Red London

Trained in Sunderland, in the northeast of England, Red London is part of the history of British punk through a trajectory linked to the Oi! and street punk scene that emerged in the early 1980s. The band formed around brothers Gaz and Kid Stoker, with Patty Smith on vocals in its early period, then underwent several lineup changes over the decades. From its beginnings, Red London developed a direct sound anchored in the energy of punk, while on its early recordings hinting at influences of soul and reggae before a clearer orientation toward a rough and melodic Oi!. After the Sten Guns in Sunderland EP in 1983, Red London released the album This Is England in 1984, followed by Outlaws in 1989, Tumbling Dice in 1990 and Last Orders Please in 1994. The rest of the discography includes Days Like These in 1997, Once Upon a Generation in 1999 and Soundtrack of Our Lives in 2002, a period during which Steve Smith, Patty Smith's younger brother and also linked to Red Alert, took over vocal duties. Hailing from a working-class background and associated with an antifascist and socialist sensibility in its lyrics as in its scene context, Red London has traversed the British and European punk circuits with an identity tied to social realities, to anti-racist skinhead culture and to a street-writing style without detours.