Green On Red - History

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) and Sean Nagore (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, though its first widely available record was an EP issued in 1982 by Dream Syndicate leader Steve Wynn on his own Down There label. Green on Red followed the Dream Syndicate onto Slash Records, which released the album Gravity Talks in the fall of 1983. San Francisco-based guitarist Chuck Prophet joined for the 1985 Gas Food Lodging (Enigma), after which MacNicol was replaced on drums by Keith Mitchell (later of Mazzy Star). In 2006 'Gas' was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series. Also in 1985, Stuart collaborated with Steve Wynn as "Danny and Dusty" on the album The Lost Weekend (A&M).

A major-label deal with Phonogram/Mercury followed, with the EP No Free Lunch and the album The Killer Inside Me, produced by Jim Dickinson at Ardent Studios in Memphis. The band split up afterwards; Cacavas began recording albums under his own name. When Stuart returned to recording, with the 1989 Here Come the Snakes, it was essentially as a duo with Prophet, using hired backing including Christopher Holland (Jools Hollands brother) on keyboards and Ethan Johns (son of Glyn Johns) Three more albums were released before the pair called it quits, after the 1992 Too Much Fun "The Great Rock Discography"/> Stuart essentially quit music afterwards; Prophet maintains a career as a solo artist and semi-celebrity sideman.

However, in September 2005, the band reformed in "golden era" line-up, Stuart, Cacavas, Prophet and Waterson, with Jim Bogios filling in for Alex McNicol (who had died in the meantime) to play a one-off show as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Club Congress in Tucson. This was followed up by a show in London on 10 January 2006 (ostensibly to complete their aborted 1987 European tour). A second "Danny and Dusty" album came into production, followed by a double album and DVD on Blue Rose Records.