"Red Light" is a song by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

. It is the ninth track from their 1980 album ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

''. It was co-produced with

Nigel Gray Nigel Gray (1947 – 30 July 2016) was an English record producer. His album credits include ''Outlandos d'Amour'' (1978), ''Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979), and ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' (1980) for the Police, ''Kaleidoscope'' (1980) and '' Juju'' (1981) ...

Writing and recording

The song was demoed by

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

and

Steven Severin Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey; 25 September 1955) is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He took th ...

at Warner Chappell studios. It was then recorded as a trio, with Severin on synthesisers, Siouxsie on vocals and

Budgie Budgie may refer to: Arts * Budgie (album), ''Budgie'' (album), the debut album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie * Budgie (band), a Welsh heavy metal band from Cardiff * Budgie (musician) (born 1957), English drummer * Budgie (TV series), ''Bu ...

on drums. The song featured the beat of "the

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

compu rhythm and a

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

shutter motor rewind". Budgie related: "I wanted the drums to fade in over the electronica beat and evoke a smoky club atmosphere". Although it was not released as the third single of ''Kaleidoscope'', a promo video for the song was shot by

Clive Richardson Clive Richardson (born 3 November 1932) is a former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Orange Free State in South Africa from 1950 to 1965. A right-handed opening batsman, Clive Richardson played his first matches for Orange Free State ...

on the same day as the video for the single "

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

Legacy

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

recorded an interpolation of the song on her track "My Superman" on her debut album '' Santogold''. She stated: "I remember one of the first times I heard "Red Light" it was at a party, and I remember going up to the DJ and being like, "Who's this?". It was that good. I kind of stopped and was like ... wow"."Icon: Siouxsie", The Fader Magazine, The Icon Issue 67, April/May 2010. Page 73

References

{{Siouxsie and the Banshees 1980 songs Siouxsie and the Banshees songs Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux Songs written by Steven Severin Song recordings produced by Nigel Gray