BRIEF HISTORY OF

Gang Of Four: Andy Gill (vocals, guitar); Jon King (vocals, melodica); Hugo Burnham (vocals, drums); Sara Lee, Dave Allen (bass); Steve Goulding (drums). Additional personnel: Jon Astrop (bass); Stevie Lange, Joy Yates, Dolette MacDonald, Edie Reader, Paula West (background vocals). Producers include: Andy Gill, Jon King, Rob Warr, Rick Walton, Nick Launay. Includes liner notes by Greil Marcus. Released in 1990 to help promote a reformed Gang of Four, A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 20th CENTURY is a powerful overview of one of the best political rock groups. It is also a great introduction to the band's world-view. In this view, everything has a political context--love ("Anthrax"), the military ("I Love an Man in Uniform"), loneliness ("Call Me Up"), and, of course, history ("The History of the World")--and no one is innocent. Many of the band's high points appear: "At Home, He's a Tourist," "Damaged Goods," "To Hell With Poverty," and "We Live as We Dream, Alone." Frequently employing a martial beat and elastic, funk-inspired bass-guitar lines overlaid with left-field squalls of noise, the Gang of Four's songs set out to convince you of things--and don't give up until you agree. For the believers and the scholars, A BRIEF HISTORY also includes an essay penned by culture/music critic Greil Marcus about experiencing the band's rise to fame first-hand.

• Genre: Rock and Pop
• Format: CD
• Released: 12/08/1990