Radio 4 were an American

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1999, they claimed their music is "made in New York, is about New York, and sounds like New York".

History

Early years

The band was formed in 1999 as a trio comprising Anthony Roman (vocals/bass), Tommy Williams (guitar/vocals) and Greg Collins (drums). The three had been friends growing up in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, where they had been involved in the hardcore scene, appearing in bands such as Garden Variety (Roman) and Sleepasaurus. They initially formed the band under the influence of late 1970s/early 1980s punk and post-punk, recording a three-track EP which was released on New Jersey's Gern Blandsten label. Their first album '' The New Song & Dance'' was released in 2000, produced by Tim O'Heir. This record was a low-budget, gritty rock album with a slightly retro sound, drawing comparisons to

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

in particular. Around this time Anthony Roman opened a record store in Brooklyn which became a focus for the emerging scene, and the first album was followed by the ''Dance to the Underground'' EP, also produced by O'Heir. A dance remix of the title track became a club hit and was used in a

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

advert, indicating a new direction for the band's sound.

''Gotham!'' and mainstream success

The band subsequently became a five-piece, comprising Roman, Collins, David Milone (Vocals/Guitar) (who replaced original guitarist/singer Tommy Williams in 2005), Gerard Garone (Keyboards), and P.J. O'Connor (Percussion), and teamed up with James Murphy and

Tim Goldsworthy Tim Goldsworthy is a British record producer, DJ and recording artist. Career Originally a musician/producer for Unkle with James Lavelle, he later worked with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and was formerly joint owner of DFA Records. G ...

's DFA Productions to produce their second album. This collaboration signalled a new direction for the band, merging the guitar punk of their first album with electronic and dance music influences to create a dance-punk sound similar to other DFA-affiliated artists such as

The Rapture The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...

. ''

Gotham! ''Gotham!'' is the second album by the dance-punk/post-punk revival band Radio 4 Released in 2002, Gotham! became mildly famous in underground club and dance scenes through the release of the single '' Dance to the Underground''. In a similar wa ...

'' was released in 2002 on Gern Blandsten, described as "half dance party, half political rally", leading the band to mainstream recognition and international success. The band recorded their third album, '' Stealing of a Nation'', in a basement studio in Brooklyn with Max Heyes, and it was released in September 2004, to a poor critical reception. A fourth album entitled '' Enemies Like This'' followed in 2006. Gerard Garone left the band in April 2008. They last appeared together as a full band at the CBGB Festival in New York in 2012. Roman and Milone still occasionally perform together as Orange Cassettes along with former members of Elefant.

Influences

They cite a variety of influences, including

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gan ...

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting ...

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums ...

and Zero Zero, though their lively

sound combined with their militant political stance has drawn a strong comparison with

. Their name comes from a Public Image Ltd. song from that group's second album, which is itself a reference to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' The New Song & Dance'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002) * '' Stealing of a Nation'' (2004) * '' Enemies Like This'' (2006)

EPs

* ''Dance to the Underground'' (June 2001, Gern Blandsten Records) * ''Electrify'' (August 2004,

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

) * ''Enemies Like This Remixes'' (September 2006,

) * ''Packing Things Up on the Scene'' (October 2006,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

)

Singles

* "Beat Around the Bush" (1999, Gern Blandsten Records) * "Dance to the Underground" (June 2001,

City Slang City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. History The label was founded in 1990 by former tour agent Christof Ellinghaus, exclusively to release The Flaming Lips' '' In A Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine ...

) – UK No. 94 * "Struggle" (May 2002,

) – UK No. 84 * "Eyes Wide Open" (May 2002,

) – UK No. 182 * "Start a Fire" (August 2003,

) – UK No. 130 * "Party Crashers" (July 2004,

) – UK No. 75 * "Absolute Affirmation" (September 2004,

) – UK No. 61 * "State of Alert" (November 2004,

) – UK No. 121 * "Transmission" (March 2005,

) – UK No. 153 * "Enemies Like This" (May 2006,

) – UK No. 162 * " Packing Things Up on the Scene" (October 2006,

) – UK No. 175 * "As Far as the Eye Can See" (August 2007,

)

Songs in other media

* "Party Crashers" in

Project Gotham Racing 3 ''Project Gotham Racing 3'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 as a launch title in November 2005. The game was rated by ''Official Xbox Maga ...

* Radio 4's song, "Caroline" is featured in "Rooney – Heart" in Nike's Joga Bonito series of advertisements. * "Dance to the Underground" is featured in the musical score of Grandma's Boy, produced by Adam Sandler's production company

Happy Madison Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two b ...

in 2006. * "Start a Fire" from the album

has been featured in Warren Miller's Journey, and commercials for FX's show Rescue Me * "Enemies Like This" has been featured in commercials for the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General E ...

's documentary series Critical Situation. * "Calling All Enthusiasts" was used in commercials for the new

Schwinn The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manuf ...

Sting-Ray bikes in 2004. * A pre-release version of "Give it to Me" was featured in Sharpie marker's TV commercial with

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

in the summer of 2008.

External links

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2012 Astralwerks artists City Slang artists Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Brooklyn Dance-punk musical groups American electronic rock musical groups 1999 establishments in New York City