Jon King (2)

However interesting the person or subject, I usually avoid reading memoirs do to their often self-serving nature. Seldom does the author risk showing him or herself in a negative light (unless it's a story of redemption) and the memories shared are, at best, sanitized. However, I couldn't resist a book written by a founding member of 'The Gang of Four', and I am thrilled to report that this decision was greatly rewarded.

Jon King's book is, in a word, excellent. After spending a bit of time show more on his own childhood (which was surprisingly interesting) King gets us to the reason just about anyone picked up the book, his famous band. Along the way we learn about his lyrical inspirations, his bandmates hopes and desires, everyone's educational backgrounds, numerous adventures while on tour, and even a modicum of an answer to the question of why (oh Why?!?), despite the critical acclaim and rabid fan base, 'Gang of Four' never hit the charts (or as it turns out, make any money).

I am purposely leaving this review thin on specifics in the hopes that any fans of 80s post punk music will pick it up and enjoy the revelations King shares. I think it will be more than worth your time. show less

I received this for free through the Early Reviewers program.
The voice in this book is fantastic. The personality of Jon King carries the reader from the first page to the last, seeing tragedy and joy from one human perspective. It’s an interesting mix of telling it straight and obviously concealing things, but it doesn’t feel dishonest, perhaps because this mix is precisely what it’s like to exist as a person. You can’t see what you can’t see, and when you tell a story you can show more only tell it from your perspective, even if you have more information when you tell it than you did at the time.
King’s account of growing up was striking. His voice lends a starkness to the life he lived as a child. The way class and mistreatment (but also love, care and kindness) shaped his childhood are apparent and foreshadow, in a way, how his life shapes up later.
I enjoyed the pacing of the book, because the rather thorough telling of his childhood explains a lot about how he functioned in the band, and what his goals and intellectual proclivities are.
As he enters into the first years with the band, he’s enjoyably explicit about how joyful the music making is. The narration style allows him to describe hardship and disappointment at the same time he was experiencing some fantastic creative years, without glossing over it to make it seem too romantic. He was convincing enough, however, that it inspired me to get back on the keyboard.
It’s hard to read the later chapters of the book, wherein the band falls apart, after seeing how it could flourish with all present and working together, but it’s clear that well-oiled creative machine couldn’t exist for very long, and wasn’t that well-oiled while it was working. The oddest part, I have to say, was the somewhat tender In Memoriam to Andy Gill, after the last third of the book. I won’t say more at risk of saying too much.
I’d highly recommend this book, even to those like me who were unfamiliar with Gang of Four. It’s a window on an experience that is compelling to read. show less

I got this book for free through the Early Reviewers program. I have been a fan of Gang of Four since back in the day. This is a memoir of the early days of Jon King and Gang of Four. It's not a "my life til now" memoir. Which is fine, it was just a little odd to be reading it and be like "I'm almost at the end and we're still in the early eighties..."

King grew up very working class and developed a class sensibility pretty early on in life. He was fortunate enough to go to a "good school" show more which gave him a bit of a leg up and which also made him both "fancy" to some of his audience and peers while also not at all fancy to the truly fancy. King has a great narrative voice. This book goes along at a quick pace with a lot of fun casual (and sometimes inscrutable) slang. He talks about a lot of the people he met but the book does not at all feel name-droppy. You get a real feel for what was going on in the punk scene at about that time. I even saw a club I knew from Boston in one of King's photos which are sprinkled throughout the book.

His story is told mostly-sequentially through a lot of slice of life anecdotes that get at various themes. There is a lot of detail about his early home life and the early days of the band. It gets a little more muddled when it spells out the details of their US and UK labels and especially their management. King does not talk about his personal life or his partner much at all.

The band was perpetually broke and apparently ripped off by their US management. The book ends on a sour note when King feels forced by their manager to fire their drummer and then the rest of the band gets hung up in petty squabbling and eventually dissolve somewhat. King and Andy Gill, the other main songwriter in the early 80s have huge creative differences and the last few short chapters are grim and bleak. Which is too bad because people who know GOF know that they wound up back together and are doing a farewell tour this year, even though Gill and Dave Allen have died. And they're now playing with Ted Leo.

I would have liked to know more about the non-band parts of King's life after the band got started, but that's a truly minor quibble. This is an excellent memoir of a band you might not have even known you wanted to know more about. show less

Probably because I have similar political leanings, I enjoyed this book. It was an insight into British society from a common person's vantage, not the usual nobility/ruling class vantage point. I also enjoyed Jon King's search for fulfilling his dreams through the arts and music. In my opinion, art and music are an integral part of a civilized society and an aspect that seems to be diminishing in our current society. I found it interesting that his experience was no different than many show more other musicians who were financially ripped off (the Beatles fall into this category too). I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. show less