Change & Phoenix, the long awaited release of early Red Beat’s final and most commercially accessible music was released on October 24th, 2017. The core of the band is formed by 3 brothers of legendary 80’s star, Howard Jones. In 1984 Red Beat signed a deal with German label ‘Zip’, part of the Jupiter Records group. They recorded two songs for

Change & Phoenix, the long awaited release of early Red Beat’s final and most commercially accessible music was released on October 24th, 2017. The core of the band is formed by 3 brothers of legendary 80’s star, Howard Jones. In 1984 Red Beat signed a deal with German label ‘Zip’, part of the Jupiter Records group. They recorded two songs for a double A sided single with UB40’s producer Terry Barham in Jacobs Studios in Farnham, Surrey. The songs were then worked on using a Fairlight Sampling Computer at Jupiter’s Studios in Munich. On their release, the band, going under the name Red White & Phoenix, appeared on the German Chart TV Show, Formal Eins and performed the song ‘Power Reflex’. Early influences such as Steely Dan, Genesis and Stevie Wonder can be heard in the multilayered funk and jazz of Change & Phoenix. By the mid 80’s, having emerged from the dark cauldron of London’s post-punk scene, Red Beat were responding to the upsurge of funky dance rhythms. Influences such as Prince and Michael Jackson can be heard on songs like ‘Strangers at Midnight’ and ‘Alone in the Street’. The polyphonic synthesiser and drum machine also feature in songs like ‘Tubegeist’ and ‘All Night Celebration’. Echoes of Red Beat’s early forays into dub-reggae can be heard in the unique funk-reggae crossover groove in the album’s most thought provoking song, ‘Buying and Selling’.