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Who Are the Skulls?
Red Flag
This remix album was a long-awaited answer to allow more outside remixers to work with Red Flag's material. Featuring newcomers and stalwarts of the electronic pop genre.
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Description
Biography by John Bush, -ALL MUSIC GUIDE (AMG)
Synth-pop duo Red Flag released only one proper album for Enigma Records, but later resurfaced on their own label, Plan B Records. Brothers Chris and Mark Reynolds founded the group in the mid-'80s, and signed to Enigma for the release of their debut album, Naive Art (1989). The remix album Naive Dance -- produced in large part by Razormaid -- appeared one year later, but Enigma folded in 1991. Red Flag moved to I.R.S. later that year, but was dropped after only one release, the 1992 single "Machines." Two years later, Chris and Mark formed their own label to release The Lighthouse, a much less danceable work than previous efforts. The late nineties also saw the the release of several other albums such as Caveat Emptor in 1998, and Eagle and Child, In My Arms Again and Crypt in 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_(band) :
History
The first song the brothers ever recorded, "Distant Memories", was selected for a compilation album by local radio station 91X. Years later, at a club performance in Pacific Beach, they were offered a recording contract with Synthicide Records, subsidiary of Enigma Records.
Their first album, Nave Art, was released in 1989 by Enigma. Released at the time of seminal synth pop group Depeche Mode's greatest success, it drew comparisons as being stylistically similar to that group's recordings,[1] featuring extensive use of synthesizers and dance beats, and vocals that were generally deep and gloomy in mood. Several singles from the album charted highly on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts, such as "Russian Radio" (#11) and "If I Ever" (#12). Red Flag went on to appear on American Bandstand, and the video for "Russian Radio" was played by MTV's 120 Minutes. Notable producers who worked on Nave Art include Paul Robb of synthpop band Information Society and Joseph Watt of remix service Razormaid.
In 1991, Enigma Records closed, and the duo signed on with I.R.S. Records, but only released one single in 1992 before being released by the label in 1993. The brothers then founded an independent record label, Plan B Records, from which they have released all their subsequent recordings.
Mark Reynolds died on April 7, 2003.[2]
Music
Red Flag toured frequently, playing at first as opening act to New Wave and synthpop artists such as Devo, Thomas Dolby, Book of Love and Real Life.
The 1996 album The Lighthouse stood out as being stylistically unlike any of the band's prior or subsequent recordings, with highly ambient, tranquil melodies.[3]
By 2000, the brothers were co-headlining local concerts with Anything Box,[4] as well as performing with European darkwave and futurepop bands like Dance or Die, Melotron, Mesh, T.O.Y., and De/Vision. Some of these latter bands influenced their music to take on a darker, more industrial sound at that time.
Their 2002 remix album, Who are the Skulls?, featured fellow synthpop artists such as Cosmicity, Provision, and Rob Rowe of Cause & Effect.
Stevens, Alan (2003). For the Record: Red Flag. San Diego CityBeat.
FOR THE RECORD: Red Flag
by Alan 'Scoops' Stevens
Anyone who stumbled across a dance floor during the late 80s is probably familiar with the English-sounding new wave tune Russian Radio (there is a sound / its underground/ moving out for miles around).
It wouldnt surprise most fans of that song to learn that the group responsibleRed Flagspecialized in electronic-industrial pop and techno. The eyebrow-raiser is that Red Flag, which sounds as British as Depeche Mode, is from San Diego.
Well, OKnot originally. Brothers Mark and Chris Reynolds were born in Liverpool, England. Soon after their umbilical gleaning, their family headed to the U.S. and, after a few stops, settled in San Diego. As teenagers, the brothers developed a love for the electronic dance sound best exemplified by the likes of Depeche Mode and OMD, and hit local stages under the name Shades of May.
In 1984 the duo scored an early coup when their song Distant Memories was included on 91Xs local music compilation, Local Heroes. More importantly, a few years later they were discovered at a Pacific Beach club date and signed a deal with Synthicide Records, an offshoot of Enigma Records (Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks).
Re-christening themselves Red Flag, the duo scored a minor turntable hit in 1988 with their debut single, Broken Heart. But it was Russian Radio, released a few months later, that really scored, landing the band in the Top 10 of the Billboard charts. They released their first album, Nave Art, in 1989, which scored another Top 10 with the single, If I Ever. The duo were now huge favorites at dance clubs worldwide, and that same year MTVs underground specialty show, 120 Minutes, added Russian Radio to its rotation.
Already proven as a live act, the brothers toured extensively, moving to larger halls and opening for heroes of the day, from Devo to Thomas Dolby. They chatted it up with Dick Clark after they performed Russian Radio on his legendary hit-making TV show, American Bandstand.
Sadly, in a tale all too common, Red Flags record label folded just as the bands star was rising. It would be three years (1992) before the duo released another album, Machines, on IRS Records. It managed to reach No. 44 on the Billboard charts, but the momentum was gone. In 1994, the band decided to go the DIY route, setting up their own label called Plan B.
Since the labels inception, Red Flag has been incredibly prolific, releasing 10 albums, 14 CD singles, two box sets and numerous compilation album appearances. Because of their lavish packaging, their releases have become bounty for collectors.
Even recently, theyve been asked to headline huge international dance events, timed to promote various releases. They took a European jaunt in 2000 to support The Crypt and were booked in Canada and Mexico while promoting The Bitter End (as well as shows in Lima, Peru, which the pair have described as a career highlight).
Things were going very well for the band in 2003, with MTV recently using their music for the Road Rules series. They released a new album entitled Codebreaker T133 while 2002s Who Are The Skulls (a compilation of remixes of their music) and an inspired take on Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song were still garnering attention.
They undoubtedly would have continued their prolific pace, but as information was being gathered for this article, Mark Reynolds passed away.
You often here the term underrated used for musicians, but in the case of Red Flag (and this is not posthumous ass-kissing) it really was true. Even many local music fanatics remain unaware of their San Diego connection. With 10 chart hits and a huge discography spanning a 20-year history, Red Flag remain one of the most successful dance acts to ever emerge from San Diego.