Gang of Four's song Money Talks reflect the bleak reality of capitalist society, in which money and power dictate everything. The opening lines, "Innocents all, kept in the dark/Centre cannot hold, things fall apart", suggest that people are unaware of the forces that control their lives and that society is collapsing because of this ignorance. The reference to sex and death suggests that these base desires are what motivates society and that the pursuit of accumulated wealth and power is akin to these animal instincts.
The second stanza highlights the frustration of living in a society where money is law and the lack of financial resources can lead to a feeling of being trapped. The "groove's our only guide" suggests that people turn to music and dance as a way to escape the bleak reality of their lives. The third stanza references various political and cultural events and figures, such as the Space Race, the Cold War, and Elvis Presley, though these are presented in a disjointed and fragmented way, further highlighting the sense of confusion and disorientation in contemporary society.
Line by Line Meaning
Innocents all, kept in the dark
People are ignorant and unaware of the truth
Centre cannot hold, things fall apart
Society is crumbling and unstable
Sex and death walk hand in hand
Desire and destruction are intertwined
And Elvis's body will never be found
Some things will always remain a mystery
Put another quarter in the bandit machine
Keep gambling and risking it all
And then you come alive in the Vegas Dream
Taking risks gives you a feeling of excitement and fulfillment
I'm still waiting for payday to arrive
I need money to survive
Money is law in the 10 cent store
The value of money is everything
And the groove's our only guide
We rely on music and rhythm to soothe and guide us
In the Promised Land
In a perfect world, everything would be great
Money talks in the street so we walk
Money is a powerful force that dictates our actions
Look at the world that's real, Money makes it a deal
Money affects and shapes reality
Lovers wish in the night for something that they missed
People long for something they cannot have
Aliens are born in space, but make their base in Russia
Things are not always what they seem
The curtain tears, but Bush don't care
Leaders are indifferent to the struggles of common people
Fights on like General Custer
The battle continues despite the odds
Marines maintain control
Military force is used to exert authority
The newspaper said you can weigh the human soul
Media can manipulate and distort the truth
Here's the dope on Noriega's jones
Here's the scoop on Noriega's addiction
A pineapple on the U.S. payroll
The U.S. government has hidden motives and agendas
And the bible belts are tightening
Religious conservatism is becoming stricter
Money talks in the street, so we walk
Money controls our actions
In the Promised Land
The ideal world is still out of reach
Contributed by Matthew I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.