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Tours: Gang of Four signs to V2; releasing new track on iTunes

Posted by aubin on Friday, April 29, 2005 at 2:35 PM (EDT)

Recently reunited post-punk quartet, Gang of Four has signed to V2. The band, who will soon see the reissue of their 1979 debut Entertainment!, will release a new double disc package on August 30th. The record will include re-recorded versions of "To Hell With Poverty," "I Love A Man In A Uniform" and "Damaged Goods", along with new remixes from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ladytron, Dandy Warhols and The Futureheads.

The band has also released the first single from the upcoming set as an iTunes single, and you can find that here: "To Hell With Poverty"

They have also announced another series of dates in the US and Canada beginning in May.

Date	City	Venue
May 2, 2005	San Francisco, CA	Fillmore
May 3, 2005	San Francisco, CA	Fillmore
May 5, 2005	Portland, OR	Crystal Ballroom
May 6, 2005	Seattle, WA	Showbox
May 7, 2005	Vancouver	Commodore
May 10, 2005	Minneapolis, MN	Quest
May 11, 2005	Chicago, IL	Metro
May 12, 2005	Chicago, IL	Metro
May 13, 2005	Detroit, MI	The Majestic
May 14, 2005	Toronto	Phoenix
May 16, 2005	Boston, MA	Avalon
May 17, 2005	New York, NY	Irving Plaza
May 18, 2005	New York, NY	Irving Plaza
May 20, 2005	Washington DC	9:30 Club
May 21, 2005	Philadelphia, PA	Theatre Of Living Arts

V2 (77 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Seriously.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

i dig the song

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Who exactly is V2? The only thing I know about them is that they put out the Blood Brothers latest cd.

3+ Replies

Someone (April 29, 2005)

its a major that puts out the white stripes and moby records.

mjg (April 29, 2005)

technically, they're not a major, as Virgin is the owner and they have a distrobution deal with SonyBMG. it was originally started as an "independent" label, but obviously when the name and money of Virgin are backing it, they don't sign the local garage band down the street. however, in europe, v2 has a vast number of distros, as well as much more artists, and caters to each countries musical perferences.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

They're mostly european, they have some really really big bands, if you're from the uk you know stereophonics, cause they were almost as big as u2 a year or two ago, i mean, they draw 50000 people and shit. So, to answer your question: Someone that has a shitload of money.

Pacer (April 29, 2005)

Ah for fuck sake, can someone please stay off the cocking majors.

5+ Replies

Someone (April 29, 2005)

you realise that when these bands started, they were all on majors. every major punk band from teh 70's was. the ramones, sex pistols, the clash all of them. a band that is at late in their game as gang of 4 is looking for security at this point and the majors can supply that. plus V2 wouldn't be dumb enough to try to make a band like gang of 4 change, i think they understand that it won't work if they change their bands. think about how poorly the white stripes would have done if V2 had made them get a bass player.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

exactly why the Ramones, Clash, and Sex Pistols were bullshit. Those bands were no different than the shit bands today that are only known for being on a major, such as Green Day. They were all watered down.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

you sir are an idiot. the ramones were certainly bullshit, and completely changed thier music to fit a major label. they were more real than your Unseens or Casualties could ever dream of being

Someone (April 29, 2005)

uh uh!! you are TAG

Someone (April 29, 2005)

The ramones were the first band to have girlie haircuts and tight jeans. damn fashion-punk trend setters!

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

But Gang of Four were never on a major lable until now.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

actually they were

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

wich one?

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Emi.

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

I was thinking that.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

They've pretty much always been on a major

littleblackridinghood (April 29, 2005)

thats interesting, what record label was crass on? subhumans? dead kennedys? black flag? the corporate/indie dichotomy is the same then as it was now.

inanechild (April 29, 2005)

I thought Black Flag was supposed to be on MCA, they just got kicked off because Damaged was deemed "anti-family," then that whole court battle happened for them to get the rights to it, etc.

littleblackridinghood (April 29, 2005)

ok, but in point of fact did they ever release anything not on sst?

Someone (April 29, 2005)

SST was briefly run by MCA. Read Our Band Could Be Your Life

Someone (April 29, 2005)

wow you are so correct. those bands started up out of no where with no influences. oh wait no they didn't, they were all influenced by the bands i was talking about. those bands were around for the beginings of indie labels but the bands who influenced them were on majors. it doesn't really matter, if a band changes because they are on a major then they are fucking posuers... a band like gang of 4 has been around for so long i don't think that signing to a major label is really going affect anything outside of better advertising for the new record, which will hopefully make people realise that the shit bands who have been getting big as of late, mentioned elsewhere in this thread, are ripping off these guys and doing a poor job of it.

littleblackridinghood (April 29, 2005)

well gosh then, every single rock and roll band is practically major label now because they were indirectly inspired by the beatles. thats some sound logic you have there.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

don't forget the Stones!

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Wow, way to miss the guy's point... Or horrendously misinterpret it. Either way, you suck, and it's just wishful thinking that the bands you tote as indie punk (great bands) weren't directly inspired by major label bands. -BSD

Someone (April 29, 2005)

You're talking about bands that started 5 years after the bands other dude mentioned.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Um, who really cares?

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Gang of Four rocks. i own A breif history of the 20th century. Im pretty sure these guys were one of the first to blend the dirty punk rock with dancy parts that everyone loves these days.

