Rhino To Re-release Gang Of Four's Entertainment!
by Staff | 00.00.0000

Rhino Records rights a cultural crime by re-releasing Gang Of Four's debut album, ENTERTAINMENT!, on May 17. The reissue supplements the groundbreaking 1979 album's 12 original tracks with eight previously unreleased and rare recordings. Out of print for eight years, ENTERTAINMENT! will once again be available.

In addition to the original album's 12 tracks, the ENTERTAINMENT! reissue includes the Yellow EP (two U.K. singles and their B-sides combined as a 12" EP for American audiences) and four previously unreleased cuts. Fans will be thrilled to hear early alternate versions of "Guns Before Butter" and "Contract" that offer a look at the way the band developed its songs.

Two live tracks round out the CD, capturing Gang Of Four in concert at their peak. "Blood Free" was never recorded in the studio, and live versions of it are so scarce that the band members themselves didn't recognize the song when they first heard the tape. A rollicking live rendition of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" shows Gang Of Four's love of rock 'n' roll, undercutting the misperception of the band as dour Marxists.

Gang Of Four have re-formed with all four original members (Jon King, vocals; Andy Gill, guitar, vocals; Dave Allen, bass; and Hugo Burnham, drums) for the first time in 23 years and are touring the U.S. in May, including a stop at the world-famous Coachella Music Festival in California
on May 1.

ENTERTAINMENT!
1. ETHER
2. NATURAL'S NOT IN IT
3. NOT GREAT MEN
4. DAMAGED GOODS
5. RETURN THE GIFT
7. I FOUND THAT ESSENCE RARE
8. GLASS
9. CONTRACT
10. AT HOME HE'S A TOURIST
11. 5-45
12. ANTHRAX

Bonus Tracks
13. OUTSIDE THE TRAINS DON'T RUN ON TIME
14. HE'D SEND IN THE ARMY
15. IT'S HER FACTORY
16. ARMALITE RIFLE
17. GUNS BEFORE BUTTER (Alternate Version)*
18. CONTRACT (Alternate Version)*
19. BLOOD FREE (Live)*
20. SWEET JANE (Live)*
* Previously Unissued

Gang of Four US Dates

May 1 Coachella
May 2 San Francisco @ Fillmore
May 3 San Francisco @ Fillmore
May 5 Portland @ Crystal Ballroom
May 6 Seattle @ Showbox
May 7 Vancouver @ Commodore
May 10 Minneapolis @ Quest
May 11 Chicago @ Metro
May 12 Chicago @ Metro
May 14 Toronto @ Phoenix
May 16 Boston @ Avalon
May 17 NYC @ Irving Plaza
May 18 NYC @ Irving Plaza
May 20 Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
May 21 Philadelphia @ tba