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The Redskins: An insane thing

April 13th, 2008 Leave a comment Go to comments

Having just discovered the excellent The Songs That People Sing blog, I stumbled upon a post from February which featured the Redskins’ remarkable cover Billy Bragg’s Levi Stubbs’ Tears. I don’t know how I knew that version — I thought it might have been a b-side to a single, but have found no evidence for it — but I really wanted it. Sadly, the link was dead.

But thus reminded of the Redskins, I dug out a few Redskins songs. My memories of the mid-80s agit pop/punk/soul band flying the red flag were fond, but had become vague with the passage of time. Somehow they were buried among so many other ’80s treasures. But my goodness, Bring It Down (This Insane Thing) is a fantastic song. I’ve played it on loop for the past couple of things (when my current Lemonheads mood allows, anyway). And the vaguely Motown-ish Keep On Keepin’ On; ah, what memories! Down with Thatcher! Down with apartheid! To the barricades, comrades, to the barricades!

And for good measure, I’ve found a live version of the Redskins’ cover of Billy Bragg’s harrowing song about domestic abuse. I think the Redskins’ take is superior to Bragg’s, a statement that is not made carelessly, though the reference to Bragg as “Neil Kinnock’s publicity officer” tickles me. The German sentence in the introduction means: “This is a song for all the men who think it is clever to beat up their women.”

For all you need to know about the Redskins, check out the comprehensive unofficial website, whence I stole the cover of the Melody Maker.

So, here for your dancable socialist soul-punk needs, The Redskins. They really meant it, maaan:

The Redskins – Bring It Down (This Insane Thing).mp3
The Redskins – Keep On Keepin’ On.mp3
The Redskins – Let’s Make It Work.mp3
The Redskins – Levi Stubbs’ Tears (live in Munich).mp3

And if you came here looking for info on the Washington sporting club, welcome. I might not offer much by way of gridiron, but have a cup of coffee, look at around, and enjoy the music.

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  1. Simon
    April 13th, 2008 at 12:25 | #1

    Thanks for the mention! The Levi Stubbs’ Tears version I posted is the same as the one you’ve found; Great great band, great blog!!:)

  2. dickvandyke
    April 13th, 2008 at 21:54 | #2

    Hello Mr AMD. Have only just stumbled upon your mighty fine blog. It’s right up my street.Tremendous effort in putting it all together. Top work old lad, top work.

  3. billie
    April 16th, 2008 at 12:55 | #3

    They sound good! Thank you for filling my danceable socialist soul-punk needs!

  4. rickdog
    April 18th, 2008 at 08:21 | #4

    You’ve got a great music blog here! I’ve added you to my custom search, check it out.I’m approaching 6,000 mp3 download sites in this custom google search:Rickdog’s MP3blog searchhttp://chewbone.blogspot.com/2008/03/mp3-blog-search-results.htmlFor the Super Huge Long Mp3blog Feed Panel, GO HEREhttp://chewbone.blogspot.com/2008/04/super-huge-long-mp3blog-feedpanel.html For 1,500 mp3blogs in a Grazr reader, GO HEREhttp://chewbone.blogspot.com/2008/04/1500-mp3blogs-in-grazr-widget.html

  5. Z
    April 20th, 2008 at 09:00 | #5

    Excellent!

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