Dave Allen, bassist in post-punk band Gang of Four’s core lineup before co-founding the British rock group Shriekback, has died at the age of 69.
Allen’s former Gang of Four band mate, drummer Hugh Burnham announced Sunday on social media that the bassist died at his home in Portland, Oregon. No cause of death was provided, but Burnham wrote that Allen “had endured the early-onset of mixed dementia for some years.”
“It is with broken yet full hearts that we share the news that Dave Allen, our old music partner, friend, and brilliant musician, died on Saturday morning,” Burnham wrote. “Jon [King, singer] and I [Hugo] went to see him and spent a lovely afternoon with him and the family. We talked and laughed for hours, sharing rich and vivid memories of good times together. Adventures, careers in music, raising families, our interwoven lives spanning half a century. We’ve been so very lucky to have had the Ace of Bass in our lives.”
While not Gang of Four’s founding bassist — he supplanted bassist Dave Wolfson after just a few gigs — Allen was member of the band’s core lineup of singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, and drummer Burnham, the lineup that produced classic post-punk LPs like 1979’s Entertainment! — one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time — and 1981’s Solid Gold.
Following 1982’s Another Day/Another Dollar EP, Allen departed Gang of Four to co-found Shriekback alongside ex-XTC member Barry Andrews and drummer Martyn Bench. After a seven-year, six-album run — during which Shriekback songs appeared in noted fan and director Michael Mann’s Manhunter and Miami Vice — Allen left Shriekback to form King Swamp, and would later rejoin Gang of Four on one of that group’s many reunion tours, including performing with the band at Coachella in 2005.
In recent decades, Allen moved into the other side of the music industry, serving as Director, Artist & Music Industry Advocacy for Beats Music (now Apple Music).
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Following the death of guitarist Gill in Feb. 2020 from Covid, Gang of Four have toured in recent years with a revolving lineup that included King and Burnham, with the group announcing their farewell tour earlier this year; the Long Goodbye trek is slated to begin April 20 in Boston.
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Gail Greenwood, bassist for L7 and Belly who joined Gang of Four ahead of their upcoming farewell tour, wrote on social media, “Dave was the OG master of some of the most iconic bass lines in music history (which I now have the honor of playing live with the band) Learning his parts by listening intensely to every note and nuance he created has given me even more of an appreciation for his incredible talent. I only wish I had met him as I feel like I know him so well – both from listening to him play and hearing the wonderful stories about him from the boys.”
“We know that Dave would have wanted nothing more than to step onstage with us again in Portland on our farewell US tour. But it’s now a bridge too far,” Burnham wrote. “Goodbye, Old Friend.”