3+ Replies

IheartAdam (April 29, 2005)

I'm not sure I ever want to find out what "dancy" punk really means or sounds like. Is IFARM still around? I guess I should really make more an effort to listen to punk music if I'm going to ditch Adam but remain at this site.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

so Head Automatica should thank these guys????

Someone (April 29, 2005)

nope.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

There's a lot more to Gang of Four than dance-punk. There's the warping of "normal" song structure and complete disregard for any kind of established part of music orthodoxy - Gang of Four innovated more than almost any other band around, and for that reason sound more modern than any band today. Also, the albums (specifically, "Entertainment", "Solid Gold" and the "Another Day, Another Dollar" EP) flow much better than "A Brief History". They're must haves, in my opinion.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

who is this?

3+ Replies

Someone (April 29, 2005)

download the song "damaged goods" and be amazed.

iamfuckyou (April 29, 2005)

and this board is epitomized in one statement. thanks for the summation.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

you + wussy = pussy

iamfuckyou (April 30, 2005)

was someone talking? i could have sworn someone said something...

Someone (April 29, 2005)

this band is the next bloc party!!!

2+ Replies

littleblackridinghood (April 29, 2005)

comment of the day?

JazzHandz (April 29, 2005)

agreed?

ElVaquero (April 29, 2005)

Does anyone else see a connection between the song title and the signing...?

1+ Reply

Someone (April 29, 2005)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Riding with the iTunes topic... How many PNdotO users are excited for Tiger today? I've had it since Monday, but today at 6pm marks it official release date. I haven't had a chance to mess with it too much, but the Dashboard is wonderful and there's already a plethora of new Widgets popping up on Apple.com and misc. sites. - Kirby

1+ Reply

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

maks are ghey

JazzHandz (April 29, 2005)

I didn't buy the song and there wasn't any lyrics on the clip itunes gave me, is this an instrumental band?

3+ Replies

Someone (April 29, 2005)

no

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

They're jive funk.

JazzHandz (April 29, 2005)

That's mad gangster.

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

That song title fits neatly with their recent cash-in status. Still, i do like them.

BizzleBrizzle (April 29, 2005)

This band rips off Franz Ferdinand!

2+ Replies

littleblackridinghood (April 29, 2005)

not as good as the bloc party comment

Someone (April 29, 2005)

agreed?

Someone (April 29, 2005)

This band sounds too much like Pink Floyd.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

What in the fuck is post-punk.

3+ Replies

Someone (April 29, 2005)

opposite of pre-punk

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

correction, PROTO-punk

StevePantalones (April 29, 2005)

like PROTO-MAN, Mega-Man's brother

Someone (April 30, 2005)

Iron Maiden = Mega man music

BizzleBrizzle (April 29, 2005)

Expansive name for everything that followed punk other than pop-punk and hardcore. Post-Punk basically involves stuff like Gang of Four, Bauhaus, Joy Division, and DEVO. Also involves most of the new-wave phenomenon.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

You're no match for the batdad!!

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Just give me some of that dirty pop, dirty pop! -N'SYNC

gladimnotemo (April 29, 2005)

This is just...kinda weird.

gladimnotemo (April 29, 2005)

What is the point of the re-recording? The new version and the original both sound the same, save for the new version have 30 more seconds of buzzing guitar. The original didn't sound bad or dated to begin with...

1+ Reply

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Hell, most Gang of Four sounds more up-to-date than most songs recorded in the last 10 years.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

They'll never beat the original recording of "To Hell With Poverty!" (did they drop the exclamation point here?). In fact, though I'm a die-hard Gang of Four fan, I feel like anything released after "Songs of the Free" is mediocre - why oh why did they go disco? They started as one of the most ferocious and innovative punk bands around, and ended up as the progenitors of boring dance-punk. What a shame. Oh well, the first three albums and two EPs are amazing, so I'm contented. However, there aren't any reviews of any of them here for some reason... hmm... maybe I should write one.

1+ Reply

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Someone should. Get it? Your name is someone!

Ana (April 29, 2005)

gang of four -- coachella --- hell -ya! most def one of the best of the recently 'reunited'

rkl (April 29, 2005)

i love gang of four, but this re-release looks like a bunch of crap. maybe theyll get new listeners, but god knows theyre hyped enough by their percieved fan base already. indie kids shit themselves over gof. ive seen it happen on more than one occasion, and boy, is it messy.

1+ Reply

Someone (April 29, 2005)

indie kids shit themselves over gof... AS WELL THEY SHOULD!

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Fantastic Four: The Movie

Someone (April 29, 2005)

Gang Bang of Four I could go for that

Someone (April 29, 2005)

v2 is only distributed by sonybmg. otherwise, they are wholly independent. richard branson has not sold any part of the company. his only partner in the company is a bank that has nothing to do with any other record label.

1+ Reply

Osloboditelj (April 29, 2005)

Labels distributed by majors are usually displayed as majors here. I'm not sure if I agree with that, but it's how it goes.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

A former group that saw a money-making opportunity and took it... ...and is running fast as hell with it. Yay for capitalism!

1+ Reply

UberShep (April 29, 2005)

And they used to be quite the socialists. I guess becoming a lawyer will do that to a man.

Someone (April 29, 2005)

I'm not installing any crap on my computer so you can promote your band. Don't make me work for you to do your job.

1+ Reply

Someone (April 29, 2005)

I'm Gay -Jones the Real Bones

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