ROCKIN’ TO NEW ORLEANS

With all of the rich R&B-jazz soil to till, it’s strange to imagine the youth of New Orleans going out and forming punk rock bands, but that’s exactly what they were doing back in ’79. The Red Rockers started out as a garage band they called the Rat Finks, learning by playing along with early records by the Clash, the Damned, Stiff Little Fingers and the Buzzcocks. Their first album, last year’s 'Condition Red, was a pretty good approximation of the sound of the first Clash album (a comparison that eventually started to drive these guys crazy from hearing it so often).

They moved to San Francisco to record the album (they are signed to the San Francisco-based, CBS-distributed 415 records), but then moved back home. They maintain their ties to New Orleans, and the sense of belonging to a place helps them, but they remain a New Orleans band with no ties to what could be thought of as the New Orleans “sound.”

“1 think a little bit of it does rub off,” says singer/guitarist John Griffith. “I was in a jazz band, that’s what I played in high school. I played a lot of funky stuff, and it helped me to appreciate music more. I think it helped me develop discipline in writing tunes, in knowing the way riffs go with other riffs.”

“1 think there’s an influence that we’ve picked up that’s kind of intangible,” adds bassist Darren Hill. “It’s something that we’ve gotten from being in New Orleans and seeing New Orleans bands, though you couldn’t say that we’re directly influenced by the music here.

“But I’d still rather live here than anywhere else. You still find the best musicians in the world here.”

Actually, only half of Red Rockers— Griffith and lead guitarist James Singletary, are true New Orleans natives. Hall grew up in West Virginia and Ghana, where his father was posted by his company. Drummer Jim Reilly (formerly of Stiff Little Fingers) is from North Ireland. That’s another story, since Stiff Little Fingers had been one of Red Rockers’ inspirations.

have to keep changing to survive. —Darren

Darren: “We were on tour, and we called up Howie (Klein, president of 415) and told him we had to get rid of this guy, our old drummer, ’cause he was causing us too many problems. And Howie said ’you’ll never believe what happened,’ ’cause Jim had just been in the office asking Howie if he knew of any work.”

The weekend I spend with Red Rockers is a big one for the band, full of preparation for the release of their second album, Good As Gold. On Friday night, there’s a party for them and the public debut of the video for their new single, “China.” On Saturday, there’s a gig. Sunday, they have to deal with questions from yours truly.

The band’s mood is one of excitement, tinged with nervousness. Good As Gold is a real departure from the first-wave-of-UKpunk style of the first album. It’s far more sophisticated musically, and far more subtle lyrically. Red Rockers made their reputation as a “political” rock band, but the lyrics on the new record deal with personal politics, personal dreams and personal questions more than with the affairs of the world. It’s a good, solid rock album. But there’s some worry about how the punk purists among their hometown following are going to receive it.

Not to worry. At the party, held in a newwave hangout called the Beat Exchange, friends and strangers alike keep coming up to the Red Rockers, slapping them on the back and telling them how good the “China” video is. And despite drummer Jim’s complaint to me that “it’s such a cliche using pretty girls in the video,” it is good—full as it is with what must be every pretty young Chinese girl in New Orleans, and smoothbut-not-too-slick production values that will help it fit right into MTV.

And not to worry. The gig, held in a rather spare looking dump called ‘Jimmy’s,’ is a triumph, despite loads of equipment problems. The hometown crowd still loves them, and the Red Rockers put out the way a rock band should.

But seriously, guys. This new single, “China,” has a wonderfully catchy sound that could fit into the “dance rock” genre of groups like the Thompson Twins and Duran Duran. Were you trying to do that?

John: “That was a little bit of it, but I don’t think that was the majority of what it was intended to do. You’ve got four musicians, and each in their own way is developing. And we sat down, and somebody came up with the idea to play these chords, and it just came about.”

Darren: “We were trying to think of ways to defend ourselves, because we kept thinking that people were gonna give us a lot of grief for changing so much. And finally we said, we don’t have to explain ourselves to anybody. It’s just us and it’s coming out this way. You have to keep changing to survive.”

