Last month, Dave Allen, former bassist of the Gang of Four, Shriekback, King Swamp, Low Pop Suicide, The Elastic Purejoy, and finally Faux Hoax passed away aged 69 after living with early-onset dementia for several years. Allen, twenty years old, joined Gang of Four in the first year and remained with them from 1976 to 1981, before joining with Barry Andrews from XTC to start Shriekback, where he remained until after “Big Night Music” (1986), before joining King Swamp and founding World Domination Recordings, which remained in operation from 1989 to 1996. Through this label Low Pop Suicide performed the soundtrack fo the 1993 Mexican-American film, “The Harvest”. In The Elastic Purejoy he performed the roles of main lyricist, vocalist, and bassist.
In the post-punk musical era of the late 1970s and through the 1980s, the basslines of Dave Allen, loomed large. With the possible exception of Peter Hook of Joy Division, and New Order, no other bassist from this particular musical style was as well-known and many credit Allen as being inspirational to their own interest in the bass guitar. Like Hook, Allen would often dominate a song, playing the bass like a lead guitar, but unlike Hook, he would remain on the low notes and would often perform bass syncopated with Andy Gill’s guitar. Allen through Gang of Four and Shriekback is seen as absolutely pivotal in the development of the unexpected fusion of punk-funk, which includes more the minimalist Talking Heads, at least in the earlier albums.
In Gang of Four’s debut single, “Damaged Goods” (1978), Allen set what would be his signature style, combining both the swagger of funk and the aggression of punk. Other especially memorable works from this period must include “Return the Gift” (1979), “I Love a Man in Uniform” (1982), and “What We All Want” (1981). Diverting purely from just the basslines, Gang of Four’s utterly superb lyrical merging of political economy and sexual politics cannot go unmentioned. Arguably, albeit in a very similar style, Allen’s basslines with Shriekback were possibly even more well known. From the deep and thundering ominious sounds of “Sexthinkone” (1982), through to the anthem “My Spine is the Bassline” (1983), the driving thunder of “Lined Up” (1983), the slaps and twangs of “Malaria” (1985), to the broodiness in the gothic dance-floor passion of “Nemesis” (1985).
Allen’s later projects did not quite have the same prominence but did carry a statesman-like air to them. The King Swamp remains an overlooked band in the powerful alternative rock genre, and Allen bass foundations worked impressively well with the masculine vocalisations of Walter Wray; in particular see “Blown Away” (1990). With contrast, Low Pop Suicide could range from the gothic rock of their first album, “On the Cross of Commerce”, where Allen’s vocals are quite admirable in that genre, to a curious combination with Belinda Carlisle as “The Crash Baptists” in The Harvest soundtrack to provide some truly eclectic trance music.
At the end of it all, we have but memories and recordings. For your truly grand contribution to modern music, Dave Allen, we but you fare well; Your spine is the bassline, And the top line is the distant past, All that history, all those books have gone, They’ve been blown away on a breath of lust.

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