Tuesday, March 27, 2018

ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter G, Part 3)

"It made me laugh to hear the guy from U2 talk about his guitar influences being old bluesmen. I thought, 'Hey, you dipshit, what about Andy Gill?'" -- Flea

Never pass on sticking it to U2.

Tough to choose just one, but here's a selection from Gang of Four's 1979 album 'Entertainment!' If you don't have this one, go get it right now. One of the best albums from the best year in music. Angular. Angry. Ahead of it's time. You'll be amazed how so many of your favorite bands sound like these lads from Leeds. Everybody lifted from them. I used to wonder where Minutemen came from. Then I heard 'Entertainment!' Here's how the album opens. Buckle up.

Ether
at

13 comments:

  1. JTFLMarch 27, 2018 at 2:05 PM

    I taught myself to play bass by playing along to Entertainment! and Road to Ruin. Part of my DNA now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BrianMarch 27, 2018 at 4:02 PM

    JTFL, That’s an Ivy League education without the loans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The SwedeMarch 27, 2018 at 4:19 PM

    Angular. That's also the word I use, without fail, whenever discussing this period of Gang of Four. A magnificent beast of an LP.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TheRobsterMarch 27, 2018 at 5:04 PM

    Blimey, you and Swede have posted a couple of blinders between you today. The likes of Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party owe their entire careers to Gang Of Four.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BrianMarch 27, 2018 at 10:28 PM

    Very astute, Robster. I hear GoF in every band you mention too. I liked them all in their infancy. In fact, those were some of the bands I would say helped bring me back after not caring for much music in the ‘90s.

    ReplyDelete
  6. EchorichMarch 28, 2018 at 1:00 AM

    One of a handful of albums that I can't imagine being without in my life.
    Entertainment is challenging, razor sharp, intense, no nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
  7. WalterMarch 28, 2018 at 1:26 AM

    As Echorich said: Life would be poor without this Album. Essential and Inspiration for a lot of bands.

    ReplyDelete
  8. NicMarch 28, 2018 at 3:53 AM

    Agree with everyone about Go4. They were also very danceable: I saw them twice within 6 months of Entertainment and I've never moved so much outside a football field.
    Nic

    ReplyDelete
  9. CMarch 28, 2018 at 5:36 AM

    "One of the best albums from the best year in music. Angular. Angry. Ahead of it's time."
    Spot on Brian. Entertainment is so good in so many ways. As has been said above, you hear their influence everywhere too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Swiss AdamMarch 28, 2018 at 7:19 AM

    What everyone else said.

    ReplyDelete
  11. GeorgeMarch 28, 2018 at 8:20 AM

    Having inexplicably missed out posting The Fall in the F section I'm delighted that you're trying to make amends with this. Absolutely Toptastic, Brian.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BrianMarch 30, 2018 at 1:17 AM

    There is simply no excuse, George. Thanks for chiming in, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  13. JCJanuary 2, 2019 at 5:16 PM

    As the others have said.

    And if I may, a reminder of probably the best post ever to appear over at my place....

    https://thenewvinylvillain.com/2015/12/17/entertainment-the-musical/

    ReplyDelete