Added: 4 years ago
From: cpunctn
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  • Andy Gill is a madman!

  • good work here

  • some really good stuff here

  • Cool

  • new waave

  • such glorious cacophony at the beginning!!

  • I saw the Gang Of Four play at Irving Plaza in New York around 1981 or 82. Don't remember the year exactly. Anyway, the opening support band for them was REM. No one knew who REM was at the time and I never became a fan of that group, but when they became big at least I could say I saw them live. The G of 4 put on a great show. Probably the best live band I ever saw.

  • UNBAFUCKENLEAVEABLE !!!!

    WHAT A BAND !

    ANDY GILL TAKES MY BREATH AWAY....!

  • I never got into this lot at the time. I thought maybe I'd missed out and so have just watched their videos on here. Now I can see why they never interested me. They are a poor mans Wire,(with absolutely nothing of Wires' creativity), inferior to The Pop Group Swell Maps and Killing Joke .For a start they've got no bloody tunes, just a lot of boring noodling and posturing. And they look like tossers.

  • @gazmological hahahahahaha wow killing joke lol

  • DO.NOT.COMPARE.THIS.BAND.TO.TA­LKING.HEADS.

    ever.

  • @cubanzombie yes, because Talking heads are a lot better!

  • Saw em at the start of the year while waiting for Pennywise to come out, I say that because I didn't know who they were at the time. All I can say is they are one of the best live acts I've ever seen. The way they were throwing themselves and instruments around the stage was incredible.

  • @Avinashda Wow, how very punk rock of you. Grow up, man. You don't know shit about fuck and you're a disgrace.

  • @WarGoatForestWolf666 Shut Up Fool !!!!!!!

  • Great band, but I definitely feel like the lead singer could put in a bit more effort since he doesn't have an instrument to play.

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  • bunch of faggots hahahah , Gang Of Homos hahhahahahahah

  • @Avinashda How's being sexually repressed treating you? Good? Beaten your wife lately, macho-man?

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  • Gang of Four was one of my favorite bands in the 80's, along with Joy Division, The Fall, Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy. But the 'Gang' was very different from those other bands, mixing punk and funk rock... I love it!

  • the best.

    

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  • way to go guy hitting a stick :)

  • the dogs bollocks of a band!!!

  • I do not know how to play the guitar but I am going to do it any way and you can't stop me. Hell I'm gonna start a band too.

  • i have the microwave door from the show at the bakery :)

  • I'm from China and learning in Melbourne.I watched them yesterday on soundwave,so fuckin' amazing!BTW,so far we can know that 8 idiot have watched this video

  • Fuckin Awesome! loved that movie! This was a highlight!

  • Kinda reminds me of Radiohead (Go to Sleep)

  • @ruzz3ii

    Yup. Where do you the influence came from? These guys.

  • Andy Gill's guitar playing in this sums up everything I love about new wave guitar!-in a very exaggerated way :)

  • It disappoints me that Gang of Four couldn't leave it at here. I mean Entertainment and Solid Gold were almost perfect articles of punk and energy. The 2005 reunion is only a cut above the fucking John Lydon butter commercial, but I guess everyone needs to earn a living. This just seems so much more punk than any Ramones/Sex Pistols/Clash anything ever. It's furious, intelligent, focused.

  • @findingphunc What was wrong with the 2005 reunion? The gigs were FANTASTIC.

  • @findingphunc Gang Of Four's new album Content is fantastic. It has the same angst as the first two albums - maybe a little more grown up and focused.

  • @thenewfella1994 Thanks for the input. So, maybe there are lists I just haven't come across, but generally the talk of that era surrounds bands like the Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, etc. In regards to the U2 influence, I'm thinking more along the lines of The Edge's percussive guitar style, than the songs as a whole... very much out of the GO4 guitar sound (at times). Obviously The Edge wasn't as noisy, and took it more in a pop/new wave direction.

  • @thenewfella1994 I it say time and time again that Gang of Four is probably the most underrated band in modern rock history. As you say, so many bands copied them. But when people talk about the great albums/bands of the of the punk/new wave era, I never see "Entertainment!" mentioned. But their fingerprints are everywhere. Tell me you don't hear The Edge's guitar style here. In fact, I think The Edge is on record as saying that they were an influence on him.

  • THE. GANG OF FOUR!!! I've met them back in 1982. Hugo , the drummer was way cool. More people should hear their music.Why do you think so many bands copy them?Real fucking rockers.

