On April 5, Portland lost another champion of music with the passing of Dave Allen at 69. Allen was an early member of influential post-punk band Gang of Four, writing and recording their first two albums—Entertainment! and Solid Gold—in 1979 and 1981 respectively. Along with their contemporaries, like Talking Heads and ESG, Gang of Four pushed punk music into something more danceable, while remaining unshakingly political; all while touring and collaborating with those first-wave punk bands from the UK and US. The band—their first two albums specifically—remain megaliths in the world of alternative music, continually inspiring generation after generation to pick up rock instruments, form bands, and write angular post-punk songs with serrated edges.

Allen formed several bands over the years after leaving Gang of Four in 1981, including Shriekback, the Elastic Purejoy, Low Pop Suicide, King Swamp, and Faux Hoax.

As soon as he relocated to Portland in the ’90s he quickly embedded himself in the city’s music scenes as both a music industry businessman and an active collaborator in music creation. Allen held jobs at Apple Music and Beats while living in Portland along with continuing his music writing and recording.

No cause of death has been given, but in a statement by Gang of Four, the band shared that Allen had been living with early-onset dementia during the last years of his life.