Previous Episode: Pat MacDonald - Episode 896

Steve Cooper talks with musician Jon King. Jon is best known as the singer-songwriter and founding member of the Leeds-based post-punk band Gang of Four. Gang of Four was one of the most influential and groundbreaking bands to rise from the British punk scene in the late '70s. Their 1979 LP, Entertainment, received triumphant reviews from critics and was a surprise hit in the U.K., while their third album, 1982's Songs of the Free gave them a commercial breakthrough in the United States as the single "I Love a Man in a Uniform" gained airplay on college radio and open-minded R&B stations. They folded after 1983's Hard, but periodically re-formed the band in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s for touring and recording projects that kept their singular sound alive.