Dave Allen, former bassist of Gang of Four, has died. He was 69 years old.
Allen’s death was confirmed on Sunday, April 6th, by a post from Gang of Four’s Hugo Burnham on the band’s Instagram. “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,” the caption read.
According to Burnham, Allen passed away “at home with his family” after enduring “the early-onset of mixed dementia for some years.”
Allen was born in Cumbria, England in 1955 and joined Gang of Four shortly after the band was formed in 1976, and appeared on their first two albums Entertainment! and Solid Gold, as well as their 1980 untitled yellow EP.
After leaving the group in 1981, Allen co-founded the new wave, post-punk band Shriekback, whose contributions to the soundtrack of 1986’s Manhunter were celebrated in Consequence‘s round-up of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. He also performed with the bands King Swamp, Low Pop Suicide, the Elastic Purejoy, and others.
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Allen was also involved in music on an industry level, and held several positions as an executive or consultant. He was once director of Consumer Digital Audio Services at Intel; president of the entertainment division of the advertising firm Overland Agency; and director of Artist & Music Industry Advocacy for Beats Music. He also was involved in running record labels, including World Domination Recordings and Pampelmoose.
In 2004, Allen once again teamed up with Gang of Four’s original lineup for a number of tours and a reunion album, Return the Gift. By 2008, though, he stopped performing with the group again, but remained “an essential and vital part of the band,” according to a 2021 statement.
In his Instagram post, Burnham wrote that he and Jon King recently visited Allen. “[We] spent a lovely afternoon with him and the family,” he wrote. “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.”
Meanwhile, Burnham, King, and the rest of Gang of Four’s current lineup will hit the road later this month for their North American farewell tour dates, stopping in Toronto, New York City, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more cities. Get tickets here.
Concluding his post, Burnham wrote, “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. Goodbye, Old Friend.” Read the full statement below.