  • i don't like the bassist's singing part

  • Andy Gill is so fucking badass

  • this is awesome! I remember when this movie came out. This was always my favorite performance!! Cheers!

  • This is one of the most under-recognized songs of all time. I think it is brilliant.

  • Retards

  • @popliphaha haha

  • That's how I want to go wild tonight

  • Alan Gill said in a interview there aren't important things in Les Pauls guitars, but in that performance he is playing madly an Ibanez Artist, which are like Les Pauls in sound. And he plays well. Ironic.

  • Love this song and video!! The lead guitar player is the best!!

  • Harsh, tense, and oddly catchy. Utterly Brilliant.

  • Absolutely fucking immense. Every time I see it.

  • Play that funky music, white boys. x

  • So freaking good - the tension through near silence then crashing from the waves of super loud guitar and strong drum beats - freaking sound orgasm here

  • Live - the ONLY way to hear this ripping song...this clip was my first introduction to seeing what Gang of Four looked like (courtesy or Urgh!) - thanks for posting it! So cool to see Dave Allen, Jon King, and Andy Gill all take a turn at the mike...

  • the most incredible display of music artistry that I've ever seen!

  • Histórico!

  • i think gang of four sound at times like captain beefheart magic band but with a dub/reggae influence and with more tension and less surrealist/dada crazinesss. the guitars are very much like captain beefheart

  • @eeayt I think so and so bands sound the same, but here are all the ways they are actually different... but they still sound the same. What the hell?

  • they sound like big black. not exactly, but ba bit. both are great bands, don't get me wrong.

  • marxist punk. love it

  • Andy Gill is an exceptional guitarist :) He moves like Wilko Johnson, which is good

  • AWEEESOME

    great song, great band

  • Loving'em

  • That is the Shite... sacrificed many a brain cell experiencing their tunes and still not more than a half a brick short of a full load thirty years later. They are one of the bands that helped form my current world view. Thanks Gof4, always BRILLIANT!

  • Fugazi is practically a Gf4 cover band.

  • it takes a lot of talent to play the guitar like that

  • Angular = "of angles".... Maybe a precise and choppy style, with sudden moves and changes. Devo had it too.

  • The studio just doesn't do them justice-glad to have experienced them live.Songs of the free tour was probably when some their faithful might have been less than accepting w/ a change of bass player & a "hit" record .i was just floored to have seen a flawless performance by a legendary band.

  • @roryrandomlyrocks he is the master of playing undecipherable chords and some of his timings were simply amazing, I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

  • Angular and jaded. Brilliant and so far ahead of its time

  • @SonoranDub

    Angular? Whats an angularar. Angler is a fish.

  • Such a great band. One of my favorites of all time from the Punk era.

  • You dig a ditch and I'll dive in it ! Never seen this version, thanks, cpunctn.

  • great video

  • I love this movie

  • Very cool.

  • The year I was sent to army.

  • audiance stood around wondering how thiere feet should move

  • There's something very no-wave about this music...

  • @alleyghost Eh, it was around that time. Gang of Four employ many of no wave's signature techniques and ethics.

  • that's because this is post-punk music and no wave is a form of post-punk.

  • M. Stipe of R.E.M. ripped off the hitting of the chair with a stick idea, and used it during World Leader Pretend in concert. R.E.M. toured with GOF around this time. Go figure....

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  • Will they ever release Urgh a Concert War on DVD?

  • Warner Bros. has recently released it on DVD. Search for at their online shop.

  • This song is amazing and Gang of Four as a band I still love.

  • best video on youtube reallllll shitttt you know the oggdadmn deal. one love

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  • The thing about the way the Gang of Four guitarist plays is that he does it in an incredibly messy haphazardness way like a 14 year old that just got his first guitar - but then, at the same time, he does it in the most incredibly talented way.

  • @roryrandomlyrocks What? (like Samuel Jackson says in Pulp Fiction) "Speak English MFer!" Don't know if you've ever picked up a guitar but to get 23 thumbs up is scary to musicians everywhere with that comment. I dig the tune too but probably not the same reason you do. I'll give you this, it is messy and haphazard. But I'm pretty sure even he would say its not that talented. Its theatre man, that's all.

  • @cbmdg8551976 I bet you suck at guitar and you don't get music. Let me recommend a band for you: Phish. They are very talented.

