Location Leeds Country of origin United Kingdom | Founded 2004 | |
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Genre Indie rock
Alternative rock Artists The Pigeon Detectives, ¡Forward - Russia!, Pulled Apart by Horses, Grammatics, I Like Trains | ||
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.
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, Drowned in Sound 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 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" 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.
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". 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 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.
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