Nana's Sunday Jams: Damaged Goods - Gang Of Four

Published on 2020-12-13 00:00:00 by Nana Fani-Kayode

Yes Sunday Jammers. So, hope you are well. Have you managed to catch any of the lights around the city? Feels extra special this year, I stood in the glow and felt like I was shaking off the blanket of fog and confusion that’s had us all so tightly wrapped. Something about the quietness of the streets makes it feel even more magical; like the setting for some post-modern musical, set to ambient lo-fi beats rather then show tunes. Definitely worth checking out.So, the New Year’s playlist continues. Last week’s solo energiser track was courtesy of Little Simz. This week I had trouble narrowing it down finding something appropriate for a Sunday Jam dance felt impossible. New Year’s Eve is wile out heaven for me; all I want is music that is going to take over, lead me somewhere and chase away the year’s dust. This year the dust has been heavy, thick, the kind that gets into the back of your throat and is constantly tickling, forcing you to cough. So, should the music match that? Then I had to remember that this part of the playlist is the group hype jam, the final one that gets us moving out the door and onto the main event. So, it needs to have attitude, familiar enough so we can shout out to the lyrics and induces a smile as soon as it comes on. I still couldn’t narrow it down, so I declare two tunes, they are at completely different ends of the musical spectrum but still bring the hype. This week will feature the first and next week the second, but both are in the same section of the overall playlist.The track is ‘Damaged Goods’ and the band is Gang of Four. Post Punk rocking energy to get everyone out of their corners, meeting on whatever space is posing as the dance floor. Whatever your musical vibe, this track never fails to get feet stomping I’ve seen dedicated two steppers, beat heads and hardcore jumpers find the room in this track, each bringing all kinds of attitude to the dance floor. I went through a stage of playing this at so many parties no matter what was on at the time…it was mostly successful with a few bomb outs but can’t lead everyone to genius. As the group hype track it’s got everything you could want; a hard-fast guitar matched by a deep bass rift, crashing drums and vocals that could take a bite out of you. There is something so full about this track it pulses with static electricity one minute then sparse and stripped back in the next. The tale of a confusing, maddening attraction adds to the edge and gives it a sexiness that always makes the small hairs on my neck stand to attention 0- no matter how many times I play it I always get that rush of electricity. It’s a track that needs to be sung out and given into, no polite dancing allowed – it’s an actual rule.For anyone who might be interested check out the album Entertainment, lots of beautiful sonic deconstruction, vocal experimentation and musical prowess. These guys were ahead of the curb, this was their debut album and ‘Damaged Goods’; the debut single it will burn its way into your music memory. The perfect way to level up or even make it the main event for your evening.