In some ways, 2024 was the year that 1990 should have been for Redd Kross. Third Eye was their first major label album, and Jeff & Steven costarred in a film called Spirit of '76. Unfortunately, neither the movie nor the record was a success, and the perception in the music industry was that Redd Kross had failed to grab the brass ring.
Lead guitarist Robert Hecker left after Third Eye. Robert's band It’s OK will release a new album in 2025 (with Roy McDonald on drums). Jeff and Steven focused on the UK, Europe and Australia for most of the 90’s, touring and recording with a new lineup.
I had always assumed that Redd Kross left Atlantic and signed with Mercury Records after Third Eye. I learned from the book that they actually signed with Andrew Lauder’s UK label This Way Up (which was distributed by Mercury in the US). This Way Up released a number of RK singles and EP’s with non-LP b-sides.
Near the end of the book, Steven McDonald laments that the band has not been more prolific. There are enough b-sides, demos and other stray tracks to make Deluxxe Editions of Third Eye, Phaseshifter and Show World (similar to the Merge Records reissue of Neurotica). Say, there’s an idea!
ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: Songs That Redd Kross Taught Us and Tween Baes From Tostardo.
THIS WAY UP, vol. 1: https://pixeldrain.com/u/tHW3Fkcn
ReplyDeleteTHIS WAY UP, vol. 2: https://pixeldrain.com/u/wbhFJp4S
A belated bonus of 3 original seasonal songs, REDD KROSS KRISSMAS: https://pixeldrain.com/u/DgevJ9U9
Most of these songs have appeared on the bootlegs DISCO BITCH, KROSSING THE RED SEA, and SUPER SUNNY DREAMS FROM THE FRONT ROW. The Phaseshifter demos (known as BLACK SHAMPOO) are still available for download here:
Deletehttps://dbs-repercussion.blogspot.com/2015/12/redd-kross-black-shampoo-demos.html
If you have the SUPER SUNNY version of "Smith Family #1" (not the acoustic version on DISCO BITCH), you should replace your mp3 with the one on THIS WAY UP Vol. 2, as I have removed the loud clicks from the first minute of the song (which was ripped from a flexidisc).
NEW LINKS for Songs That Redd Kross Taught Us:
DeleteVOL 1: https://pixeldrain.com/u/hbuc9GsH
VOL 2: https://pixeldrain.com/u/a5W1iETp (now with 2 more tracks than the 2021 version)
NEW LINK for Tween Baes From Tostardo:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/2FUPbThu
I just ordered a copy of "Happy Trails: Andrew Lauder's Charmed Life and High Times in the Record Business". Andrew Lauder started at Liberty Records, which was bought by United Artists. He signed the Bonzos, the Brinsleys, the Feelgoods, the Idle Race, Groundhogs, Captain Beefheart, Hawkwind, Flamin Groovies, Motorhead, Buzzcocks and the Stranglers (among others). Then he cofounded Radar Records, which I always think of as a power pop label (Yachts, Bram Tchaikovsky, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe) -- but they also signed the Pop Group, Pere Ubu, the Red Krayola, La Dusseldorf, Ray Campi, Bette Bright, The Inmates, and Richard Hell. Andrew Lauder then helped found F-Beat and Demon (when Jake Riviera split from Stiff Records). He signed U2 to Island. It looks like he reactivated Radar Records in the 90's (as well as starting This Way Up). I don't love everything his labels released, but the guy had taste! I adore Bram Tchaikovsky's debut, Yachts' first album, This Year's Model and (of course) Redd Kross.
DeleteWhat a wealth of information and music, Jonder! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you. What an output they have. Just this weekend I looked for a list of their singles and albums . I remember in 1983 or so having known a Red Cross on Posh Boy, but never checked if they were the same as Redd Kross, well obvious with hindsight. Why should I. No Internet. So many bands, only doing one ep. Easy, a band with a slightly different name on a different label would come up and we'd never know what happened to the first on. Well I do know.
ReplyDelete