The Redskins were a 1980s English band, notable for their left-wing politics

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 and catchy, danceable songs. Their music combined influences from soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

, rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

, pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 and punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

.

History

The band formed in York, England in the early 1980s (from the ashes of punk band No Swastikas), with Chris Dean (vocals/guitar), Martin Hewes (bass/backing vocals) and Nick King (drums). Chris Dean wrote for NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

magazine under the name X. Moore. Dean and Hewes were members of the Socialist Workers Party

Socialist Workers Party (Britain)

The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...

. The band members wore skinhead

Skinhead

A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...

 clothing styles, and they helped inspire the redskin movement.

The band released their first single, "Lev Bronstein", on the CNT record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in 1982. They released one more single, "Lean On Me", on CNT before signing to London Records

London Records

London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

. On 10 June 1984, a group of white power skinheads attacked the band members while they were performing on stage at the free Greater London Council

Greater London Council

The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...

-sponsored Jobs for a Change festival at Jubilee Gardens, South Bank. King was replaced in 1985 by Paul Hookham, although for the recording of the band's first EMI/Decca single "Bring it Down", Style Council drummer, Steve White was brought in to perform. Shortly afterwards Hookham took over full time drum duties. The band released one full album, Neither Washington Nor Moscow, before splitting up at the end of 1986. Following the breakup of the band, Hewes worked as a motorcycle courier and later became a music teacher. Dean appeared in a student version of Trevor Griffiths

Trevor Griffiths

Trevor Griffiths is an English dramatist.Raised as a Roman Catholic, he attended Saint Bede's College, before being accepted into Manchester University in 1952 to read English...

' play Oi!

Oi!

Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....

 For England at London's Central School of Speech & Drama before taking up a reclusive life in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 starting in 1988.

Members

• Chris Dean (vocals, guitar)
• Martin Hewes (bass, vocals)
• Nick King (drums, 1982–1985)
• Paul Hookham (drums, 1985–1986)
• Kevin Robinson (trumpet, 1986)
• Trevor Edwards (trombone, 1986)
• Ray Carless (tenor sax, 1986)

Albums

• Neither Washington Nor Moscow, 1986 (Decca FLP1) - Highest chart position: No.31 (UK Albums Chart
  UK Albums Chart
  The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
  
  )
• Live, 1995 (Dojo)
• Epilogue, 2010 (Insurgence)

Singles and EPs

• "Lev Bronstein" / "Peasant Army", 1982 (7", CNT productions CNT007).
• "Lean On Me" / "Unionize", 1983 (7", CNT productions CNT016) - Highest chart position: No.3 (UK Indie Chart
  UK Indie Chart
  The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
  
  )
• "Lean On Me" (Northern Mix) / Unionize (Break Mix), 1983 (12" CNTX16)
• "Keep On Keepin' On!" / "Reds Strike The Blues", 1984 (7", Decca F1) - Highest chart position: No.43 (UK Singles Chart
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  )
• "Keep On Keepin' On!" / "16 Tons" / "Red Strikes the Blues", 1984 (12" Decca FX1)
• "Bring It Down (This Insane Thing)", 1985 (2x7", Decca FDP2) - Highest chart position: No.33 (UK Singles Chart)
• "Bring It Down (This Insane Thing)" / "You Want It? They've Got It!", 1985 (12" Decca FX2)
• "Kick Over The Statues" / "Young & Proud (Anthem Of Mistake)", 1985 (7" Abstract AD6).
• "The Power Is Yours" / "Ninety Nine And A Half (Won't Do)", 1986 (7" Decca F3) - Highest chart position: No.59 (UK Singles Chart)
• "The Power Is Yours" / "Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" / "Take No Heroes!" (faster than LP version), 1986 (12" Decca FX3)
• "It Can Be Done" / "K.O!K.O!", 1986 (7" Decca F4). - Highest chart position: No.76
• "It Can Be Done" / "Let's Make it Work" / "K.O!K.O!" / "A Plateful of Hateful", 1986 (12" Decca FX4)
• "The Power Is Yours" (propaganda EP), 1986 (10", Decca FXT3)
• "It Can Be Done" / "Let's Make It Work" / "K.O!K.O!" / "A Plateful Of Hateful", 1986 (10" Decca FXT4, Russian Import)
• "Peel sessions", 1987 (12", Strange Fruit SFPS 030) - Highest chart position: No.23 (Indie Charts).