2AD: 4AD Takes Off - 1980

1980 was the first year that was actually 4AD in fact & name. It was a busy year for Ivo, Peter, & crew. They released twenty-four items, fifteen unique titles with several in both LP & CD (Rema-Rema - Wheel in the Roses; Bauhaus - In the Flat Field LP, 2xLP, & CD;B.C. Gilbert & G. Lewis 3R4[LP] - 8 Time[CD];  or 7" & 12" (Rema-Rema - Wheel in the Roses 12"; Presage(s) Compilation 12" in green/pink, brown, or black & digital download;  Bauhaus - Telegram Sam; & Dance Chapter- Anonymity 12" & digital download) formats.

By the end of their first year they had firmly embedded themselves into a strata of music that they would continue to promote for years to come. The 4AD sound was instantly recognisable.

Here are the 4AD first year's output... 

 

Rema-Rema - Wheel in the Roses, 4AD BAD5, 1980.
all decryption codes in comments

A Side -
Feedback Song
Rema-Rema
B Side -
Instrumental
Fond Affections

 

 

 

 

 

Modern English - Swans on Glass, 4AD AD6, 1980.

A Side - Swans on Glass
B Side - Incident

 

 

 

 

 

Bauhaus - Terror Couple Kill Colonel, 4AD AD7, 1980.

A Side -
Terror Couple Kill Colonel 1
AA Side -
Scopes
Terror Couple Kill Colonel 2

 

 

 

 

 

In Camera - Final Achievement, 4AD AD8, 1980.

A Side - Final Achievement
AA Side - Die Laughing

 

 

 

 

 

Cupol - Like This for Ages, 4AD BAD 9, 1980.

A Side - Like This for Ages
B Side - Kluba Cupol

 

 

 

 

 

The The - Controversial Subject, 4AD AD10, 1980.

A Side - Controversial Subject
AA Side - Black & White

 

 

 

 

 

Various - Presage(s), 4AD BAD11, 1980.

A Side -
Security Idiots - Psychotik Tanks
Malignant Love - The Last Dance
Sargaso Sea - C.V.O.
B Side -
Let’s Have a Party - Psychotik Tanks
Home - Modern English
Hit the Dead - Spasmodic Caress
Hunk of a Punk - Red Atkins

 

 

 

 

 

The Birthday Party - The Friend Catcher, 4AD AD12, 1980.

A Side -
The Friend Catcher
B Side -
Waving My Arms
Catman

 

 

 

 

end of 1980 part 1...

note: Because of the depth of the 4AD label & the length of time they have been around, I would like readers to chime in with any request they might have for anything I have not shared. If I have it I will share it in a final 4AD Requests post.

Enjoy,
NØ

1AD

This month I have a slew of jumbo projects that somehow all fell into April. No sense bushing around the beat...might as well plunge right into this new mess. 

A dive into 4AD..

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The influential 4AD label set the mood for an entire generation of music lovers in the 80s. The label was started in 1980 by music enthusiasts Ivo Watts-Russsell & Peter Kent while working at a Beggars Banquet record shop. Kent left after a year to start Situation 2 Records. Throughout this entire story, 4AD maintained the almost entirely uninterrupted sense of integrity up until the mid 1990s. But even Watts-Russell was unable to preserve this sense of purity much beyond a decade & a half. The reason he called it a day was the usual, familiar, eternal problem: making art usually requires money, & making money usually destroys art.

Originally calling their label Axis, the two released an initial series of four 7" singles before finding out that the name Axis was already being used by another label. Having to quickly come up with a new name, the partners noticed the following bit of typography that their graphic designer had put on a flyer announcing the Axis releases:

1980 FORWARD
1980 FWD
1984 AD
4AD

So 4AD it was.

Here are the first four 7" singles from Axis. 

 

The Fast Set - Junction 1, Axis AXIS 1, 1980.
all decryption codes in comments

Side A - Junction 1
Side B - Children of the Revolution

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bearz - She's My Girl, Axis AXIS2, 1980.

Side A - She’s My Girl
Side B - Girls Will Do

 

 

 

 

 

Bauhaus - Dark Entries, Axis AXIS 3, 1980.

Side A - Dark Entries
Side B - Untitled (Dark Entries demo)

 

 

 

 

 

Shox - No Turning Back, Axis AXIS 4, 1980.

Side A - No Turning Back
Side B - Lying Here

 

 

 

 

 

note: Because of the depth of the 4AD label & the length of time they have been around, I would like readers to chime in with any request they might have for anything I have not shared. If I have it I will share it in a final 4AD Requests post.

Enjoy,
NØ