To Hell With Poverty!

A Class Act: Inside the Gang of Four

Jon King

$59.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Constable
08 July 2025

Punk, New Wave & Indie

'Entertaining and revealing . . . it offers a deeply human portrait of its narrator, a creative force shaped by chaos, resilience and an unrelenting drive to make art. It is a personal and, at times, harrowing journey which provides insight into a band that contributed to the evolution of rock music and inspired generations' Louder Than War

'To Hell With Poverty! captures something of [Gang of Four's] essence rare: fractious, discordant, thrilling' MOJO

From Jon King, the legendary frontman of iconic post-punk band, Gang of Four, comes a memoir to remember.

To Hell With Poverty! documents Jon's story from a south London slum and working-class background to international success as core musician, lyricist, writer, and producer in acclaimed post-punk/funk band, Gang of Four. Made up of charming vignettes, the reader is taken on an episodic journey full of raucous adventures from Jon's childhood and teenage years, to the height of Gang of Four's success in the seventies and eighties.

Thrown off of Top of the Pops, truncheoned by police at an anti-Nazi rally, being at the heart of the Leeds music scene and the UK postpunk movement, fraternising with Hell's Angels and other undesirables, supported by bands like R.E.M. and playing with the Buzzcocks, there's no doubt King's time with Gang of Four is rich with jaw-dropping stories.

Evocative, pacey and witty in equal measure, To Hell With Poverty! is a music memoir for the ages

By: Jon King
Imprint: Constable
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 576g
ISBN: 9781408721568
ISBN 10: 1408721562
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 08 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jon King is a musician, songwriter, and Grammy-nominated art director in the band Gang of Four.

Reviews for To Hell With Poverty!: A Class Act: Inside the Gang of Four

A fast paced and exciting story, recalled in dramatic detail . . . King's prose writing voice has the kind of bolshy energy you associate with his band, propelling the story through a series of great anecdotes. A cautionary tale, maybe, but a very enjoyable one too * Louder Than War * A sparkling, affectionate account of growing up with music in the 60s and 70s and, for a member of a band as intense and political as the Gang of Four, surprisingly self-knowing and immensely funny -- Mark Ellen To Hell With Poverty! captures something of [Gang of Four's] essence rare: fractious, discordant, thrilling * MOJO * Much like the group's music and attitude, [To Hell With Poverty] stomps on any cliché and reinvigorates the form with a mix of earthy realism and elevated sociology * Classic Rock *