Dance to the Radio

Dance To The Radio
Founded	2004
Genre	Indie rock Alternative rock
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Location	Leeds
Official website	http://www.dancetotheradio.com

Dance To The Radio is an independent label in Leeds, UK.

It was named after the refrain of the Joy Division song "Transmission". The label launched with the release of a compilation album 'Dance To The Radio: Leeds' at an eponymous launch event in Leeds in March 2005.^[1]

The label subsequently released some highly sought after 7" singles by the likes of iLiKETRAiNS, The Pigeon Detectives, Yes Boss, Napoleon IIIrd, This Et Al and ¡Forward, Russia!. They have been featured a number of times in NME,^[2] Drowned in Sound^[3] and in Artrocker for being a notable success of the DIY ethic in the indie music scene at the moment.

Their first full scale single release was Twelve^[4] by ¡Forward, Russia! which reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart. Their second release, again by ¡Forward, Russia!, was a re-release of limited edition debut single "Nine"^[5] which also became a top 40 hit. Since these, three more ¡Forward, Russia! singles have been released; "Eighteen", "Nineteen" and "Don't Be A Doctor" the latter of which was a limited White Label Release.

The label went on to achieve great success with The Pigeon Detectives whose debut album Wait for Me entered the UK charts at number 3 and has achieved platinum sales, selling well in excess of 700,000 copies. On top of this the band have had 3 consecutive top 20 singles since March 2007. In 2008 the label released the band's second album Emergency which achieved Gold status in sales.^[6]

Other early releases include singles from Yes Boss, Sky Larkin, Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames, Bobby Cook and Grammatics.

The label have released EPs for bands like iLiKETRAiNS and Napoleon IIIrd, a number of compilations, and numerous albums.

In 2009 the label launched a new series of compilation 12" records entitled 4x12".^[7] Amongst the bands appearing on this series of records included Pulled Apart by Horses, Das Racist, Paul Thomas Saunders, Holy State, Bear Hands & Suckers. The 3rd in the series received critical acclaim from NME, Drowned in Sound^[8] and Artrocker. This was followed by releases in 2010 for Elinor Rose Dougall and Leeds post-punk-noise band Holy State.

2011 saw the release of The Pigeon Detectives third album 'Up Guards and At 'Em!' which charted in the UK top 30 on release. The fourth Pigeon Detectives record 'We Met at Sea' was licensed by Dance to the Radio to Cooking Vinyl for release in 2013, again reaching the UK Top 30.^[9]

Dance To The Radio Stage at Leeds Festival

Since 2007 Dance To The Radio have hosted a stage at Leeds Festival. Held on the BBC Introducing Stage band who have played the stage include Wild Beasts, Blood Red Shoes, Dinosaur Pile-Up, The Pigeon Detectives, Bear In Heaven, Chickenhawk (now Hawk Eyes), Spectrals, Young Knives, Dog Is Dead, Dutch Uncles, Hookworms, ¡Forward, Russia!, Sky Larkin and more. The stage is hosted on the Thursday evening and is the only stage with live music on this day.

2007 Line Up

¡Forward, Russia!, Shut Your Eyes and You'll Burst Into Flames, Sky Larkin, The Wallbirds, Grammatics

2008 Line Up

Grammatics, Broken Records, The Pigeon Detectives (Secret Set), The Wallbirds, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Wintermute

2009 Line Up

Blood Red Shoes, Wild Beasts, Bear Hands, Airship, Holy State

2010 Line Up

Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, Bear In Heaven, Chickenhawk, Spectrals, The Neat

2011 Line Up

Young Knives, Dog Is Dead, We Are Losers, Runaround Kids, Blacklisters

2012 Line Up

Little Comets, Various Cruelties, Scars On 45, China Rats, Likely Lads

2013 Line Up

Dutch Uncles, Hookworms, The Crookes, Black Moth, Menace Beach

2014 Line Up

TOY, Superfood, Honeyblood, Fryars, Post War Glamour Girls

2015 Line Up

Pulled Apart By Horses, The Bohicas, VITAMIN, Carnabells, Redfaces

2016 Line Up

Blood Red Shoes, The Wytches, Freak, Blackwaters, Forever Cult

Discography

See also

• List of record labels

References

1. ↑ Leeds Music Scene
2. ↑ NME.COM. "Dance To The Radio : Leeds Woodhouse Liberal Club | NME.COM". NME.COM. Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
3. ↑ "Label Focus #4: Dance To The Radio". Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
4. ↑ "¡Forward, Russia! - Twelve". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
5. ↑ "Nine - Single by Forward Russia on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
6. ↑ "The Pigeon Detectives". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
7. ↑ "Various - Dance To The Radio: 4x12" Volume 3". Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
8. ↑ "Ep Review: Various - Dance To The Radio: 4x12" Volume 3". Retrieved 2016-09-02. 
9. ↑ "The Pigeon Detectives - Cooking Vinyl". Retrieved 2016-09-07. 

External links

• Dance To The Radio's official website
• / The Pigeon Detectives' official website