THE GODFATHERS – NEW COMPILATION ALBUM!!! 40TH ANNIVERSARY!!
2025 sees The Godfathers celebrate the historic milestone of the 40th anniversary since their formation with multiple record releases as well as tours & festivals across the UK, Europe and around the world.
An 18-track compilation entitled Electric Déjà Vu featuring numbers personally selected by The Godfathers’ founder and frontman Peter Coyne from the band’s three most recent critically acclaimed studio albums – 2013’s Jukebox Fury, 2017’s A Big Bad Beautiful Noise and 2022’s Alpha Beta Gamma Delta – is set for release in early April.
A brand new studio single will follow in the Summer with an archive double-live album promised for later in the year. These releases pave the way for a much anticipated album of new material in 2026.
The Godfathers were formed in 1985 by brothers Peter Coyne (vocals) and Chris Coyne (bass/vocals) from the ashes of their previous band The Sid Presley Experience. They toured extensively and quickly earned a serious reputation for their electrifying brand of primal rock & roll & their incendiary live shows around the world.
Forming a recording partnership with famed producer Vic Maile, they released four critically acclaimed, smash hit independent singles on their own Corporate Image label (‘Lonely Man’, ‘This Damn Nation’, ‘I Want Everything’ and ‘Love Is Dead’) which alongside a brutal cover of Lennon’s ‘Cold Turkey’ were compiled into their seminal debut album release Hit By Hit in ’86 and signed a worldwide deal with Sony/Epic records in ‘87.
The Godfathers unleashed the storming rocker ‘Birth School Work Death’ as a single in ’87 and scored a US Billboard top 40 hit after massive college radio airplay and heavy MTV rotation. Then the classic Birth School Work Death album was released in ’88 (includes the hit anthem title track and singles ‘Cause I Said So’ and a re-recorded ‘Love Is Dead’) and was promoted with extensive tours of the UK, Europe and America as they cemented their reputation as one of the best live acts of the period. Celebrity fans included among others David Bowie and Johnny Depp.
The Godfathers’ mob inspired image, raw lyrics and guitar-driven, edgy rock’n’roll sound was in direct contrast to the clean, synthesized sounds that mainly dominated the mainstream charts at that time & foreshadowed the Brit-Pop/Rock resurgence of the early 1990’s.
1989’s album More Songs About Love And Hate (featuring the American college radio smash single ‘She Gives Me Love’ and live rockabilly favourite ‘Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues’) was followed by the death of producer Vic Maile and the departure of guitarist Kris Dollimore, who was replaced on guitar by Chris Burrows for Unreal World (which included the American radio hit ‘Unreal World’ and a searing cover of The Creation’s psychedelic classic ‘How Does It Feel To Feel’) in 1991.
A provocatively titled live Godfathers’ album Dope, Rock & Roll & Fucking In The Streets was issued in 1992 on Corporate Image amd the band toured the globe constantly. With a new line-up The Godfathers released two further albums on Intercord Records, a self-titled album in ‘93 (AKA The Orange Album because of its distinctive cover art) and Afterlife in ’95, before the group finally imploded in 2001.
In 2008 The Godfathers reformed their original line-up to promote a vastly expanded 2CD version of Hit By Hit and performed a select number of British, European and American dates and festivals together for the first time in nearly 20 years. These included the highly successful revival of their traditional Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre concerts with knockout, triumphant performances at The Forum in London in February ’08 and Chicago’s Metro in February ’09.
The Godfathers have become increasingly influential in recent years with Top 5 American artists Local H & Spoon releasing cover versions of Godfathers’ classics ‘Birth School Work Death’ and ‘This Damn Nation’ and The Mars Volta citing The Godfathers’ primal rock’n’roll sound as a direct influence on their Noctourniquet album.
The Godfathers – Shot Live At The 100 Club, a Live DVD/CD was released November 1st 2010 to mark the 25th anniversary of the bands formation and Jukebox Fury followed in March 2013 to significant acclaim.
A new studio album A Big Bad Beautiful Noise was unveiled in February 2017, preceded by the single, ‘You Don’t Love Me’. Critics and fans hailed the album as the band’s best in many years, with Vive Le Rock claiming it was “up there with The Godfathers’ ’80s classics”. A live album This Is War! – The Godfathers Live! followed in 2019. The storming 2020 double A-side ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ and ‘Wild And Free’ saw them take another sonic step forward and the 2022 release of the Alpha Beta Gamma Delta album (lauded with career best reviews) and the more recent expanded edition Alpha Beta Gamma Delta Plus have once again confirmed The Godfathers are here to stay.
The Godfathers now feature:
Peter Coyne – Vocals
Jon Priestley – Bass / Backing Vocals
Billy Duncanson – Drums / Backing Vocals
Richie Simpson – Guitar / Backing Vocals
Paul Humphreys – Guitar / Backing Vocals
Pic by Colin Carpenter
EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
13 Mar – Zik-Zak, Ittre BE
14 Mar – Deux Ours, Modave BE
15 Mar – Club De Klinker, Aarschot BE
16 Mar – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht NE
18 Mar – Medley, Malmö SE
19 Mar – Melodybox, Hägersten SE
21 Mar – Knust, Hamburg DE
22 Mar – Quasimodo, Berlin DE
23 Mar – Musiktheater Piano, Dortmund DE
24 Mar – Nachtleben, Frankfurt DE
25 Mar – Backstage, München DE
26 Mar – Rockhouse-Bar, Salzburg, AT
27 Mar – Kulturhaus Röda, Steyr AT
28 Mar – ppc – project popculture, Graz AT
29 Mar – Chelsea, Vienna AT
30 Mar – Boogaloo, Zagreb HR
02 Apr – Le Brin de Zinc, Barberaz FR
04 Apr – RockSea, Saint-gilles-croix-de-vie FR
05 Apr – La Clef, Saint-germain-en-laye FR
Pre-order Electric Déjà Vu here https://thegodfathers.bigcartel.com/
For more info:
www.thegodfathersofficial.com
