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Red Rockers

A tale of two styles and two audiences

Jim Mowat
The Riff

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Photo of album art by author 2024

Being a fan of ‘Stiff Little Fingers’ and an avid reader of the NME (on the slow boat cargo edition to the outer world from London), I was intrigued when the ‘SLF’ drummer Jim Reilly departed for the USA and resurfaced in the ‘Red Rockers.’ Fun fact Bono, was stateside talking to the band and passed on Jim’s contact details, the Irish mafia at work.

Who were these Red Rockers? With Jim on board, they must be worth listening to. I could read about it but not hear them unless a vinyl record turned up half a world away. Then something did wash up ashore when not one but two albums turned up, and I latched onto them double quick. I now had in my possession Good as Gold and Schizophrenic Circus. But never the elusive first album Condition Red.

Finally, in streaming days, it recently turned up on Spotify, solving the mystery of one band's two audiences.

Of all places, the Red Rockers began as a local punk band in New Orleans and started their ascent, leading to, I believe, the US punk rocker holy grail of a Clash support slot. The momentum was building, the lineup stable, and they released an EP and then debut album Condition Red.

The lineup was a classic rock combo with two guitars, bass, and drums—a lineup straight out of the Clash playbook. The classic lineup…

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Jim Mowat
Jim Mowat

Written by Jim Mowat

Writes about rock and indie music. Long term music lover and follower of Indie-Alternative sounds, rock with an edge and a good lyric.

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