EXCLUSIVE: Red Guitars: ‘Good Technology’ remix and 40th anniversary gig

ICONS: Hull band Red Guitars. Picture by Richard Duffy-Howard

By Simon Bristow

Red Guitars are to play a “special gig” at O’Rileys on June 24, marking 40 years to the day since the release of their classic single, Good Technology.

To mark the anniversary the band are releasing an extended remix of Good Technology on the same day, which will be available in a limited edition 12-inch red vinyl, all signed by the band. A remix of Fact, the second single, is included along with the code for a digital download of both tracks.

Tickets for the gig are on sale from Friday March 17.

The original Good Technology, the band’s first single, proved an instant hit, selling more than 60,000 copies and topping the indie charts.

Guitarist John Rowley, who remixed the song, told The Hull Story: “It’s sounding great, it’s all looking great. I’ve re-recorded various bits and done the remix. I’ve being doing what I do - sitting there for hours and hours - it’s been great.

“We’ve got some new bits and bobs and I’m really looking forward to it.”

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, the Red Guitars website and Disc Discovery, in Spring Bank, Hull, from March 17.

The Good Technology release party will be followed by a newly commissioned video and UK tour later in 2023.

TIMELESS MELODY: Red Guitars, who are releasing a 40th anniversary remix of their classic single Good Technology. Picture by Richard Duffy-Howard

Purveyors of the most prescient political pop of the period, 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. 

Forty 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.

John Rowley said: “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-inch.”

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, the 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-inch red vinyl from Red Guitars website and good record stores. Released on the band’s own Self Drive Records Catalogue number SCAR 16T, distributed by Cargo.

• The anniversary gig as at O’Rileys in Beverley Road, Hull, on Saturday, June 24, with doors open from 7pm. Tickets are available from Friday, March 17, and cost £17.50 plus booking fee from Skiddle, or without booking fee from Disc Discovery at 53 Spring Bank, Hull.