Gang of Four

Gill has said the connection wasn't stylistic dabbling but formation: watching Wilko Johnson's chordless, staccato guitar attack in Dr. Feelgood's mid-1970s pub-rock sets taught him what a rock band could sound like without solos. 'I was quite into Dr. Feelgood,' he said. 'I was very into that minimal, stripped-down nature... the barely suppressed violence of the dramatic presentation of their personas onstage. I thought they were incredibly powerful... extremely influential on Gang of Four.' Hugo Burnham independently ranks the band 'very high' on his own list, pointing straight at Gill's playing: 'Andy's guitar has that sort of urgent attack... that Wilko Johnson had.'

listen: upstream & heresource: Perfect Sound Forever — Andy Gill interview (Dr. Feelgood and James Brown influence, in Gill's own words) ↗share

1975

RoxetteDr. Feelgood

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1979

I Found That Essence RareGang of Four

listen forBurnham singled out 'I Found That Essence Rare' as the Gang of Four song closest to 'punk, pub rock, Dr. Feelgood... heads-down, no-nonsense, mindless, boogie.' Start with Dr. Feelgood's 'Roxette': Wilko Johnson never strums, he chops, snapping single notes off the beat with no chord ringing behind them. 'Essence Rare' runs the same trick faster — Gill's guitar jabs land in short, percussive bursts that leave space for Burnham's drums, rather than filling it with sustain.

Gill grew up on James Brown and Funkadelic, but insists the debt was structural, not an impression job: 'The drumming was basically funky but not through copying various icons of black music,' he said. 'It was more through simply deconstructing the nature of drumming and where you place the beats.' Burnham confirms the whole rhythm section was listening the same way — bassist Dave Allen had played in funk cover bands before Leeds. The result impressed INXS singer Michael Hutchence enough to call Entertainment! 'art meets the devil via James Brown' — funk's logic, run through punk's discipline.

listen: upstream & heresource: The A.V. Club — 'Art meets the devil via James Brown' ↗share

1970

Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex MachineJames Brown

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1979

At Home He's a TouristGang of Four

listen forLine up James Brown's 1970 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine' against 'At Home He's a Tourist': both ride a vamp that barely moves harmonically, the whole band locking onto one groove and holding it there. But listen to where the guitar sits — Brown's is one more percussive voice buried in the mix, while Gill's stabs are pushed forward and made to sound alone, dropping out completely rather than looping, so the groove keeps moving without it.

Burnham is precise about what Free gave them, and it wasn't the hit single. 'Free was a huge influence on us, which probably most Americans know from one song alone, "All Right Now,"' he said, 'but they really taught us, along with all the reggae and dub reggae we were listening to, about space — not to fill every hole, not to do big fills on the drums... or really fast guitar solos.' That restraint became a structural habit in Gill's own playing, the guitar cutting out mid-song so the silence carries the beat instead of a fill.

listen: upstream & heresource: The Current — interview with Hugo Burnham of Gang of Four (Dr. Feelgood and Free influence) ↗share

1970

Mr. BigFree

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1979

AnthraxGang of Four

listen forFree's 'Mr. Big' locks the whole band into a tight blues-rock strut, then drops to just drums and bass while guitarist Paul Kossoff disappears for measures at a time. 'Anthrax' pushes the same move further: the guitar surfaces only as feedback, cuts out entirely, and the track keeps running on drums alone before it returns. Both songs treat the missing instrument as the hook, not the one still playing.