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4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of the label's first four singles. Later that year, Watts-Russell and Kent purchased the label from Beggars Banquet to become an independent record label, and Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell a year later.
The label gained prominence in the 1980s for releasing albums from alternative rock, post-punk, gothic rock, and dream pop artists, such as Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Modern English, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Pixies, Throwing Muses, and Watts-Russell's own musical project This Mortal Coil. In 1987, the label scored an international hit with the dance music single "Pump Up the Volume" by the one-off project M|A|R|R|S. 4AD continued to have success in the 1990s and 2000s, with releases from the Breeders, Lush, Belly, Red House Painters, Camera Obscura, TV on the Radio, St. Vincent, Cass McCombs and Bon Iver. As of January 2022[update], the label's current roster includes acts such as Dry Cleaning, the National, Daughter, Deerhunter, Big Thief, Aldous Harding, U.S. Girls, Erika de Casier, and Future Islands.
In 1999, Watts-Russell sold 4AD back to the Beggars Group. The label's history was detailed by Martin Aston in the book Facing The Other Way, released in 2013.
Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, employees of the Beggars Banquet record store and label, founded Axis Records (named after the Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold as Love) in late 1979 as a property of Beggars, run by the two of them. After the first four Axis singles in early 1980, it became apparent that the name Axis was already being used by another music company and the name was changed to 4AD, an abbreviation of the word forward. Other names which they had considered included 1980AD, 4WD and 1984. An initial idea was that the label would be a "testing ground" for Beggars Banquet; successful acts would graduate up to Beggars Banquet after a year at 4AD. The only band to follow this path were Bauhaus who signed to Beggars Banquet in late 1980 before Watts-Russell and Kent purchased the label outright. Watts-Russel and Kent were the sole owners for about a year. Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell at the end of 1981, and started a new Beggars Banquet subsidiary, Situation Two Records. Watts-Russell would maintain ownership of the label, and act as its president, until the late 1990s.
Watts-Russell invited the graphic designer Vaughan Oliver and the photographer Nigel Grierson to create sleeve art for the label, and as a result, 4AD acquired a visually distinctive identity. Its artists, such as Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, developed cult followings in the mid-1980s. Describing the label's mid-1980s image, the critic Dorian Lynskey wrote that "If Factory felt like an art gallery-cum-nightclub and Rough Trade a left-leaning college campus, then 4AD was a church."
4AD continued to evolve during the late 1980s and after signing Throwing Muses and Pixies the label increasingly concentrated on underground American rock music. In 1983, 4AD had a minor hit in America with the Modern English single "I Melt With You". In 1987, 4AD had a UK number-one hit with the collaged "Pump up the Volume" by M|A|R|R|S (licensed to 4th & B'Way/Island Records in the US).
In the 1990s, 4AD established an office in Los Angeles and had success with bands such as The Breeders, Belly, Red House Painters, Unrest and His Name Is Alive, as well as solo material by Frank Black and Kristin Hersh.
The label's deal with Warner Bros. Records in the United States in 1992 would start the beginning of a new phase in 4AD history. New signings that year included American underground acts Kendra Smith, Tarnation, Air Miami and The Amps. The following year Watts-Russell started a sub-label, Guernica, which would release records by Unrest, That Dog, and Bettie Serveert.
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4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of the label's first four singles. Later that year, Watts-Russell and Kent purchased the label from Beggars Banquet to become an independent record label, and Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell a year later.
The label gained prominence in the 1980s for releasing albums from alternative rock, post-punk, gothic rock, and dream pop artists, such as Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Modern English, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Pixies, Throwing Muses, and Watts-Russell's own musical project This Mortal Coil. In 1987, the label scored an international hit with the dance music single "Pump Up the Volume" by the one-off project M|A|R|R|S. 4AD continued to have success in the 1990s and 2000s, with releases from the Breeders, Lush, Belly, Red House Painters, Camera Obscura, TV on the Radio, St. Vincent, Cass McCombs and Bon Iver. As of January 2022[update], the label's current roster includes acts such as Dry Cleaning, the National, Daughter, Deerhunter, Big Thief, Aldous Harding, U.S. Girls, Erika de Casier, and Future Islands.
In 1999, Watts-Russell sold 4AD back to the Beggars Group. The label's history was detailed by Martin Aston in the book Facing The Other Way, released in 2013.
Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, employees of the Beggars Banquet record store and label, founded Axis Records (named after the Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold as Love) in late 1979 as a property of Beggars, run by the two of them. After the first four Axis singles in early 1980, it became apparent that the name Axis was already being used by another music company and the name was changed to 4AD, an abbreviation of the word forward. Other names which they had considered included 1980AD, 4WD and 1984. An initial idea was that the label would be a "testing ground" for Beggars Banquet; successful acts would graduate up to Beggars Banquet after a year at 4AD. The only band to follow this path were Bauhaus who signed to Beggars Banquet in late 1980 before Watts-Russell and Kent purchased the label outright. Watts-Russel and Kent were the sole owners for about a year. Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell at the end of 1981, and started a new Beggars Banquet subsidiary, Situation Two Records. Watts-Russell would maintain ownership of the label, and act as its president, until the late 1990s.
Watts-Russell invited the graphic designer Vaughan Oliver and the photographer Nigel Grierson to create sleeve art for the label, and as a result, 4AD acquired a visually distinctive identity. Its artists, such as Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, developed cult followings in the mid-1980s. Describing the label's mid-1980s image, the critic Dorian Lynskey wrote that "If Factory felt like an art gallery-cum-nightclub and Rough Trade a left-leaning college campus, then 4AD was a church."
4AD continued to evolve during the late 1980s and after signing Throwing Muses and Pixies the label increasingly concentrated on underground American rock music. In 1983, 4AD had a minor hit in America with the Modern English single "I Melt With You". In 1987, 4AD had a UK number-one hit with the collaged "Pump up the Volume" by M|A|R|R|S (licensed to 4th & B'Way/Island Records in the US).
In the 1990s, 4AD established an office in Los Angeles and had success with bands such as The Breeders, Belly, Red House Painters, Unrest and His Name Is Alive, as well as solo material by Frank Black and Kristin Hersh.
The label's deal with Warner Bros. Records in the United States in 1992 would start the beginning of a new phase in 4AD history. New signings that year included American underground acts Kendra Smith, Tarnation, Air Miami and The Amps. The following year Watts-Russell started a sub-label, Guernica, which would release records by Unrest, That Dog, and Bettie Serveert.