  • @postyesterdayman Is that the best you got jack-off? I'll bet I don't suck at guitar. By the way I dig Gang-Of-Four but not for the same reasons you do obviously. I just get a kick when people try to post shit that doesn't have any credibility in their statement. I understand personal preference and all that, but don't equate emotion with talent. Killer song not killer guitar work. That's all. By the way, who the hell is Phish? I'll look them up and see just how credible your taste is.

  • @postyesterdayman Hey just checked out your recommendation for Phish and dude, let me tell you, you've got problems listening to bands like that. No need for you to comment on real bands because you're stupid attempts at being witty show me you may be slightly fucked in the head. See a doctor for that.

  • @postyesterdayman What did the Phish fan say when the drugs ran out? "Hey, this music sucks!"

  • @cbmdg8551976 It is what it is, layers of sound that sound good to my ears, there is artistry in there, though not complicated or melodic, I dig it!

  • @scoobyjenkins My sentiments exactly. My whole point being its not the guitar that makes the song, its pretty much everything else, with attitude being crucial for Gang-Of-Four. No beef against the band, actually like them a lot, I just appreciate educated and insightful analysis of what makes a band unique. When I read "haphazardly,and messy" it does a big injustice to the band and what makes them great. That's all.

  • @roryrandomlyrocks he plays it like a percussion instrument - it's glorious! :)

  • @Plasticsoul I'm convinced that Gang Of Four is one of the main influences that led to Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello's innovative guitar technique.

  • @roryrandomlyrocks I couldn't put it better , youre so on the spot. Ahhhhhh...... 

  • @roryrandomlyrocks

    Picasso said that he spent his entire life learning to draw like a child.

  • @roryrandomlyrocks You try playing it. There's nothing random about it

  • excellent band excellent delivery passionate

  • You know what's also saying something? This....

    Any sound and rhythm can be music, dude. Just listen -- that's what spectators do.

  • Okay dude, go back to your Michael Bolton albums loser!

  • "OK Jon, this part's really important... Hit this thing with a stick over & over again."

  • "Striking speaker with drumstick" is probably the tamest way Jon keeps the beat while performing this song. Other live performances of "He'll Send In the Army" on YouTube have him taking a hammer to a folding chair, a 2-by-4 to a television set, and a baseball bat to a microwave.

  • ...and cool enough not to pull some 80's gimicky hair, as well. Its that crazy being yourself thing...

  • 1:20. guitar players is playing but not using his strings. brilliant.

  • One of the greatest Punk/New Wave groups ever!!!!

  • This was the first band I ever saw shucks (I mean proper band like). It was at the Lyceum in 1980 and I was a 14 year old stupid punk. Wow takes me back ; they were so good though and with so much energy! Oh and they had all that political correctness going on too before it was invented.

  • @wyogi06 Punk/New Wave = Oxy-You i mean Moron.

  • @coptersoisoi

    Monty Oxymoron :P 

  • waht a song !! great!!

  • its obvious in the video, the way they move.

  • superb!!!!

  • Just checked out steel pole bathtub.

    Thanks for the tip.

    The Nirvana and, especially, Mudhoney influence is clear.

    Still, I like 'em.

    Alls i'm saying is; don't damn Kurt because he chose the route he chose.

  • Would have to disagree, calaverasgrande.

    They were allowed to become more succesful than the more talented Melvins or, eh, Steel Pole Bathtub?

    Is that a real band, lol?

    No. Kurt Cobain was infinitely talented and chose to become succesful; people who possess his type of talent, a select few, get to choose the arc they wish to follow.

    Was it a good choice? The end result would suggest not.

    Should his talent be used as edifice to piss on in order to prop your heroes?

    I would suggest not.

  • superb

  • guitar sound is sweet

  • Having been around for much of hte pre-grunge scene on the west coast, I can honestly say that there was nothing remarkable about Nirvana. They were allowed to become succesful because they were much more cute and marketable than more the more talented Melvins, or Steel Pole Bathtub.

  • Hunh? Not a Nirvana fanatic but an admirer of a band of an era.

  • perhaps I shouldn't have talked about the influence of GO4 on Kurt Cobain.

    Great video anyway! I can't grow tired of watching it...

  • HUGE SENSE OF BEAT!

  • Why do you say that?

  • I think Kurt Cobain was alright, I do understand his depression, but how come he didn't just walk away? I love this song by the way.

  • kurt cobain was no good, and neither was grunge music.

  • agreed, way overated initially, he secured a place in history by exiting stage left while still young and famous.

  • Completely agree, totally overrated.

