Titus writes:
Whenever I take part in one of those ridiculous
quizzes, such as in pubs or on holiday, I always name my team “Friends
of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry”, as it’s quite fun to see the MC getting him
or herself tongue twisted, when the scores are announced. That apart,
I have followed this excellent band since formation in Leeds, which
was as long ago as 1981, and inevitably they have undergone many
changes of personnel since. The band currently comprises Chris Reed,
Dave Wolfenden, Ding Archer & Martin Henderson but they have used
13 other members over their career.
The
group’s genre is generally known as Gothic Rock or Post Punk, although
they have always distanced themselves from Goth, preferring to say
that they were primarily inspired by MC5. They were signed by the
aspiring Red Rhino record label (later Cherry Red) and immediately
released ‘Beating my Head’ as their debut single, which was unchanged
from the demo that they had already completed. They were encouraged
that this song made a strong appearance in the NME Indie record chart.
Wolfenden became heavily involved with song writing with Reed, during
what was to be a really productive period for the band in the
eighties. Influential disc jockey John Peel was an enthusiastic
supporter of ‘The Lorries’, and the band recorded 2 sessions for his
programme. These sessions are available on the triple CD compilation
‘See the Fire’. The NME also produced an independent albums chart and
the band’s debut album ‘Talk about the Weather’ reached No. 3. Many
Lorries’ fans consider this LP to be their best, although an excellent
second album released on Red Rhino called ‘Paint your Wagon’ also
reached No. 3 in the NME indie album chart.
After
this, they negotiated a record deal with Situation Two, which was a
subsidiary of Beggars Banquet, releasing two further LP’s ‘Nothing
Wrong’ and ‘Blow’. It must be said that these 2 releases didn’t have
half the success of the previous ones, and the band was dropped by the
label. Feeling that the band had run its course, Reed disbanded it in
1991. Following a twelve year hiatus, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry re-formed
in 2003. In 2005, The Lorries released ‘Thunder in the Black Cave’,
which was a live DVD recorded in Belgium during their European Tour,
and also, under the name of ‘The Chris Reed Unit’ an acoustic-based
album ‘Minimal Animal’ was put together.
In
the ensuing period, I didn’t hear much of them I’m sorry to report,
despite journalist Mick Mercer writing in 2014 that “New material is on
its way”. Ten years on from this statement, new material WAS released
and I’m delighted to report that the 2024 EP ‘Driving Black’ was put
out by COP International as a prelude to the band’s new album ‘Strange
kind of Paradise’. I have requested Lex to play the track ‘Spinning Round’ from the ‘Paint your Wagon’ album which can be found here. Like
in all of my blogs, I could have chosen many a Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
track, but this one just about shades it. Gothic? Post Punk? Does it
really matter?