Green on Red was an American rock band, formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen psychedelic sound of first-wave desert rock, while later releases tended more towards traditional country rock.
History
The band began in 1979 as The Serfers, a four-piece made up of Dan Stuart (vocals/guitar), Jack Waterson (bass), Van Christian (drums, later of Naked Prey) (organ), quickly replaced by Chris Cacavas. In the summer of 1980, the Serfers relocated to Los Angeles, where they changed their name to Green on Red (after the title of one of their songs) to avoid confusion with the local surf punk scene. Christian returned to Tucson and was replaced by Lydia Lunch sideman Alex MacNicol.
The band issued an overtly psychedelic, self-released red vinyl EP, sometimes called Two Bibles, A strong country music direction was evident, which music critic Ira Robbins remarked "should finally erase the group's original misassociation with the dreaded paisley underground". The band split up afterwards; Cacavas began recording albums under his own name. but after the 1992 album Too Much Fun Stuart stopped using the name.
LPs
- Gravity Talks (Slash, 1983)
- Gas Food Lodging (Enigma, 1985)
- The Killer Inside Me (Mercury, 1987)
- Here Come the Snakes (Restless, 1989)
- This Time Around (China, 1989)
- Scapegoats (China, 1991)
- Too Much Fun (Off Beat, 1992)
Lives and compilations
- Live At The Town And Country Club (China Records 1989)
- The Little Things in Life (China Records 1991)
- Archives: What We Were Thinking (Normal Records, 1998)
- Valley Fever - Live at the Rialto (Blue Rose Records - CD + DVD 2006)
- BBC Sessions (Maida Vale Records, 2007)