Red Guitars release new single in aid of refugees
NEW MATERIAL: Iconic Hull band Red Guitars have released their first new single since 1986. Pictures by Richard Duffy-Howard
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
Hull indie legends Red Guitars have released their first single in nearly 40 years – their first as a four-piece after parting company with singer Jerry Kidd.
The new release from the former indie chart-toppers is Ho Ho Hum, written and sung by guitarist Hallam Lewis.
The band said the song is “a reflective observation on the struggles of migration for refugees, intertwined with his own recent experience of relocating from his home in South Africa back to the UK, when Red Guitars reformed in their original line-up to play mostly sold-out tours in 2022 and 2023”.
The track is free to download via Bandcamp and the group are requesting voluntary donations to either of two refugee support organisations; Breaking Barriers or Refugee Council.
Hallam said of the single: “Sadly we live in a time when people seem to be positively encouraged, at least from some quarters, to think of refugees and asylum seekers as a dehumanised menace from ‘over there’ who are on a self-seeking jolly of some kind – not real people desperately running for their lives, forced to leave their homes, families, friends and way of life behind.
“This climate of apparent indifference – the ‘Ho Hum’ of the title – to a very real plight is what suggested the song to me.”
The Reds are promising a new album for next year and said the response to road-testing new material on their recent tours alongside classics including Good Technology, Marimba Jive and Steeltown had inspired them to return to the studio.
In a statement announcing the release of Ho Ho Hum, their first new single since 1986, the band said: “Despite the success of the last two reunion tours, the band and Jerry Kidd have again parted ways, with Hallam on lead vocals for the forthcoming releases, reprising the role he enjoyed when he and bassist Lou Duffy-Howard released two critically acclaimed albums as The Planet Wilson in the mid-eighties.
“The NME’s description of The Planet Wilson as having “Snaking pop bass lines, twisted vocals, odd un-western rhythms and fragments of African style guitar” is equally applicable to Red Guitars’ new output.”
CHEERS!: Red Guitars are back with a new single in aid of refugee support agencies
Alongside the forthcoming new album, Red Guitars are also planning live shows for 2025 with their four original members: Hallam Lewis (guitar, vocals), John Rowley (guitar), Lou Duffy-Howard (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Higgins (drums).
Formed in 1982, Red Guitars’ prophetic first single Good Technology topped the Independent Charts and they had further consecutive No 1s with classic cuts Marimba Jive and Steeltown before releasing an independent album Slow to Fade.
Singer Jeremy Kidd left the band shortly afterwards and was replaced by Robert Holmes. Red Guitars released their second album, Tales of the Expected, on Virgin Records before splitting up in 1986.
As revealed by The Hull Story, the band reformed in 2022 with their original singer for a UK reunion tour, and again in 2023 to promote the self-released limited edition red vinyl Good Technology anniversary remix and new video.
You can read our review of their triumphant performance at Hull’s Adelphi club on the 2022 tour here.