08.02.2005., utorak
zhivijo kopi-pejst #3
RED LONDON
Red London formed in 1981. Taking their name from a sham 69 B-side. Inspired by the original punk movement that had exploded across England in 1977. They were influenced by bands such as The Clash,Chelsea, Angelic Upstarts, The Jam, The Ruts and Stiff Little Fingers.
The original line-up was: Patty Smith - Vocals / Kid Stoker - Guitar / Gaz Stoker - Bass / Raish Carter - Drums
In 1983, Red London had a gig supporting Red Alert in Sunderland at a legendary pub venue called "The Old 29". At that time the biggest music paper in England was a weekly paper called "Sounds" They sent Attila the Stockbroker (who was writing for the paper under the name of "John opposition") up from London to review the gig. He came to review Red Alert but went back and also wrote a great review of Red London. The band got it's first exposure in the national music press, and what a review it was!
After that he got a London based record company called Razor Records interested in the band. Razor invited the band down to London and booked a day in a recording studio for the band to record 3 songs to be released as an E.P. if they liked the results. The 3 tracks recorded were "This is England", "Soul Train" and "Revolution Times"
Razor were happy with the songs and decided to release them as an E.P called "Sten Guns in Sunderland". Not long after the release of the E.P., the bands drummer, Raish Carter was sent to prison for 12 months after appearing in court for "robbery with violence". The E.P. sold well and Razor asked the band to record an L.P. so at the end of '83 a studio was booked in Newcastle, very close to their hometown of Sunderland. The problem was the band didn't have a drummer!
They thought it was best not to tell Razor records about Raish getting jailed in case the Record Company changed their minds about the band recording an L.P. So they got a temporary drummer called Max Muir who recorded the L.P. and played some gigs. Another problem was Razor would only pay for 3 days recording! The L.P. was recorded as quickly as possible but the band knew they could have done much better if they had more time. In 1984, The L.P. was released called "This is England".
Even though the band weren't happy with the production, it received good reviews in the music press. 1984 was also the year of the Miners Strike, and Red London played a lot of benefit gigs to help the Miners. At the end of this year Red Alert split up and their last drummer, Matty Forster, joined Red London. This was the final piece in the jigsaw, and was the start of the "classic" Red London line-up.
By '85, Red London were attracting interest from France and went on their first French tour. This was the start of many European tours that the band would play over the next 15 years! They also went into the recording studio in April and October, both times to record demos of new songs and get more experience of recording and production. The touring in France was starting to get the band a wider audience and a French label called "Bondage Records" put one of the demos (3 tracks) on a compilation L.P. called "Rock Army Fraction". Next came an offer from another French label, called "Gougnaf Mouvement". who paid for the band to record 7 tracks for a 12 inch E.P. This was released in '87, as the "Pride and Passion" E.P.
By the end of the year, the bands singer, Patty Smith was having problems with his girlfriend, who was sick of him touring and leaving her at home. She gave him a choice it was either her or the band. He decided to stick with her and left Red London.
There was no way the band was going to split-up, so they asked a friend called Marty Clark to take Pattys place on vocals. The new line-up was asked by yet another French label (Negative Records) to record an L.P. and also a single, both released early '89. The single was called, "The Day They Tore The Old School Down" and the L.P. was called "Outlaws".
All this time, Red London were keeping busy with regular tours, and they recorded an L.P. with the English label "Released Emotions Records" which was released in 1990 called "Tumbling Dice".
The following year the band added an extra guitarist, it was Tony van Frater the Red Alert guitar player who is a good friend of Red London. Tony was now in both bands. On one of the European tours, Matty (the drummer) couldn't go because of work commitments so the band asked "Sticks" the ex Angelic Upstarts and Cockney Rejects drummer who is another good friend of the band to take Mattys place until the end of the tour.
Released Emotions asked them to do a live L.P. for release in '91 so the band went into the studio to record their live set. They chose to do it in the studio because they wanted it to be the best possible quality. However, there would be no cheating, everything was totally live with no overdubs.
