The album that “completely changed” how Flea looked at rock music
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has never been afraid to discuss the extensive patchwork of musicians that influenced him. This always makes for compelling reading, given that he has cherrypicked from across popular culture to establish his influential legacy.
While he might be known chiefly for his distinctive form of slap bass that takes from the instrument’s greats like Parliament-Funkadelic pioneer Bootsy Collins and the late Jaco Pastorius, there is much more to Flea’s music than is immediately apparent. As well as being a mightily groovy player, there’s also a dynamic fire that runs concurrently with this aspect. Fans don’t have to look far to find evidence of this elemental power in the live setting.
This makes a lot of sense, as, at his core, Flea is a punk. A lifelong fan of consequential Californian groups such as Fear and Black Flag as well as goth rock acts – a genre related to punk – such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division. Without this period of music, it’s safe to say that Flea probably wouldn’t be the cultural icon he is today. It served as a galvanising force for him.
It is also understandable, then, that Flea is a great fan of not only one of the most influential bands that emerged out of punk but also those that fused the genre with funky dynamism to decisive effect. This is Leeds’ Gang of Four, the post-punk heroes led by the late guitarist Andy Gill, who produced Red Hot Chili Peppers’ divisive 1984 debut album.
Flea has always been happy to discuss the quartet’s immense impact on him, and once said that their 1979 debut album Entertainment! “changed” how he approached music and, more importantly, led to him being the icon of the bass we all know today. Of the record’s effect on him, he said: “It completely changed the way I looked at rock music and sent me on my trip as a bass player.”
Following Andy Gill’s death in February 2020, Flea reflected on the impact of Gang of Four on him once more and implored fans to listen to Entertainment!: “Andy Gill, one of my favourite guitar players of all time has left us. Go listen to the Gang of Four album Entertainment! right now. Turn that shit up loud and rock the fuck out. Dance. Think,” Flea wrote in an Instagram tribute.
He continued: “That’s a record that changed my life forever and was massively influential on my development as a musician and showed me what a rock band could be. There is nothing else like it. It cut a fucking hole right in the thick LA smog that I wanted to jump through.”
Listen to Entertainment! below.
