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Last time it was Red Guitars, now Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. There wasn't, actually, any compulsion to incorporate the word "Red" (or, indeed, "Rhino") into your band name to work with Red Rhino. This bunch - who played Leeds on Friday, apparently - were signed to the Red Rhino label; this track is Spinning Around from 1985:
[Buy: The Best of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry]
[Part of the Red Rhino weekend]
The Red Guitars' label, Self Drive, was distributed by Red Rhino, whose contribution to the UK independent music scene we're celebrating this weekend. This is another homebrewed video, for their debut single Good Technology:
[Available, but eye-wateringly expensive: 1986's Tales Of The Expected album]
[Part of the Red Rhino weekend]
Another act distributed by Red Rhino, UV Pop. This is an enthusiast-produced video for the track No Songs Tomorrow, from the RR-distributed 1986 album Bendy Baby Man:
[Part of Red Rhino weekend]
The early Wedding Present releases, on their own Reception label (do you see what they did?), were distributed by Red Rhino - with some success. Last year, the George Best album was celebrating its 20th anniversary with a live tour - here, in Edinburgh, with Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft:
[Buy: George Best]
[Part of the Red Rhino weekend]
As a tribute to Tony K, this weekend we'll feature some videos from acts related to Red Rhino - some who started their career on the label; some who were distributed by the company.
Kicking us off, here's Leeds' Rhythm Sisters, with the-closest-they-had-to-a-hit, American Boys:
The Rhythm Sisters released a new album last year - their first in 16 years - Tell Me How Long The Boat's Been Gone.
More videos across the weekend
Wedding Present - Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft live
UV Pop - No Songs Tomorrow homemade video
Red Guitars - Good Technology homemade video
Genuinely sad news: Tony Kostrzewa, founder of Red Rhino, has died after losing a battle with cancer.
Born in Bradford to a Polish father and a Yorkshire woman, Tony - known universally as Tony K by people willing to avoid trying their luck with his surname - might have had a very different life, originally applying to join the RAF. The forces, however, wouldn't have him due to his Polish ancestry - this as recently as 1966 - so Tony drifted from job to job.
In 1977, though, he discovered a way of making a living out a passion, opening Red Rhino record shop in York. Two years later came the associated record label and distribution network, a crucial part of the proper independent scene that was starting to form from in the post-punk wilderness. Red Rhino would go on to become a key part of the Cartel in the 1980s. Tony took on the role of managing The Catalogue, the Cartel's attempt to move indie music publications away from the xerox machine and into the newsagent. A luxurious, glossy monthly, the regular free flexi disc often featured the biggest fish in the indie pond: The Breeders, Big Black and so on.
Over a ten year period, the label released 125 records, including Akrylykz's debut - featuring a young Roland Gift; the first Pulp album; and a skeleton army of Goth and Industrial classics including Skeletal Family, Front 242 and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.
Red Rhino would eventually fall victim to the problems of independence - when times get hard, there's nowhere to cross-subsidise from; the label collapsed in 1989 and the shop closed in 1992. Tony moved to Leeds, working in the Laser Game business, although in 2004 he made a return to music, launching 10 X Better Music promotions company.
His love of music never left him; consultants would chide him for dancing when he should have been receiving treatment. He died on May 1st, and is survived by his wife, Gerri, and their two children. The family have set up a fund in aid of the Yorkshire Cancer Centre in his memory.
