Dave Allen - Still On the Scene
Published March 19, 2003
The great punk/funk pioneer bassist Dave Allen has not been idle since veering from the public eye, founding the terrific but overlooked World Domination label, and now pushing the cutting edge artist development-marketing monster, Overland Entertainment.
Allen was a founder and the rhythmic heart of one of the most important punk/postpunk bands, Gang of Four, leading their groove-based charge through radical politics and amazing songs like "Where We All Belong" "At Home He's a Tourist" "Anthrax" "To Hell With Poverty," before leaving in '82 to create the bone-deep alt-funk of Shriekback with such timeless moody floor-thumpers as "Lined Up" "Hand On My Heart" "My Spine (Is the Bassline)" "Nemesis" (some of my favorite lyrics all-time: "Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis, everybody's happy when the dead come home" - can't say it without chanting it), and the lovely and evocative "The Shining Path."
Now Allen is leading artists, their management, and even labels through the maze of the digital revolution:
- OED FOR ARTISTS
Our mission: We offer artists an alternative to the record industry.
Your mission: Make music and make a living from doing what you love.
The problem as we see it: Major labels are followers not leaders, they are not aware of what is happening on the street. They also want to own your master recordings and copyrights forever. There are some independent labels out there that are amazing but there are many that are seriously under-funded. And that 50/50 deal they offer? Well, 50% of zero is still zero!
As a band or a solo artist you are a brand. It's not complicated. Your talent, your music, your image and your performances are all aspects of your brand. We know the music industry. We also know branding, marketing, promotion, sales and distribution.
We can help you.
The full Artists Development Package:
This includes a web site, an online store, an MP3 streaming radio station, viral email flash cards and specialized online marketing plans and more — and no up front costs either! We even do your hosting for you.
By using our package you eliminate the middleman and keep the bulk of your income.
Or you can pick and choose. Offer your CDs for sale in our store. Use our flash cards to market them and to help develop or add to your email database. Check out one of our flash cards — http://www.deadweightsf.com/promos
Maybe you just need to add an online store to your existing web site with the ability to accept credit card payments or PayPal.
- Dave Allen - Still On the Scene
- Published: March 19, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Music: Electronica, Music: Alternative Rock, Sci/Tech: Internet, Music: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments on this articleComments
Nigel,
I discovered that "Solid Gold" was just re-released in a bastardized version coupled with "Hard!" Unfortunately "Entertainment!" remains locked in the vaults in the USA but may be available in the UK.
I had an interview with Gang of Four years ago, and after asking them what their influences were, Hugo Burnham replied: "Jesus, vodka and Karl Marx".
Also, and Dave might correct this, but wasn't Dave Allen the guitarist for Gang of Four (I'm too fucking lazy to go over to my stack of CDs and LPs to read the liner notes). Ooops, sorry, after a click to allmusic, he did indeed play bass, Andy Gill was the guitarist. Allmusic also classifies them as "Fiery, Tense/Anxious, Cerebral, Cynical/Sarcastic, Angst-Ridden, Angry"
I tend to think of Sarah Lee as the bassist in Gang of Four.
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Always good to see an old post-punk favorite still active -- I'd totally lost touch with what Allen was doing after Shriekback all those years ago -- and have another excuse to plug the Gang of Four. Wish someone would reissue Entertainment and Solid Gold as, fine as A Brief History of the Twentieth Century is, it omits classics like "I Found That Essence Rare" and "Outside the Trains Don't Run On Time" to include some of the dodgy (Allen-less) later material.