RockLists.com
The Godfathers
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history

The Godfathers

Band London United Kingdom Formed 1985 UK alternative rock band

The Godfathers formed in 1985 in London, United Kingdom. The Godfathers has 35 chart appearances on 34 radio countdowns from 8 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Birth, School, Work, Death”, which appears on 32 lists with a best position of #39. The station that charted The Godfathers most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 14 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2024.

35appearances
34countdowns
4songs charted
8stations
0#1 finishes
1988–2026years

The Godfathers rose out of the wreckage of the Sid Presley Experience in London in 1985, when Peter and Chris Coyne, on vocals and bass, rounded up guitarists Mike Gibson and Kris Dollimore and drummer George Mazur. Peter had spent a couple of years on the other side of the notebook, writing about music for ZigZag and Record Mirror, and the band played like people who knew which records mattered: punk's sneer bolted onto R&B's strut, loud and without a wasted note.

Their early independent singles, produced by Vic Maile, were gathered up as Hit by Hit in 1986, with "I Want Everything" as a statement of intent. Epic signed them in 1987, and they toured hard across Britain, Europe and the States. The title track of Birth, School, Work, Death was the payoff, a rattling anthem that squeezes a whole life into four grim words, and college radio and MTV carried it into the American Top 40 in 1988, though Britain was slower to bite.

More Songs About Love & Hate followed in 1989 with "She Gives Me Love", and Chris Burrows replaced Dollimore on guitar in time for Unreal World in 1991, after which the Godfathers and Epic went their separate ways.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by The Godfathers on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Birth, School, Work, Death
1,663		 32 #39 – 1988
2 Ebe Ye Yie Ni
78		 1 #109 – 2024
3 She Gives Me Love
12		 1 #81 – 1989
4 I Want Everything
2		 1 #493 – –

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

88 89 24

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2026 711 Birth, School, Work, Death The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound
2024 109 Ebe Ye Yie Ni KALX 500 Most Played New Songs in 2024
2023 487 Birth, School, Work, Death The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2022 865 Birth, School, Work, Death The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2021 509 Birth, School, Work, Death 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2014 1249 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013 1193 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011 1140 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010 1102 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009 1061 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008 1046 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007 1105 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2005 192 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005)
2005 796 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004 796 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 186 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2003 796 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002 159 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002 796 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2001 101 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 796 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000 99 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 793 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 774 Birth, School, Work, Death Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 356 Birth, School, Work, Death WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999 138 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999 742 Birth, School, Work, Death CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1996 214 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1994 202 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1991 39 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991 493 I Want Everything WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1989 81 She Gives Me Love 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989
1989 49 Birth, School, Work, Death WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 92 Birth, School, Work, Death WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989)
1988 89 Birth, School, Work, Death 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about The Godfathers.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.