From Punk To Horrid Junk, Case Study #325: The Red Rockers
The idea for this post came on Labor Day weekend while driving in a mini van in the Detroit suburbs with my brother-in-law. No, there was no p-rock blaring out of the mini van speakers nor any collector scum discussions going on- far from it since my wife and none of her family (or my family for that matter) are into punk. So any discussion of punk records around family would be a conversation I would either have with myself, an imaginary friend or my 3 month old son.
Anyway, Sirius satellite radio is on in the van and he’s flipping through the hundred or so choices for stations with different themes- comedy, R&B, hip hop, country, etc- there's too fucking many. We happen upon a station called something like "80's New Wave" and who is playing but the fucking Red Rockers and that horrid song of theirs "China". My first instinct was to quickly change the station, but I decided to listen to the whole crappy song so I could really remember how bad they became a few short years after their great "Guns of Revolution" 7"EP in '80 and "Condition Red" LP a year later.
Anyway, Sirius satellite radio is on in the van and he’s flipping through the hundred or so choices for stations with different themes- comedy, R&B, hip hop, country, etc- there's too fucking many. We happen upon a station called something like "80's New Wave" and who is playing but the fucking Red Rockers and that horrid song of theirs "China". My first instinct was to quickly change the station, but I decided to listen to the whole crappy song so I could really remember how bad they became a few short years after their great "Guns of Revolution" 7"EP in '80 and "Condition Red" LP a year later.
It had been a LONG time since I heard their crappy stuff, and it made me feel rather sad how quickly they went from blaring guitars and singing about "Guns of Revolution" in 1980 and 1981 to the ultra-wimpy "China" in early 1983 that had barely a trace of guitar. Any miniscule hint of anger and energy from two years earlier was completely gone. I know, plenty of other punk bands have wimped out over the years and "matured" as musicians or whatever the fuck they want to call it. C’mon, I’ve been listening to punk for 20 years so I’ve seen or heard too many bands fall by the wayside. But so quick like the Red Rockers? Usually the process is more gradual, like the guitars are toned down and pace slows down on the dreaded "follow-up" album that may still have some punk left into it. Usually the 3rd album several years later is a rotten piece of shit. But within the space of less than two years to go from blaring p-rock to something 100% different is quite a leap. How so quickly? So I tried to do a timeline in my head as I envision the way they went down the drain.
Mid-to-late 1981
The "Condition Red" LP drops and the Red Rockers are blazing around town doing lots of shows and playing great punk making a name for themselves in S.F. after their big move from N’Leans.
Punk cred = pretty high
The "Condition Red" LP drops and the Red Rockers are blazing around town doing lots of shows and playing great punk making a name for themselves in S.F. after their big move from N’Leans.
Punk cred = pretty high
Early-to-mid 1982
The band continues to play punk shows (see flyers below from April of ’82- even a show with the Bad Brains at the height of their power!) but starts "experimenting" and- yikes!- "branches out" by slowing down the speed of songs, turning the amps down from 11 and getting more "melodic" or whatever. Major labels start sniffing around because the band has toned things down and are more "marketable". Old fans of their blazing p-rock lost interest in them in droves.
Punk cred = waning quickly
The band continues to play punk shows (see flyers below from April of ’82- even a show with the Bad Brains at the height of their power!) but starts "experimenting" and- yikes!- "branches out" by slowing down the speed of songs, turning the amps down from 11 and getting more "melodic" or whatever. Major labels start sniffing around because the band has toned things down and are more "marketable". Old fans of their blazing p-rock lost interest in them in droves.
Punk cred = waning quickly
Late 1982
The Red Rockers sign to Columbia Records and do a group hug while saying "We’ve made it! We are on a major label! We are the next big thing and will be famous rock stars remembered for years and not a flash in the pan! Yippee!!"
Punk cred = -1,000
The Red Rockers sign to Columbia Records and do a group hug while saying "We’ve made it! We are on a major label! We are the next big thing and will be famous rock stars remembered for years and not a flash in the pan! Yippee!!"
Punk cred = -1,000
Late 1982 to early 1983
The band has a meeting and says "No more hints of loud stuff in the least bit- you know, wimpy music like Culture Club is really huge right now so let’s go that route- and PRONTO! We’ll still call ourselves a rock n’ roll band, though, and keep the Commie-related band name".
The band has a meeting and says "No more hints of loud stuff in the least bit- you know, wimpy music like Culture Club is really huge right now so let’s go that route- and PRONTO! We’ll still call ourselves a rock n’ roll band, though, and keep the Commie-related band name".
Early 1983
Band rapidly wimps out and then shortly thereafter writes and records crap like "China", puts out an album called "Good As Gold”, lumbers along for a few more years and are merely a small footnote in the annals of rock history and loathed by punk fans worldwide for their big sellout.
Band rapidly wimps out and then shortly thereafter writes and records crap like "China", puts out an album called "Good As Gold”, lumbers along for a few more years and are merely a small footnote in the annals of rock history and loathed by punk fans worldwide for their big sellout.
September 1, 2007
The Punk Business Manager- any maybe a few others- hears "China" on satellite radio and is perplexed at their rapid descent.
I was 11 years old in 1983 and not into punk when "China" came out and I vaguely remember seeing music videos of theirs on Friday Night Videos (‘member that show? It was on NBC and watched by those of us without cable). But if anyone active in the punk scene back then remembers seeing the Red Rockers in their great '80 to '81 period (or the pre-Red Rockers band the Rat Finks), please post some comments below so I can get some first-hand stories of how they wimped out so quickly. Inquiring minds want to know. Maybe they were just punk poseurs the whole time singing about guns of revolution and anti-war stuff but always keeping their "eyes on the prize" of getting a major label contract and mainstream acceptance? Help me out here.
Guns of Revolution.mp3
*This is the version on the "Condition Red" LP from 1981, which I different and I think better than the one on their 1980 7"EP
1982 Flyers
And here is a video of "China" that I found, where else, but on YouTube
I had no idea they recorded anything after Condition Red" LP. As i was reading your post i kept thinkin' it can't be as bad as you're describin' it,but then i watched the video. This is the kind of crap that made most of us look for other kind of music in the 80's.Video is worth few laughs though. What the fuck was the director thinkin'? Hey I got a buddy who works at the comunity theater and they got all this surplus fabric. Let's make some big ass flags and have some asian girls run around for no fuckin' reason whatsoever. It's 83 and everyone is coked out of their mind so who's gonna notice.
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LOL, funny comments! Yeah, the "China" video is really bad. Looking back, 99% of music videos made in 1983 were so silly and ridiculous like this Red Rockers one.
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