Following the recent 40th anniversary of the band’s debut LP Entertainment!, Matador Records will release GANG OF FOUR: 77-81, a well crafted and curated limited edition box set gathering the seminal post-punk act’s highly influential early work.
The collection is set for release on December 11th and contains the band’s first two albums Entertainment! and Solid Gold (both remastered from the original analog tapes), plus an exclusive singles compilation.
Also included is a double LP of the never officially released Live at American Indian Center 1980. Additionally, the package comes with two new badges, a C90 cassette tape compiling 26 never-before-issued outtakes, rarities, and studio demos from the recording sessions of both Entertainment! and Solid Gold.
In addition to the vinyl plus a sprawling 100-page, full-color book detailing the history and legacy of the original Gang of Four with never before seen photos, contributions from surviving original band members, rare posters, ephemera, flyers, essays, artwork, liner notes, and more. It also marks the first official publication of Gang of Four’s lyrics.
Gang of Four was formed in Leeds in 1976 by bassist Dave Allen, drummer Hugo Burnham, guitarist Andy Gill, and singer Jon King. The band pioneered a style of music that “inverted punk’s blunt and explosive energies — favoring tense rhythms, percussive guitars, and lyrics that traded in Marxist theory and situationism”.
This original lineup of the band released two monumental albums, Entertainment! (1979) and Solid Gold (1981).
The release of the new box set follows guitarist Andy Gill’s untimely death on February 1st, 2020. Gill, who had been in poor health in recent years, passed away from a respiratory illness that is now thought to have been COVID-19.
Check out the full tracklist for 77-81 below. And pre-order the box set here.
Gang of Four, 77-81
VINYL
Entertainment!
A1. Ether
A2. Natural’s Not In It
A3. Not Great Men
A4. Damaged Goods
A5. Return The Gift
A6. Guns Before Butter
B1. I Found That Essence Rare
B2. Glass
B3. Contract
B4. At Home He’s A Tourist
B5. 5.45
B6. Love Like Anthrax
Solid Gold
A1. Paralysed
A2. What We All Want
A3. If I Could Keep It For Myself
A4. Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time
A5. Why Theory?
B1. Cheeseburger
B2. The Republic
B3. In The Ditch
B4. A Hole In The Wallet
B5. He’d Send In The Army
Singles
A1. To Hell With Poverty
A2. It’s Her Factory
A3. Armalite Rifle
B1. Capital (It Fails Us Now)
B2. History’s Bunk!
B3. Cheeseburger (Live) *
B4. What We All Want (Live) *
* Live at Hammersmith Palais
Live at American Indian Center 1980
A1. Not Great Men
A2. Contract
A3. Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time
A4. Damaged Goods
B1. He’d Send In The Army
B2. Guns Before Butter
B3. 5.45
C1. Anthrax
C2. It’s Her Factory
C3. Ether
C4. Natural’s Not In It
D1. At Home He’s A Tourist
D2. Rosanne
D3. Return The Gift
D4. Glass
CASSETTE
Side A: The Early Demos
Rehearsal Room – Leeds, 1977-78
The Things You Do
What You Ask For
Armalite Rifle
Love Like Anthrax
Silence Is Not Useful
Disco Sound
Damaged Goods
Elevator
Cargo Demos – Cargo Studio, Rochdale
Song One
Song Two
The Tapes – Polydor Studios, Jan. 1978
Essence Rare
Tourist
Return The Gift
5.45
Corked Up With The Ether
Side B: Abbey Road Demos
From 5th January 1981 (Single track from cassette)
Why Theory
Cargo
Trains
Army
Disco/Funk
Dog’s Breath
Asshole
Cymbal
Reverb
Cheeseburger
Ditch
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