John: “To keep your own peace of mind. You’ve got to do something different.”

Condition Red had some very topical lyrics on it. Like “Teenage Underground”— do you believe in the idea of a teenage subculture?

John: “Yeah, ’cause we grew up in one. All the teenagers hanging out, having a good time.”

Darren: “Definitely. You know how teenagers feel, alienated from the rest of the world, and you have to feel like you belong, like you’re a part of something, and that’s what we were trying to talk about. It’s probably a cliche, but at the time we really felt strongly about it.”

How about “Dead Heroes”—an antimilitaristic message?

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Darren: “We wrote that on the day we were supposed to register for the draft. About two years ago, when they had everybody register. Another influence for that song was a Leave It To Beaver episode where Beaver asked Wally why do we have wars and Wally says so we can have heroes, Beaver. I wanted to get that clip and put it in right before the start of the video for the song.”

Though most of Good As Gold takes a different tack, Red Rockers haven’t completely abandoned politics, and they certainly haven’t abandoned the goal of making people think. The B-side of the “China” single, for example, is an explosive attack on U.S. foreign policy called “Voice of America.”

Darren: “That’s about the whole Central America situation. It’s really amazing that we snuck that in there. CBS probably has no idea. They probably didn’t even listen to it. It’s Vietnam down there all over again. They’re talking about the domino theory.”

Jim:x‘Reagan wants 60 million dollars in military aid. I think that’s disgusting, when there’s so many people out of work in this country.”

So kids will buy this nice pop song and flip it over and get this anti-war anticorporate diatribe... ,

Darren: “But that’s basically the idea of the band. To make some good music and slip in a message at the same time. ‘Cause that’s the way to reach the most people.”

On the new album the messages are more personal and subtle...

Darren: “The first album, we were just screaming the message and it wasn’t getting anywhere.”

John: “ ‘Good As Gold’ is a good, subtle way of saying wake up, take a good look at what’s going on. You’re sleeping, you’re asleep at the wheel.”

How do you account for the change in musical style?

Darren: “When we did the first album we had been playing all those songs for a year before that. By the time we recorded them, we were already tired of them. Plus we did a lot of growing up between then and now. We toured a lot, just got a lot of different viewpoints.”

John: “I think we’re all striving to be really good musicians now. It’s not just a change in the style of music, it’s a growing process.”

With the first album everyone compared you to the Clash. Now it’s like you’ve evolved into U2 or something.

Jim: “I think it’s when you listen to the guitars and you hear that little bit of echo.”

Some critics say that rock is tired, dead...

John: “That’s corporate rock. Aerosmith, Journey, all of that. That’s all washed up.”

But you believe in rock as a medium through which you can say something vital?

Darren: “Oh yeah. Maybe the people that are saying that are old, and have grown out of it or something. But to us it’s a whole new thing. It’s where you make it. I don’t see how anybody can say that if they’re really a part of it. Because a kid growing up now, he hasn’t heard all of that stuff before. That’s, why I think the Stray Cats are'popular. Because a lot of kids hadn’t gone through that, it’s new to them. I think it will keep go* ing. As long as bands are willing to take chances, keeping expanding the horizon.”

After the interview, we go drive around New Orleans in Darren’s car. We get a great meal of Creole soul food, and then drive over to Tippitina’s, where nothing much is happening (it’s a quiet Sunday night). They show me the spot where they signed the CBS contracts, on the hood of a car parked on the street.

Red Rockers don’t seem like a band getting ready to “go pop star.” It’s not just that they’re still poor, or that they come off as “regular guys.” It’s that they’re undefensive and honest and seem to have a genuine belief in what they do and say.

Over dinner the conversation ranges from the voodoo tradition they tell me is still being practiced out in the Louisiana swamps, to the racism of Southern society, to the origin of the true New Orleans accent (mysteriously close to a Brooklyn accent), to the fact that the State Department won’t let the widow of Salvador Allende (the exleader of Chile) into the country, because they’re afraid of what she’ll say.

Darren: “That really scares me. And the average person has no idea what’s going on. And if they do know what’s going on, they’re convinced that it’s right.” ^