Red Beat was formed in 1979 in High Wycombe by the three brothers of the British synth-pop musician Howard Jones, and Roy, Martin and Paul Jones based their early sound on the music of Killing Joke. In the summer of 1980 they moved to London and recorded their first single 'Red Beat', which was released on Killing Joke's Malicious Damage label. John Peel was impressed by the single and offered them a session for his radio show, which they recorded in December 1980, but by this time Martin Jones and Majid Ahmed had dropped out due to musical differences. Further disruption followed, and by 1981 the band had fallen out with Killing Joke, and so started their own record label Manic Machine Products, on which they released their next two singles. In 1982 the band recorded new songs for Miles Copeland's I.R.S. Records, but this didn't result in a record deal, and by the end of the year the group were no more. The three Jones brothers formed a new band called Wheel Of Change, which recorded some songs for Stiff Records in 1983, but this didn't lead to a record deal either, and so they once again changed their name to Red White And Phoenix. Their lasting legacy, though, were the songs they recorded as Red Beat, in the post-punk/reggae style pioneered by Killing Joke in the early 80's. It's worth noting that every copy of 'Red Beat' that I found online is actually the first half of 'More Or Less Cut', but this copy is ripped from my own 12" single and so you can finally hear 'Red Beat' in all its glory.
01 Machines In Motion (12" single 1979)02 Red Beat (b-side of 'Machines In Motion')03 More Or Less Cut (Dub) (b-side of 'Machines In Motion')04 See (single 1981)05 Survival (b-side of 'See')06 The Wheel (John Peel session 1980)07 Child (John Peel session 1980)08 Tribe (John Peel session 1980)09 Shadow Boxing (previously unreleased)10 Dream (12" single 1982)As a lot of these 80's post-punk bands will be an unknown quantity for most people, I've included a Youtube link for one of the songs for you to check them out.
