Tuesday 29 February 2000 01:56 Dear People, First of all - HAPPY LEAP YEAR'S DAY - now I can't say that here for another four years second, and just as important, I was in Oxfam (a charity shop) in Ealing, West London today and for £1.99 I got a copy of (on cassette) Songs of the Free by Gang of Four, now this is wierd because I, just two days ago, ordered their first album called Entertainment from amazon. I used to own both of these albums in the early '80's on vinyl (and I've no idea if there were any center etchings - so no one ask me).......so what? I hear in chorus...well nostalgia is part of it, but it's also a great album, although now deleted. Entertainment was a better album, as far as I remember and I now can't wait to hear it again. Anthrax was a brilliant track. So what's so good about them.........? "one the most powerful rhythm sections of the era, completed a line-up that was soon in the post-punk vanguard" "King's Marxist-intellectual lyrics drew much attention, but it was the band's overall sound which startled - punky in its minimalism and attack, but made distinctive by Gill's choppy, stroppy guitar style, involving lashings of feedback - sometimes brilliant, sometimes awful - which were fully incorporated into the songs, rather than as a mere climax to the performance. (This technique anticipated the sonic assault of The Jesus & Mary Chain in the mid-80s.) Of equal importance to the Gang's sound was the inventive drumming of Burnham, and Allen's rich, driving bass, which provided a watertight 'martial funk' basis for freewheeling voice and guitar. The overall effect was of Dr. Feelgood and Sly And The Family Stone rehearsing in the same room." "Gang Of Four's rock-funk template was being widely adopted by everyone from Talking Heads to The Pop Group" "Entertainment shredded everything that came before it. The Gang Of Four know how to swing. I stole a lot from them" Michael Stipe REM all quotes from The Rough Guide to Rock If you get a chance take a listen (try your library), don't miss out............and listen for influences on B&S.........Well I can't find any but I had to metion B&S, didn't I Honey. Anyone out there remember Gang of Four?.........go on admit it! yeah, yeah so I also remember seeing Bill Grundy egging on the Sex Pistols to swear on early evening telly in 1976.....(now that's a piece of history).......... Sinisteree 1 - "What's he going on about? Sinisteree 2 - Don't ask me I wasn't even born in '76. ....as I said nostalgia..........try and avoid it - you can't - for me it's Poggles Wood and UFO and my dad driving us to Camber Sands.......now you've all heard of Camber Sands (yeah, well it was there in 1970 as well).................... as I said nostalgia..............so what's your nostalgia?.........come on, don't be shy! sweet dreams and sweeter dadreams (that was supposed to be daydreams - must have been thinking of Camber Sands).......by the way I take my kids there now........well I used to anyway........hope to do it again this year......... the more that things change, the more they stay the same (can't remember the French translation) Colin +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+