Overview

TO HELL WITH POVERTY! documents Jon King's story from a South London slum and impoverished working-class background to international success as core musician, lyricist, writer, and producer in legendary post-punk/funk band Gang of Four. The reader is taken on an episodic and kaleidoscopic journey full of adventures from childhood to the end of Gang of Four's 'golden period' in 1984. Thrown off Top of the Pops, truncheoned by police at an anti-Nazi rally, being at the heart of Leeds music scene and the UK post-punk movement in the 1970s, fraternising with Hell's Angels and other undesirables, supported by bands like REM and playing with the likes of the Police and Talking Heads, King's times with Gang of Four are rich with stories.

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9781408721537

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Reviews

A sparkling, affectionate account of growing up with music in the 60s and 70s and, for a member of a band as intense and political as the Gang of Four, surprisingly self-knowing and immensely funny -- Mark Ellen To Hell With Poverty! captures something of [Gang of Four's] essence rare: fractious, discordant, thrilling * MOJO * Much like the group's music and attitude, [To Hell With Poverty] stomps on any cliché and reinvigorates the form with a mix of earthy realism and elevated sociology * Classic Rock * King is an engaging anecdotalist * The Wire * Entertaining and revealing . . . it offers a deeply human portrait of its narrator, a creative force shaped by chaos, resilience and an unrelenting drive to make art. It is a personal and, at times, harrowing journey which provides insight into a band that contributed to the evolution of rock music and inspired generations * Louder Than War * Passionate, beautiful, and tragic . . . King allows his readers to experience the textures of life in postwar Britain through the story of one of its most important bands * The Battleground *

A sparkling, affectionate account of growing up with music in the 60s and 70s and, for a member of a band as intense and political as the Gang of Four, surprisingly self-knowing and immensely funny -- Mark Ellen To Hell With Poverty! captures something of [Gang of Four's] essence rare: fractious, discordant, thrilling * MOJO * Much like the group's music and attitude, [To Hell With Poverty] stomps on any cliché and reinvigorates the form with a mix of earthy realism and elevated sociology * Classic Rock * King is an engaging anecdotalist * The Wire * Entertaining and revealing . . . it offers a deeply human portrait of its narrator, a creative force shaped by chaos, resilience and an unrelenting drive to make art. It is a personal and, at times, harrowing journey which provides insight into a band that contributed to the evolution of rock music and inspired generations * Louder Than War *

Author Information

Jon King is an English musician, songwriter, and Grammy-nominated Art Director in the post-punk band Gang of Four.

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