I love the fact that I live in Leeds now, Gang of Four are one of the greatest bands of all time and to live in the city that they originate from is a true honour. Especially considering at least two of them are London expatriates!
The formation of Gang of Four came when Gill and King were curious by their surroundings at Leeds. Gill reflected, "The idea of Gang of Four was something that Jon and I created between ourselves. Between the two of us. The music side was left to me, but the concept of it was something we did together." Using punk to encourage their sound; sex and politics as a base for their lyrics, Gang of Four began in the most collegiate way. Gill mentioned, "We were art students, so, you could basically do whatever the f*ck you wanted, when you f*cking wanted. We would sit around playing chess, drink a bottle of gin, and I would have the guitar and start playing and make up things there and then." While they pondered their concept and idea to possibly have a band, they came to New York in 1976 and stayed with a young music writer, Mary Harron (who would later go on to direct American Psycho and I Shot Andy Warhol) and she introduced the young men to the New York music scene and CBGB's, "New York is not your typical America, it is very different," Gill reflected on the Big Apple. After meeting and seeing artists like Television, Patti Smith, things became clear. Gill said, "We went to New York, we met all of these people and it was like, 'So, why wouldn't you have a band?' It was the obvious thing to do."
I think I gotta sleep guys, my lecture is pretty soon
Got a bunch of ideas going for your sig though Chelle!
Either way, almost 9/10ths of a bottle of rum gone, I've done well for tonight. Time for me to attempt to sleep and such! If any of y'all see Welsh, send him my love!
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Mar 16th, 2015 03:11 AM
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