Legendary British rock & roll band The Godfathers celebrate the 40th anniversary of their formation with a huge boost thanks to a brand new double A-side single, ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & ‘Wild And Free’. These recordings are the first to feature the Godfathers’ new line-up of founding member and frontman Peter Coyne, guitarists Richie Simpson and Wayne Vermaak, drummer Billy Duncanson and bassist Jon Priestley. A long-awaited new studio album will follow in 2021.

The release of “I’m Not Your Slave” and “Wild And Free” represents an exciting new chapter for the London band, but The Godfathers have had a long and illustrious career. They 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. The Godfathers toured extensively and quickly established a solid reputation for their electrifying primitive rock & roll and incendiary live shows all over the world.

Teaming up with renowned producer Vic Maile, they released four critically acclaimed and successful independent singles on their own Corporate Image label (“Lonely Man”, “This Damn Nation”, “I Want Everything” and “Love Is Dead”) which, along with a brutal cover of Lennon’s “Cold Turkey”, were compiled into their debut album, “Hit By Hit”, in 1986, and signed a worldwide deal with Sony/Epic records in 1987.

The Godfathers released the rocker “Birth School Work Death” as a single in 1987 and climbed into the US Billboard top 40 after massive airplay on college radio and heavy rotation on MTV. The classic album “Birth School Work Death” was then released in 1988 (featuring the anthemic “hit”, the title track, the singles “Cause I Said So” and a re-recording of “Love Is Dead”) and was promoted by extensive tours of the UK, Europe and America, cementing their reputation as one of the best live bands of the era. Famous fans include David Bowie and Johnny Depp.

The 1989 album “More Songs About Love And Hate” (with its iconic Liz Taylor/Richard Burton cover and featuring the US college radio hit single “She Gives Me Love” and the live favorite “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”, “This Is War” and a scorching cover of The Creation’s psychedelic classic “How Does It Feel To Feel”) in 1991.