Entertainment! is the 1979 debut album by English post-punk band Gang of Four. This album was released on EMI in the UK and on Warner Bros. in the U.S..
The music on the first album shows clearly the influence of punk, yet also incorporates funk and less-obvious influences of reggae and dub, similar to other bands at the time such as Public Image Ltd., Pere Ubu, and The Pop Group. As with these other influential post-punk bands, the bass is mixed much more prominently than it typically is in rock or punk.
The album has attracted praise from rock musicians. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers stated that the first time he heard the record, "It completely changed the way I looked at rock music and sent me on my trip as a bass player." [2] In 2003, the album was ranked number 490 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed the track "At Home He's a Tourist" at number 52 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
In 2005 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.
Artwork
The album's artwork was designed by band members Jon King and Andy Gill[3], typical of their DIY approach. The cover depicts an "Indian" shaking hands with a "cowboy" in three heavily processed versions of the same image, the faces are reduced to blobs of red and white—that is, to the stereotypical racial colors. A text that winds around the images reads, "The Indian smiles, he thinks that the cowboy is his friend. The cowboy smiles, he is glad the Indian is fooled. Now he can exploit him." In this way, it approaches themes of exploitation, but taken with the lyrical content of the album, it may also point to simplistic depictions of ethnic, social or political conflict in the media as "cowboys and Indians".
The album's back cover depicts a family whose father says, "I spend most of our money on myself so that I can stay fat," while the mother and children declare, "We're grateful for his leftovers." On the album's inner sleeve, small photographs depicting scenes shown on television are interlaced with text illustrating what the band suggests are the misleading subtexts of media presentation: "The facts are presented neutrally so that the public can make up its own mind"; "Men act heroically to defend their country"; "People are given what they want."
Lyrics
The diverse thematic elements on Entertainment! range from the Marxist concept of alienated labor ("Natural's Not In It"), Great man theory ("Not Great Men"), the commodification of leisure ("Return The Gift"), the condition of the everyman ("At Home He's a Tourist"), Special Category Status prisoners in Northern Ireland ("Ether"), guerrilla warfare in Central America ("5.45"). A number of songs also challenge traditional concepts of love and love songs ("Anthrax", "Contract") and sex ("Damaged Goods", "I Found That Essence Rare")
Criticism
The New Trouser Press Record Guide described the tracks that deal with sex as having "the self-righteous air of someone who couldn't get to first base with his girlfriend the previous evening."[4]
Song Information
"At Home He's a Tourist" reached number 58 in the UK singles chart, the highest position of any Gang of Four song. The band were originally asked to perform the song on Top of the Pops. However when the show’s producers heard the line “And the rubbers you hide/ In your top left pocket” they asked the group to change the lyric from “rubbers” to “rubbish” for fear of causing offense. Aware that this rendered the line nonsensical, the four band members refused and they were never invited back. [5]
Track listing
All songs written by Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill, and Jon King.
Original track listing
- "Ether" – 3:52
- "Natural's Not in It" – 3:09
- "Not Great Men" – 3:08
- "Damaged Goods" – 3:29
- "Return the Gift" – 3:08
- "Guns Before Butter" – 3:49
- "I Found That Essence Rare" – 3:09
- "Glass" – 2:32
- "Contract" – 2:42
- "At Home He's a Tourist" – 3:33
- "5.45" – 3:48
- "Anthrax" – 4:23
1995 bonus tracks
Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings CD issue includes the Yellow EP:
- "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time" – 3:27
- "He'd Send in the Army" – 3:40
- "It's Her Factory" – 3:08
- "Armalite Rifle" – 2:48
2005 bonus tracks
In addition to the Yellow EP, the Rhino release adds four previously unissued tracks:
- "Guns Before Butter (Alternate version)" – 4:25
- "Contract (Alternate version)" – 2:48
- "Blood Free" (Live at The Electric Ballroom, London) – 3:17
- "Sweet Jane" (Live at the American Indian Center) (Lou Reed) – 3:20
Personnel
Charts
Single
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1979 |
"Damaged Goods"/"I Found That Essence Rare" |
Billboard Club Play singles |
39 |
| 1979 |
"At Home He's a Tourist"/"It's Her Factory" |
UK Singles Charts |
58 |
References
- ^ Weisbard & Marks, 1995. p.163
- ^ Liner notes to Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings reissue, 1995
- ^ Liner notes
- ^ The New Trouser Press Record Guide, 1989.
- ^ At Home He's a Tourist Songfacts
Notes
- Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748.
