Released on October 13th 1978 on the Scottish independent record label Fast Product, Damaged Goods was the first commercial release by Gang on Four, a three track 7-inch vinyl EP by founding members Andy, Jon King, Hugo Burnham and Dave Allen. It was also, arguably, the first post-punk record. 

Gang of Four’s demos found their way to Bob Last, whose new label Fast Product had just released its first record by the Mekons, who were friends of Gang of Four. After hearing the demos, which included “Damaged Goods,” Bob offered to release a Gang of Four single on his label.

All tracks were written by Gang of Four and recorded at Cargo Studios in Rochdale over a two-day period in June 1978. It was co-produced by Gang of Four and Bob Last who was credited as ‘Fast Product.’

Lead track “Damaged Goods” was an indie chart hit and led to Gang of Four signing long term recording agreements with EMI in 1979 and Warner Music USA in 1980. “Damaged Goods” and “Love Like Anthrax” were later re-recorded and included on Gang of Four’s debut album Entertainment!

The following excerpt is from Damaged Gods, Paul Lester’s book about Gang of Four, published by Omnibus Press in 2008: 

“Last considers his role at Fast Product to have been a conduit for GOF’s ideas; in the end, band and label lent each other an extra layer of meaning, which created what he calls ‘an interesting tension’ between them.

“The front cover of the Damaged Goods EP was a simple, one-colour affair crimson – with simple, bold back type. But it was the rear of the sleeve that proved Gang of Four’s credentials in the area of playful ideas-mongering, with hints of situationism and deconstructionism. It featured a tear out from a newspaper of a female matador spearing a bull, next to which there was an extract from the letter that the band had written and sent to Bob Last, bearing full instructions as to how they wanted the sleeve to look and read. ‘Dear Bob’ it went, ‘enclosed find photographs we’d like to be on the single. The matador is saying “You know, we’re both in the entertainment business, we have to give the audience what they want. I don’t like to do this but I earn double the amount if I were in a 9 to 5 job.”  The bull is saying ‘I think that at some point we have to take responsibility for our actions’.”

Other authors on Damaged Goods:

“Damaged Goods, the band’s 1978 debut EP, caused an immediate stir, a post-punk political manifesto which raised itself leagues above the now-traditional railing against unemployment and the government, set to a jerking, irregular funk soundtrack characterized by two, even three, voices working in strict counterpoint.” From Alternative Rock (2000) book by Dave Thomson, published by Backbeat.

“Damaged Goods, the title track of their debut EP, showed the group had done its Marxist homework and knew about things like ‘commodity fetishism’ and ‘reification’… Damaged Goods uses the language of commerce and industry as a prism to offer disconcerting insights into affairs of the heart. With grim wit, the song represents a break-up in terms of refunds and emotional costs: ‘Open the till/ Give me the change/You said would do me good… You said you’re cheap but you’re too much’.” From Rip It Up and Start Again (2005) book by Simon Reynolds, published by Faber & Faber.

The EP is only available to listen to on YouTube and second hand copies available to buy via Discogs etc. The EP was re-issued in 2022 and sold exclusively by Gang of Four on their March 2022 US tour.