Fade Away

Red Guitars - Slow To Fade

We need to readdress the balance and I realised that I had only posted a lossy mp3 rip of this album back in the early days of this blog, so here is Slow To Fade in flac. After the stark early agit-pop singles, Hull's Red Guitars introduced a swirling fender afrobeat into their sound. At the time, I recall being disappointed with this record but there are highlights which deserve great credit even today. Marimba (Jive) and Remote Control are a million miles away from Fact and Good Technology, but Red Guitars were two zillion light years ahead of Paul Simon. Personal favourite, Dive recalls Joy Division's Interzone in a tribute to Lou Reed's Sweet Jane. The sha-la-la chorus of Cloak And Dagger with it's Dave Greenfield-style organ is superb, and Crocodile Tears fits where Fact should possibly have featured. Most of the rest can be tagged as filler, but the closing title track is pretty fine and is a fitting epitaph to Jerry Kidd-era Red Guitars. I have both the vinyl and cd versions of this album but chose to use the cd version for this post.

Originally released on an album on Self Drive Records (SCAR LP1) in 1984, ripped here to high quality lossless flac audio.

A1. Remote Control
A2. Dive
A3. Astronomy
A4. Cloak And Dagger
A5. Crocodile Tears
B1. Shaken Not Stirred
B2. Sting In The Tail
B3. Marimba
B4. Slow To Fade...

Subtle Change In Direction

Red Guitars - Be With Me

I have featured Red Guitars heavily in the past focusing on their fine early singles. As their name (and lyrical content) suggested, the original band were not shy in putting across their political views but with a change in front man, they eased into a softer more commercial and radio friendly sound. Jerry Kidd stepped aside for new lead singer Robert Homes. The first single by the new line up was independently released but they were soon snapped up by Virgin. Be With Me is a nice song, but a very gentle, drifting and lengthy love song (it clocks in at nearly seven minutes) reminding me much of Black. Of note is that production duties were assumed by Ian Broudie.

Ripped from a 12" vinyl single released on One Way Records (OW 1T) in 1985 to high quality lossless flac audio.

A. Be With Me
B. Things I Want

Red Guitars - 3x7" Singles

Good Technology : re-ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Self Drive Records (SD 006) in 1983 to lossless high quality FLAC.

A. Good Technology

B. Heart Beat Go (Love Dub)

Hear

Fact : re-ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Self Drive Records (SD 007) in 1983 to high quality FLAC audio.

A. Fact

B. Dive (Live)

Hear

Steeltown : re-ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Self Drive Records (SCAR 010) in 1984 to high quality lossless FLAC audio.

A. Steeltown

B. Within Four Walls

Hear

Red Guitars - Self Drive Records releases

I recently rambled on about how truly wonderful the Red Guitars were. Since then a rather nice chap has lent me the missing tracks from the band's own Self Drive Records releases.

The Steeltown single was a worthy follow-up to the agit-pop of Fact, but Marimba Jive is more "You Can Call Me Al" than Good Technology.

The debut album, Slow To Fade, works really well as a whole, with more African rhythm and lead guitar influences than their previous work, so much so that it's easy to forget that you are listening to Humberside indie-rock and not The Bhundu Boys. Stand out track for me is the studio version of Dive! which leans more to Joy Division's "Interzone" and plays hommage to Sweet Jane.

What you get:

1. Heartbeat Go! (B-side from Marimba Jive 7")

2. Paris France (B-side from Good Technology 12")

1. Steeltown (A-side from Steeltown 12")

2. Within 4 Walls (B-side from Steeltown 12")

....and the Slow To Fade LP

1. Remote Control

2. Dive!

3. Astronomy

4. Cloak and Dagger

5. Crocodile Tears

6. Shaken Not Stirred

7. Sting in the Tail

8. Marimba Jive

9. Slow to Fade...

Grab them!

The band went on to support The Smiths on several key dates and seemed to be on the verge of greatness. Major labels were sniffing around, but lead singer Kidd, had enough and quit. Virgin snapped up the band, who then recruited Robert Holmes as singer. This prompted a change in direction, and subsequent singles Be With Me and National Avenue loitered around the lower reaches of the charts with their new smoochy Chris Rea-like sound. A shame really. Their final release and debut Virgin Records album, Tales of the Expected can be found here.