Really Red was one of Houston, Texas' first punk bands and existed from 1978 through 1985.

Biography

The Really Red line up consisted of John Paul Williams on bass guitar, Ronnie "U-Ron" Bond vocalist/lyricist, Bob Weber on drums and Kelly Younger on guitar. Under occasional variations of their names, these were the original and only band members. Really Red evolved into one of the most prominent and popular Texas punk bands of that era and helped to kick-start the early punk scene in Houston and Texas. Really Red toured the United States several times and played some dates in Canada, including a benefit for the

Squamish Five The Squamish Five (sometimes referred to as the Vancouver Five) were a group of self-styled " urban guerrillas" active in Canada during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action. The five were Ann Hansen, Brent Taylor, Juliet Caroli ...

in Vancouver. Along with their "paying gigs" they were known to do benefit shows for causes as diverse as The Nuclear Freeze Campaign, the Canadian Squamish Five Legal Defense, KPFT radio or even for a vet bill for an injured dog. They started their own independent record label, C.I.A. Records. Really Red toured extensively with DOA and Articles of Faith and they also were billed with many bands of note including, but not limited to,

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

, SPK, The Effigies,

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American punk rock band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1976. They are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this term to describe their music. They are also an ade ...

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...

, Dayglo Abortions,

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

, Big Boys,

The Dicks Dicks were an American punk rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1980 and initially disbanded in 1986. After the first breakup, singer Gary Floyd formed the band Sister Double Happiness, with drummer Lynn Perko, then later fronted a project ...

, MDC, Negative Approach, the

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

, Sado Nation, Die Kreuzen, Personality Crisis, Culturcide, Mr Epp and the

Fastbacks Fastbacks are a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960), and friends Lulu Gargiulo (guitar and vocals, born October 12, 1960) and Kim Warnick (bass and vocals, born April 7, ...

. On special rare occasions Austrian avant-garde film maker, Kurt Kren, would project his films as a backdrop for the band's performance. They released their first 45 single recording, Crowd Control/Corporate Settings in 1979. Among their many accomplishments, Really Red were the first Texas punk band to tour extensively outside of Texas. In addition they were the first Texas punk band to have a full length album distributed nationally; ''Teaching You the Fear'' released in 1981. The title track cited the murders of three men by members of the Houston police department; a Black Panther activist Carl Hampton, a Latino man Joe Campos Torres, and a gay man Fred Paez. ''Rest in Pain,'' Really Red's second album was released in 1985 and most of side two departed from the punk genre into a dark soundscape that was a homage to the Red Crayola's " Parable of Arable Land" album. Really Red broke up in 1985 after releasing 2 albums, 2 45's, 2 7-inch EPs, and tracks on various compilations. Their song "Prostitution" appeared on the

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

compilation album '' Let Them Eat Jellybeans!''. The song "Nobody Rules" was included on the compilation ''Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death''. That version was intended for their ''Rest in Pain'' album but due to a mix up it ended up on "Cottage Cheese." Their cover of Petula Clark's "Downtown" was included on the 1996 7-inch 45 ''Rather See You Dead: Houston Punk 1978-1979'' from the Hot Box Review label. Their song "I Was a Teenage Fuckup" appeared on the soundtrack to the film American Hardcore. The 1981 LP "''Teaching You The Fear''" was re-issued on Empty Records in 2004. 2015 saw the reissue of all of Really Red's material, as well as unreleased rarities, by

. This release came as a two CD set ''Teaching You The Fear: The Complete Collection'' and three full length vinyl albums (see below). For years, as well as fronting Really Red, lead singer U-Ron (as Perry Coma) created and hosted the original "Funhouse" radio show, on Pacifica's Houston station KPFT. The only member to continue making music has been drummer Bob Weber who did a California tour with the notorious Culturcide and then joined The Anarchitex. Both bands were also from Houston Texas. 2020 saw ''Teaching You the Fear... Again'' a tribute album released with contributions from bands including Sugar Shack,

Verbal Abuse Verbal abuse (also known as verbal aggression, verbal attack, verbal violence, verbal assault, psychic aggression, or psychic violence) is a type of Psychological abuse, psychological/mental abuse that involves the use of Oral language, oral or w ...

, The Hickoids,

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

, Gary Floyd/ Dicks,

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

The Bellrays The Bellrays (also capitalized as The BellRays) is an American rock group that combines garage rock and punk with soul music, founded in Riverside, California in 1990 by vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum. They have been with sever ...

, Darwin's Finches and MDC among many other notable groups.

Members

Really Red’s members sometimes appeared under various other names: *Ronald "U-Ron" Bond - Vocals/lyrics *Kelly Younger - Guitar *Robert Weber - Drums *John Paul Williams - Bass guitar

Discography

Singles and EPs

*Crowd Control/Corporate Settings 7-inch (CIA Records) - 1979 *Modern Needs/White Lies 7-inch (CIA Records) - 1980 *Despise Moral Majority: 4 song Live 7-inch EP (CIA Records) - 1980 *New Strings for Old Puppets 7-inch EP (CIA Records) - 1982

Full lengths

* Teaching You the Fear (CIA Records) - 1981 LP * Rest in Pain (CIA Records) - 1985 LP * Really Red 1980 - 1984 Compilation (Angry Neighbor) CD * Teaching You the Fear (Empty Records) reissue - 2004 LP CD * Teaching You The Fear: The Complete Collection (Alternative Tentacles) 2015 reissue 1979-1985 2XCD * Volume 1: Teaching You The Fear (Alternative Tentacles) 2015 reissue LP * Volume 2: Rest In Pain (Alternative Tentacles) 2015 reissue LP * Volume 3: New Strings For Old Puppets (Alternative Tentacles) 2015 reissue LP

Compilation appearances

* Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (

) 1981 LP *Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death (Ward 9 Records) 1983 LP * Killed by Death Vol 2 (Redrum Records) Bootleg LP * Killed by Death Vol 4 (Redrum Records) Bootleg LP * Rather See You Dead: Houston Punk 1978–1979 (Hot Box Review) 1996 * Deep in the Throat of Texas (Existential Vacuum) LP * Faster & Louder: Hardcore Punk, Vol. 1 (Rhino Records) 1993 CD * ''American Hardcore'' soundtrack (Rhino Records) 2006 CD

References

External links

* http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/60930 Vocalist U-Ron 2015 interview on Diane's Kamikaze Fun Machine WFMU radio * https://reallyredtx.wordpress.com/page/4/ - REALLY RED The Depository - Photos, flyers, and memorabilia * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNNTyD8Z1ug - YouTube * http://www.punknews.org/review/13321/really-red-teaching-you-the-fearthe-complete-collection-1979-1985 - Punk News 2015 article * http://www.houstonpress.com/music/really-red-recalls-the-early-days-of-houston-punk-6531306 - Houston Press 2015 * http://www.houstonpress.com/music/jello-biafra-thinks-its-time-you-re-examined-really-red-6769384 - Houston Press 2015 * http://www.houstonpress.com/music/digging-into-the-recordings-that-really-red-never-knew-existed-6771121 - Houston Press 2015 * - 1979 Wilddog Zine * http://www.breakmyface.com/bands/reallyred.html - Break My Face blog * http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2015/02/really-red-too-political.html * http://www.myspace.com/strangereactioncom Really Red Fan's Myspace {{Authority control Hardcore punk groups from Texas Musical groups from Houston