Green On Red "Green On Red" 1982****

I discovered Green On Red (GoR) around '85-'86 by chance. At the time I was into taping music from radio, especially Giannis Petridis' radio show "from 4 till 5". Petridis was a legendary radio figure - I think that for influence, raio show longevity, and popularity only John Peel can compare with him. At a time when radiowaves were strictly monopolized by the state, his show was our only regular source of information on "foreign" rock and pop, since state radio usually only promoted Greek and classical music. There were also pirate stations, of course, but these had weak signals and would appear and disappear without warning since the police were very much active in persecuting them. So I would sit next to the radio with my hand on the Rec button and wait for a song to start to press it. If, after a few seconds, I decided the song wasn't a keeper, I'd quickly rewind and wait for the next one. One of my favorite songs on these cassettes was Green On Red's "Sixteen Ways". The lyrics were dark and cryptic, and the music reminded me of my favorite classic rock bands but also sounded contemporary. I got their Gas Food Lodging LP soon afterwards, and played it a lot. I started going to concerts when I got into college in '88, which means I narrowly missed GoR's Athens concert in 1987. It was quite an eventful one, too: singer Dan Stuart apparently had a nervous breakdown onstage and left, marking the end of the band's classic line-up. I was sad I didn't get to see them, but all (well, some anyway) good things come to those who wait, so when the band reunited in 2006 they played Athens' Rockwave Festival, and I was there. I had a good time at their concert but, to be honest, the moment had passed. Sometimes timing is everything.

This EP found its way into my collection later still, but it's where the GoR story really begins - well, almost: there's a self-released EP called Two Bibles that predates this one, but very few heard it at the time (or even afterwards). This, eponymous, EP was recorded with the help of Dream Syndicate guitarist Paul Cutler and released by the same band's singer Steve Wynn on his indie label Down There. It catches GoR at the point after leaving their native Arizona behind and settling in California among like-minded artists to form a scene which the music press dubbed the paisley underground. These included, among others, The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Three O' Clock, Opal (later Mazzy Star) and The Bangles before the latter went pop. All these bands exhibited a strong 60's influence, merging classic rock, folk and psychedelia but they did so with with the spontaneinity and energy of punk. GoR would come to be identified as the most country-oriented of the bunch, alongside The Long Ryders. At this stage of their evolution though, they were more psychedelic, often compared to The Doors because of the prevalence of Chris Cacavas' keyboards. There are also similarities in terms of the dark songwriting and passionate vocal delivery, although GoR's singer Dan Stuart conveys a sense of menace and desperation but none of Jim Morrison's seductiveness. The first notes of "Death and Angels" immediately take you back to the 60's, they could belong to any of those Nuggets compilations. The organ and backing vocals present a melodic contrast to Stuart's more aggressive lead singing. Fantastic opener, but at only 2:14 it's over way too soon. "Hair and Skin" is more psychedelic, slower and longer. Sort of a precursor to "Sixteen Ways", the song that introduced me to the band. "Black Night" is more Gothic/New Wavey, it has that cheap organ sound that I somehow associate more with 80's synth bands than psychedelia. "Illustrated Crawling" is another post-punk piece with lead vocals reminiscent of Gun Club's, while the organ has more of a Tex-Mex feel (i.e. sounds like Sir Douglas Quintet). That's all for the short but sweet Side A. Side B opens with another garage rocker called "Aspirin". The remaining two "Lost World" and "Apartment 6" are dark mid-tempo psychedelia, still good but missing the energy and immediacy of side A. Most critics say that Green On Red (a.k.a. the down there EP) is a "very promising" debut. I'd go so far as to say that it's the equal of the more celebrated, Americana-inspired, LP's that followed. Maybe the songwriting is less developed and the playing is more enthusiastic than it is precise, but I love the raw energy of this garage/neo-psychedelic direction, and how Cacavas' keyboards are more to the fore. You know how 80's music is sometime maligned for its clean but sterile sound that sucked the soul out of the music? Well, that may be true for some mainstream bands, but that's not the 80's I know and grew up with. Bands like Green On Red, Dream Syndicate, Gun Club etc...man, they were great! Consider this EP as Exhibit A.

**** for Death and Angels, Hair and Skin, Black Night, Illustrated Crawling, Aspirin

*** for Lost World, Apartment 6