The Reds

The Philadelphia band's first album on A&M, self entitled The Reds, produced by David Kershenbaum, showed the band's impressive sound - a blend of Rick Shaffer's guitar and Bruce Cohen's keyboards into an interestingly textured drone, short guitar and keyboard figures, rising then disappearing back into the drone, while Shaffer's voice provides the punch and definition for their overall sound. The album was supported with live appearances with The Police, Joe Jackson, Blondie, The Ramones, The Psychedelic Furs, and Public Image. An EP, Green With Envy, followed featuring The Doors song, "Break On Through," which suggests some of the band's roots. (Universal Music digitally re-released The Reds, and Green With Envy, August 2012.) In 1980 A&M released a compilation album, Propaganda, that included tracks from The Reds, The Police, Joe Jackson, The Granati Bros, Bobby Henry, Shrink, David Kubinec, and Squeeze.