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Baker's Dozen

Rare Essences: Andy Gill Of Gang Of Four's Favourite Records
Bryan Brussee , February 3rd, 2020 11:04

Five years ago, following the release of their eighth album, What Happens Next, Andy Gill of Gang Of Four talked Bryan Brussee through the picks of his record collection, both albums and individual tracks

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Chic - 'Good Times'
I love the production, how they orchestrated those grooves. And Bernard Edwards was a genius bass player, how he came up with that riff that's so often copied. Again, it was just their interpretation of black American funk music.

Those guys were supposed to produce the fourth [Gang Of Four] album. And I'd met with him, Bernard Edwards; by the time we'd got to the fourth album, he had died at that point. But I'd met with Nile Rodgers a couple of times, talking about doing a Gang Of Four record. And while that process was going on, Bowie's Let's Dance came out. So not unreasonably they asked for an extra per cent or something, you know, because their stock had just gone up a lot, which I thought was to be expected. But my manager said, "Oh, we can't do that", and I feel fairly confident that he was taking a backhander from the people who did do it in the end. I think Hard could have been great. As it was, there were some great songs on that album, but the production doesn't quite get it right.