Ear on TV: Week of 02.07.11: Gang of Four

When the politically minded Gang Of Four debuted with the powerful Entertainment! back in 1979, the bomb that went off was more like a hand grenade, exploding years later as bands took up the Leeds quartet's sound and made it a commercial success. R.E.M. and Red Hot Chili Peppers enjoyed success incorporating some of Go4's post-punk funk agression, while more recent bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, Bloc Party, The Rapture and more have been far less subtle in their homage.

Now after 16 years of absence, songwriters Andy Gill and John King are back a new rhythm section and songs to reclaim their sound. From the opening salvo of Content's "She Said," it's obvious that age has done little to mellow the cult icons. On Tuesday, the band makes their first late night talk show appearance in 22 years, playing "You'll Never Pay For the Farm" on Letterman. Given the song's angry words for Wall Street, it's a given Gil and King won't be ringing any honorary opening bell while in town.

If Gang of Four's righteous anger has you on edge, why not grab your favorite smallish person and take in the unexpected treat of new Yo Gabba Gabba episodes this week. This week sees music performances from The Killers (Monday, doing "Spaceship Adventure), Band of Horses (Tuesday, doing "Nature") and Galaxie 500's Dean & Britta (performing “Let’s Ride" on Thursday). Here's a preview of The Killers' song written for the very special "Adventure" episode:



Elsewhere, this week finishes up with the increasingly less and less relevant Grammy Awards, highlighted by expected live performances from Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae and Cee Lo Green, breaking new ground by getting nominated for the F-word laden "F$%k You."

Picks for the week
Monday, February 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Nelly
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Escape the Fate
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Interpol (REPEAT)
NICK: Yo Gabba Gabba: The Killers
TBS: Conan: FaR*eAst Movement
Tuesday, February 8
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pitbull
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Gang of Four
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Delta Spirit
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Merle Haggard
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Little Big Town
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Jimmy Eat World
NICK: Yo Gabba Gabba: Band of Horses
TBS: Lopez Tonight: 50 Cent with Governor
Wednesday, February 9
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Ke$ha
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Elton John & Leon Russell
FUEL: The Daily Habit: A Skylit Drive
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Ricky Martin
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Cowboy Junkies
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Mini Mansions
TBS: Conan: Ray Lamontagne
Thursday, February 10
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pitbull
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bryan Ferry
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Grouplove
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Nicki Minaj
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Alberta Cross
NICK: Yo Gabba Gabba: Dean & Britta
SYNDICATION: Live With Regis and Kelly: Elton John
TBS: Lopez Tonight: The Pretty Wreckless
Friday, February 11
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Cage the Elephant
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Black Keys
Saturday, February 12
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show:
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Chris Brown
PBS: Austin City Limits: Pearl Jam (REPEAT)
Sunday, February 13
CBS: 53rd Annual Grammy Awards: Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, Cee Lo Green, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Katy Perry, Mick Jagger

Stream Gang of Four's Content

Gang of Four - Content
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Gang of Four have come back to remind us where bands like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, The Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, the Futureheads, The Bravery and more got there sound from. Content is their first album of new material in 16 years, and it's rattling the cage like it's 1979.

I coulda sworn I heard cheering when Johnny fell off the cliff

Last week saw the DVD release of The O.C.: The Complete Third Season, and in anticipation of Thursday night's season premiere, here's a quick rundown on the music from last season and what to expect this season.

Playlist: The O.C. - Season 3

For the third season, the music took some interesting turns, including the incorporation of some legends of Post-Punk, a genre that historically has shied away from consumer driven products (like The O.C.) First off, Bob Mould (Husker Du) let his song "Circles" get chopped up to use to back Marissa's dramatic moments for an episode (3.04,) which isn't that weird when you consider Mould took a break from music a few years ago to write professional wresting scripts (gasp! Pro wrestling is scripted?) Later in the season Gang of Four contributed their song "I Love a Man in Uniform" (episode 3.11) and then Black Flag got into the act with "Wasted" (for episode 3.13.)

The Peach Pit... er... I mean Bait Shop only had two musical guest performances, coming from The Subways and the wonderfully eccentric Tom Vek (no word yet on who's going to be stopping by this season.) Elsewhere Rogue Wave became a sort of 'series band' contributing four songs (over four episodes) and the annual funeral music moment this year (Johnny's funeral) was backed by Sufjan Steven's beautiful (and long-titled) "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti."

For the upcoming season, we can gather that there will be a theme of artists covering other artists, as the tracklisting from Music from the OC: Mix 6 (to be released 12/5) certainly suggests. Rogue Wave covering Pixies' "Debaser" and Band of Horses covering The New Year's "The End's Not Near" are the highlights that I see. Also, teen R&B singer Chris Brown will appear in seven episodes, playing "a geek" (Brown's description.) So as you can see, there's plenty to be excited about (musically speaking,) the upcoming season.

I'm in Mexico, but I've already seen the season premiere and have a report already to file (complete with sunburn and sand in shorts.)