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Subject: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: whistledog on 02/19/13 at 8:49 pm
There are alot of bands/singers from the 80s that never charted or made a large impact in North America, but were known overseas, so I thought I'd do a series of topics on some of them. Here is Volume 1 ...
Red Box were the duo of Simon Toulson-Clarke and Julian Close. From their debut album 'The Circle and the Square' in 1986, they released several singles, two which saw the UK top 40. It was their sole album release before they parted ways. Toulson-Clarke would reform Red Box in 1990 and again in 2010, but further hit singles never came.
I stumbled into this band when I found a copy of 'The Circle and the Square' on cassette at a local thrift store many years ago and it piqued my curiosity. Has since become one of my favourite albums of the 80s. Here are their chart singles ...
1985 - Lean on Me (Ah Li Ayo)
1986 - For America
1987 - Heart of the Sun
1990 - Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTyFUbgSvL8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbJFcgpfeZY
Lean on Me / For America
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Paul on 02/20/13 at 7:24 am
Remember them for the two big hits, of course...really should have made some sort of dent with the MTV crowd, but they looked like a pair of accountants, which probably didn't help!
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: MaxwellSmart on 02/20/13 at 11:24 pm
Yeah, yeah! I had the "Lean On Me (ah-li-ayo)" 7". I also remember it from Rock Over London with Graham Deane. The thing is, at the time Club Nouveaux's song "Lean On Me" was a huge hit in the States, so they changed it to "One Man, Ten Men" to avoid confusion. Not a very catchy title.
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Bobby on 02/23/13 at 6:03 am
I like 'Lean on Me (Ah Li Ayo)' but 'For America' is my favourite. In fact, I hadn't heard that song for almost 20 years before I accidentally realised who did it. It brought back a flood of memories.
From what I understand; 'For America' was a protest song against WEA who wanted them to dumb their lyrics down and make 'fan friendly' radio material.
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: whistledog on 02/23/13 at 8:01 pm
From what I understand; 'For America' was a protest song against WEA who wanted them to dumb their lyrics down and make 'fan friendly' radio material.
That is awesome!
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Bobby on 02/23/13 at 8:20 pm
That is awesome!
Haha, well...Sadly but unsurprisingly, Red Box didn't hit the US charts with that song but I love how they at least made a stand for the music they believed in and wanted to create.
I do agree with Paul, not necessarily that Red Box looked like accountants, but they didn't have an image that separated them from a lot of New Wave artists around that period (examples that come to mind include Blancmange, China Crisis and even the style of Thompson Twins and Howard Jones...). The way I see it, it's almost like Red Box got lost in the shuffle.
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: whistledog on 02/23/13 at 9:29 pm
Haha, well...Sadly but unsurprisingly, Red Box didn't hit the US charts with that song but I love how they at least made a stand for the music they believed in and wanted to create.
I do agree with Paul, not necessarily that Red Box looked like accountants, but they didn't have an image that separated them from a lot of New Wave artists around that period (examples that come to mind include Blancmange, China Crisis and even the style of Thompson Twins and Howard Jones...). The way I see it, it's almost like Red Box got lost in the shuffle.
They had a single called Saskatchewan. It never charted in Canada. lol
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Paul on 02/24/13 at 3:05 pm
They had a single called Saskatchewan. It never charted in Canada. lol
Wonder what they rhymed that with?
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Bobby on 02/24/13 at 4:13 pm
They had a single called Saskatchewan. It never charted in Canada. lol
Irony of ironies, lol. They couldn't even get the patriotic punter to buy it. ;D
Wonder what they rhymed that with?
After giving it some thought. What about gargantuan?
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: MaxwellSmart on 02/26/13 at 2:14 pm
Saskatchewan, where you can watch your dog run away for three days!
8)
Subject: Re: Uncharted in North America: Red Box
Written By: Philip Eno on 05/12/14 at 12:59 pm
Two great songs "Lean on Me " and "For America", why did Red Box disappear so quickly?