The House Select Committee hearings triggered me the way most anything connected with the events leading up to 1/6 and its aftermath have triggered me. When I get triggered, this rare hit from Canadian band Red Rider is on repeat:
Like a lot of videos of its time, it’s fairly spartan. I think I first heard this when I lived in the Sacramento area back in the early fall of 1981. I’m almost certain that KZAP was playing it at that time. It was getting some college radio traction as well. The intro was almost Pink Floyd inspired, and when I first heard it on the radio, I was wondering if Pink Floyd had released some collection of out-takes to bide time in between The Wall (which I had a difficult time getting into) and whatever would come next. Then I heard the vocals, and was thinking this is something new – let’s find out more. The LP to score is As Far as Siam. They were sort of hard to peg. They were definitely a hard rock band, but they seemed to be tapping into New Wave (very broadly defined) just a bit more than your average hard rock band. If you’re going to be a one-hit wonder, make it count. This was their big international hit. It was timely in 1981, when there were some genuine concerns about a rise in fascism. It is timely now.
I’ve been very busy over the last week or so. Seeing some interaction in the comments recently made my day. Cheers!