The band thought it was only fair to ask "Sticks" to play on some of the songs as he had just helped them out on the tour. He ended up playing on 6 of the 14 tracks. Patty also came in to the studio to sing on two songs. He was still a good friend of the band and had by then split-up with his girlfriend.
Red London were really happy to get the chance to re-record some of the songs that had been on the first L.P. because they hadn't been happy about that L.P.s production. Even though they were recording the songs "live" now, they still sounded much better and much more powerful. The L.P. was called "A Look Back In Anger" (Live sessions).
The next few years were spent touring. The band toured Germany, Poland, Switzerland, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium as well as playing gigs in England.
After talking to the German label "Nightmare / Knock-out Records" the band were asked to record a new studio L.P. The album called "Last Orders Please" was released in '94.
This was to be Tonys last L.P. with the band, he was finding it impossible to play for two bands so he left Red London but continued to play in Red Alert.
During some of the tours Marty Clark had not been able to go, so Patty had re-joined the band for the duration of the tour. He then asked if he could re-join the band permantly. Marty Clark was doing less and less touring with the band, so it was decided to let Patty Smith rejoin the band.
Red London were now back to the "classic" line-up: Patty Smith - vocals / Kid Stoker - Guitar / Gaz Stoker - Bass / Matty Forster - Drums
It was this line-up that went into the studio to record their new L.P, again for Knock-out Records in '97. The L.P. was called "Days Like These" At the same studio session, the band recorded 4 tracks that came out the same year on the French label "Combat Rock" called the "Downtown Riot" E.P. One of the tracks was a cover version of The Clash song "Janie Jones"
Red London had toured Italy in 1998 and shortly after returning to England the drummer, Matty Forster, decided to leave the band. He had been in the band for 14 years. He is still a good friend of the band and will always be looked upon as the definitive Red London drummer. The lads wish him well.
His replacement was another friend of the band called Cass. At the same time as Cass joined, they decided to add another guitarist. So they got a guitar player they knew called Steve Straughan. Red London were now a 5-piece band. Knock-out Records wanted another L.P. but they wanted the band to travel to Germany to record it there.
In November '98 the new line-up travelled to a small German town to start work on the new L.P. The recording turned out to be the best ever, with the band really happy with everything, from the songs to the production.
The L.P, the best they had ever done, was released in '99 called "Once Upon A Generation". It even came out as a picture - disc L.P. as well as the usual formats.
Also released by Knock-out Records in 1998 was a compilation L.P. put together by Gaz, (the Bass player). It was a tribute to the Angelic Upstarts called "We are the people" and featured lots of great bands. Gaz is a big fan of the Upstarts and it was an ambition of his to put together an L.P. dedicated to them. Red London recorded the Upstarts song "Never 'ad nothin" for this L.P.
By the middle of '98 Patty was again having problems, He had married a woman that didn't trust him going away touring. She wanted him to leave the band or she was going to leave him! To the surprise of many people he gave in to her, she gave him no choice. So history was repeating itself in Pattys case. He left the band and doesn't have much of a life these days. The band and Patty are still mates but they don't see much of him now.
Red London had been booked for a tour of Germany in August and they didn't want to cancel it. They also wanted to keep the band going. So who should come to the rescue?. None other than Steve Smith (The Red Alert Singer). Who also happens to be Pattys brother. Steve joined up to do the tour and it was a great success. A video was made of the "Choice is yours tour" (for more info check the news page).
Red London completed another tour of Germany from April 8th - April 16th 2,000. Steve Smith was again doing the vocals. Steve is staying in the band for the foreseeable future. (Red Alert is still his main band) There will be future tours and one-off gigs. After that, who knows? If you get the chance to see Red London live, come to the gig and have a beer with the band afterwards. It could be your last chance!
Red London
Gaz Stoker
6 Chapman Street
Fulwell sunderland
SR6 8HS, England
e-mail: gazstoker@hotmail.com
|
- 17:27 -
Komentari (0) -
Isprintaj -
#
|
