Jon King

Who is Jon King?

Jon King, born 8 June 1955, London, is a singer, musician and founding member of the Leeds based UK rock band Gang of Four. He attended Sevenoaks School, where he was a member of the 'Art Room' that produced musicians Tom Greenhalgh and Mark White of The Mekons, along with Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Adam Curtis, the award-winning British documentarian and writer, and Paul Greengrass, the film director, screenwriter and former journalist famous for the Bourne identity franchise. The band's lyricist and co-songwriter, he sings in the group as well as playing melodica and percussion such as a microwave oven or wooden block, the latter notably on the song "He'd Send in the Army." Jon Pareles in The New York Times described King's lyrics as "bitterly analytical, infused with theories from Marx, Adorno, Baudrillard and Godard, and the band was determined to puncture pop romance with the consciousness that people are manipulated by power economics, media and marketing.Why not write about ideas? Mr. King said. " - Source Jon Pareles, New York Times, 24 Jan 2005.