Editing Red Wedge

{{Short description|British left-wing musical collective of the 1980s}}
'''Red Wedge''' was a collective of musicians formed in the [[UK]] in 1985 who attempted to educate youth with the policies of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] leading up to the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]] in the hope of ousting the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government of [[Margaret Thatcher]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Rachel|first=Daniel|title=Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge|year=2016|publisher=Picador|location=London|isbn=9781447272687}}</ref>

==History==
Fronted by [[Billy Bragg]] (whose 1985 ''Jobs for Youth'' tour had been a prototype of sorts for Red Wedge), [[Paul Weller (singer)|Paul Weller]] and [[Communards (band)|the Communards]]' lead singer [[Jimmy Somerville]], the Red Wedge held concert parties and appeared in the media, adding their support to the Labour Party campaign.

The group was launched on 21 November 1985, when Bragg, Weller, [[Strawberry Switchblade]] and [[Kirsty MacColl]] were invited to a reception at the [[Palace of Westminster]] hosted by Labour [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[Robin Cook]]. The collective took its name from a 1919 poster by [[Russia]]n constructivist artist [[El Lissitzky]] titled ''[[Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge]]''. Despite this echo of the [[Russian Civil War]], Red Wedge was not a communist organisation, nor was it an officially arm of the Labour Party, but it did initially occupy office space at Labour's headquarters. The group's logo, also inspired by the Lissitzky poster, was designed by [[Neville Brody]].

Red Wedge organised a number of major tours. The first, in January and February 1986, featured Bragg, Weller's band [[the Style Council]], the Communards, [[Junior Giscombe]], [[Lorna Gee]] and [[Jerry Dammers]], with guest appearances by [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[the The]], [[Heaven 17]], [[Bananarama]], [[Prefab Sprout]], [[Elvis Costello]], [[Gary Kemp]], [[Tom Robinson]], [[Sade (band)|Sade]], [[The Beat (British band)|the Beat]], [[Lloyd Cole]], [[the Blow Monkeys]], [[Joolz]] and [[the Smiths]]. At the Labour Party Annual Conference in 1986, Red Wedge's support of the party was praised, in a speech on a motion concerning the arms trade, by a conference delegate (Steve Hoyland) who referred particularly to the lyrics of the Billy Bragg song "Island of No Return" which critically references British involvement in the Falklands War.

Red Wedge did not receive universal support from left-wing musicians, and some groups such as [[the Housemartins]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepointhowever.org/index.php/culture/99-get-up-off-our-knees|title=Get Up Off Our Knees – An interview with Paul Heaton|website=The Point|accessdate=29 October 2017}}</ref> [[Easterhouse (band)|Easterhouse]] and [[the Redskins]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://banmarchive.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/86_06_28.pdf|format=PDF|title=Alliances between pop and politics are not new. The formation of Red Wedge, however, is distinctive in its close identification with the Labour Party|first1=Simon|last1= Frith |author2=John Street|date=June 1986 |work=[[Marxism Today]]|accessdate=29 October 2017}}</ref> rejected involvement and/or criticised the campaign.

When the general election was called in 1987, Red Wedge organised a comedy tour featuring [[Lenny Henry]], [[Ben Elton]], [[Robbie Coltrane]], [[Craig Charles]], [[Phill Jupitus]], Mark Miwurdz (Hurst) and [[Harry Enfield]], and another tour by the main musical participants along with the The, [[Captain Sensible]] and [[the Blow Monkeys]]. The group also published an election pamphlet, ''Move On Up'', with a foreword by Labour leader [[Neil Kinnock]].{{cn|date=December 2022}}

After the 1987 election produced a third consecutive Conservative victory, many of the musical collective drifted away. A few further gigs were arranged and the group's magazine ''Well Red'' continued, but funding eventually disappeared and Red Wedge was formally disbanded in 1990.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/22/red-wedge-bringing-labour-party-politics-to-young-music-fans|title=Red Wedge: bringing Labour party politics to young music fans|first=Johnny|last=Black|work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=March 1996|via=''[[The Guardian]]'', 22 April 2015|accessdate=4 September 2017}} A Red Wedge retrospective.
*{{cite book|last=Denselow|first=Robin|title=When The Music's Over: The Story of Political Pop|url=https://archive.org/details/whenmusicsoverst0000dens|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|location=London|year=1989|isbn=978-0-571-13906-4|authorlink=Robin Denselow}}
* {{cite book|last1=Frith|first1=Simon|last2=Street|first2=John|editor-last=Garofalo|editor-first=Reebee|title=Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements|url=https://archive.org/details/rockinboatmassmu00garof|url-access=registration|location=Boston|publisher=[[South End Press]]|year=1992|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rockinboatmassmu00garof/page/67 67–80]|chapter=Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music|isbn=978-0-89608-428-5|authorlink1=Simon Frith|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Collins|first=Andrew|title=Still Suitable for Miners: Billy Bragg, the Official Biography|edition=2|location=London|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7535-0691-2|authorlink=Andrew Collins (broadcaster)}}
*{{cite book|last=Rachel|first=Daniel|title=Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge|publisher=[[Picador (imprint)|Picador]]|location=London|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4472-7268-7}}

[[Category:1985 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1990 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Billy Bragg]]
[[Category:British political music groups]]
[[Category:History of the Labour Party (UK)]]
[[Category:Music organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Musical advocacy groups]]