  • Disagree...not a Kurt Cobain groupe but he and the group was fucking genius....they really were a great group...

  • The notes from 1:21 to 1:24 are fantastic.

    Last time I saw Go4, Jon King was beating a microwave with an aluminum bat instead of a cabbage case with a drumstick.

  • Kurt Cobain saw them live in 1982 and he never recovered. I understand why when I watch this exciting video

  • R.E.M. and the Red Hot Chili Peppers too.

    And let alone all those England New Wave-bands who'd be nowhere without Gang of Four.

  • I always laugh imagining them at sound-check on this one....."Hello...oh, could we get a little more of that stick in the side fills please?"

    Brilliant tune.

  • brilliant to see this, a totally underrated track by Go4, love 'em to death!

  • love the stick metronome and they all sing alike...great great movie(URGH)!!

  • Andy guitar playing is unique....

  • why youtube doesnt let me see cadilla from Argentine

  • The link between nostalgia,sexism, authoritarianism, militarism amd fascism is explored in this song.

  • He looked like he shit in his pants at the end of the video.

  • very cool, if i'm not mistaken this is from Urghh a Music War, good movie of the era w others like Echo+Bunnymen, Gary Numan, and so on...

  • Klaus Nomi also, right?

  • congratulations. today this video was selected by the NYC Punk Rock Evolution Foundation.

  • it's pretty interesting how the guy hits with the stick at the start keeping time like an idiot (but good) working up some frustration against the crowd

  • Please look up for DNA's Arto Lindsay doing very similar spastic sonic contortions on the guitar, the very same year...

  • Maybe even earlier? No Wave was around '79, yeah? Not sure. A lot of those bands were doing stuff like that.

  • does anybody know the lyrics to this song?

  • The commander gives his orders In the end what he says goes This systems well constructed She owes him all she gets The army has its uses In times of civil crisis At em boys see any action Hey boys see any action Together with you mates against the common enemy The private's not formed that way Guns take up all his time With no job he'd be in a mess Boys in action get some in. She pays him back in the bedroom One step down from her leader Obeys or is punished Like he obeys his bosses
  • This is a much more dynamic and interesting performance than the studio track!

  • Seems to be the case with much of Go4 - the studio cuts are good, but the live recordings are awesome.

  • wow. i like it!

  • Fuck, I love Gang of Four and hate it that I'll never get to see them live here in Holland.

    *grumbles*

  • wt guitar is that?

  • Looks like a Yamaha SG2000.

  • great band like the song but the intro is too long yet i like songs with really really short intros. But i lvoe the gang of four i espeacially love the song by them that is called natural's not in it

  • Yeah, thats apart of their sound dude. thats what makes them unique.

  • just look at the guitar work!! pure electricity... he's jumping, dancing with it, absolutely unique... i love it @__@

  • Interesting that they sound a little like the Talking Heads who pre-dated Gang of Four by only a few years. However these guys pre-dated Radiohead by many more years and Radiohead sounds to me anyway similar to this style.

  • Great version with excellent lead and bass sound, spoilt only by Dave Allen missing the 1st verse. It seems to me that Gill has to step in on vocals to try and save things. I think the Yellow EP is the best studio version of this.

  • I mean "2nd verse"

  • their bassist, is one of my gods next to jaco, dirk lance and les claypool.

  • ahhh. kind of crazy but i see dave allen all the time. haha. i'm good buddies with his son. the guy lives 5 minutes away from me. its weird to think how he's a celebrity to people. i never think of him as someone famous at all.

  • Great band.... saw them in 1979 and then again last Friday - still fantastic. I've aged a lot more than their music!

    "This sounds like Shac Up by ACR (A Certain Ratio) played by more accomplished musicians."

    That's cos bassist David Allen formed Shriekback after the band first split. Shac up was their finest moment...

  • This band is awesome ^^

    So glad I came across them

  • I am so grateful that I found out about this band..totally changed the way I play and think about music.

  • Stunning guitar work. Exquisite harshness. If only the ownership mess preventing the DVD release of "Urgh! A Music War" were cleared up. That film is PACKED with great post punk performances.

  • google Urgh! A Music War and you'll find the DVD for about $30.00 on an Urgh! website.

  • google Urgh! A Music War and you'll find the DVD for about $30.00 on an Urgh! website.

  • You can't have it better!!!

  • MORE! LONGER! ETC!

  • In case you don't know...this is from the great movie "Urgh! A music war" I urge everybody to check it out. A massive collection of great 80's music that is just amazing.