Red Guitars – Good Technology 2023 Anniversary Vinyl Release Party
Red Guitars announce a special gig at O’Riley’s, in Hull, on the 24th of June 2023 celebrating 40 years to the day since the release of their debut single and number one indie chart hit ‘Good Technology’.
To mark the anniversary the band are releasing an extended remix of ‘Good Technology’, which will be available in a limited edition 12″ red vinyl. A remix of ‘Fact’, the second single, is included.
At the gig, as well as a full set of old favourites, the band will unveil some new songs from their forthcoming album set for release in 2024. Terra Fin, who supported Red Guitars on last year’s reunion tour, will again open the show. Tickets are available from Skiddle from March 17th.
The Good Technology release party will be followed by a newly commissioned video and UK tour later in 2023.
Purveyors of the most prescient political pop of the period, the Hull band Red Guitars were arguably one of the more interesting bands of the early eighties. A string of singles that topped the independent charts, appearances on The Tube and Whistle Test, a tour with the Smiths and then self-destructing at the moment they looked destined for greatness. It’s a story that adds a patina of mystique and glamour to a band.
40 years on, a phone call out of the blue from promoters AEG invited the five original members to dip their toes in the water of live performance again and now they are back together and playing better than ever.
Guitarist John Rowley explained, “The resultant UK tour in 2022 was greeted with exuberance and joy from the cohort of diehard fans who had, until now, believed they would never get a chance to see us play again. Fans flew in from Dubai, Germany and Northern Ireland to be at the sell-out gigs around the UK including of course our hometown of Hull. What started as a chance to simply get together again and play has gained increasing momentum with another tour planned for this September, an album of exciting new material in the works and the release in June of a remix of our first two singles, Good Technology and Fact on a limited-edition red vinyl 12.”
The lyrics of Good Technology remain as barbed and prophetic as ever forty years on. Similarly, the refrain from Fact “Take the profit out of war. We don’t need it anymore,” could hardly be more pertinent. And musically all their songs are distinctive and adventurous. The tumbling African tinged guitar of Hallam Lewis, soaring bass lines of Lou Duffy-Howard, together with John Rowley’s measured rhythm guitars and Matt Higgin’s metronomic drums weave a multi coloured backdrop against Jerry Kidd’s distinctive voice, demanding your attention.
Today’s musical landscape is unrecognisable from 40 years ago, but some things are destined to stand the course of time and to be discovered by successive generations. Red Guitars are such a thing.
Good Technology 2023 plus Fact (remix) and Good Technology (extended mix) will be available on 12” red vinyl from Red Guitars website and good record stores from June 24th 2023. Released on the band’s own Self Drive Records Catalogue number SCAR 16T, distributed by Cargo.
Anniversary gig Saturday 24th June at O’Rileys, 83 Beverley Rd, Hull HU3 1XR, doors 7 pm, tickets £17.50 plus bf from skiddle.com/e/36300908.
SIDEBAR:
Red Guitars were formed around the pairing of Jeremy Kidd (vocals) and Hallam Lewis (guitarist). The band delivered great tunes, had the left-wing political credentials to become NME darlings and were defiantly independent, releasing material through their own label, Self Drive Records.
Tim Naylor, Record Collector, “While the band was largely guitar-driven, there was an underlying swagger and groove to their music, influenced by the sounds of African Highlife which stood them apart from the morass of wannabes. They delivered incessant ear-worm riffs, swooshing bass lines, chanted lyrics and scattering drums that make the feet want to move and the ass want to follow, to paraphrase Funkadelic. And there’s more than a little groove in some of the Red Guitars’ tunes, particularly in the basslines delivered by Lou Duffy-Howard. Added into the mix was some good old-fashioned rock, blues, and even a hint of prog – as well as some rapid-fire riffing to keep the post-punk crowd happy.”
“In many ways the band hit the mother lode with their first single. Good Technology is a fantastic slice of indie pop, with great lyrics, screaming guitars and a ferocious bass rumble underpinning everything. Their sound borrowed elements from big hitters like Echo & The Bunnymen, U2 and Simple Minds – without sounding derivative in the slightest. The video for the single was played on Channel 4’s The Tube as part of a feature on Hull’s music scene, reaching a new fanbase (and) Good Technology … went on to shift an impressive 60,000 copies.”
Releasing their seminal debut album ‘Slow to Fade’ in 1984, frontman Jeremy Kidd announced his departure soon after and Red Guitars ultimately disbanded completely two years later.
Fast forward to 2022 and Red Guitars returned with their complete and original line-up for what was their first tour since their 80s prime, featuring vocalist Jeremy Kidd, lead guitarist Hallam Lewis, drummer Matt Higgins, rhythm guitarist John Rowley and Lou Duffy-Howard on bass.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
You can see the HD version of the original Good Technology video https://www.redguitars.co.uk/goodTech.html
How I fell in Love with the Red Guitars: Music mogul Steve Homer https://www.thehullstory.com/allarticles/red-guitars
Good Technology 2023 back cover photography by Richard Duffy-Howard
