Based in Hull, Red Guitars' first single "Good Technology" was a minor hit, selling 60,000 copies.
Constant touring to support follow-up singles "Fact", "Steeltown" (The John Peel Session version of which also featured on the Four Your Ears Only EP – an aural collection which included Luddites, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Party Day) and "Marimba Jive",[3] added to the daily pressures of running a record label resulted in internal pressures in the Red Guitars, culminating in the departure of Kidd in 1984, two months after the release of debut album Slow to Fade.
[4] The band continued on without Kidd for a further two years, bringing on Robert Holmes for vocals, but failed to achieve the previous critical or commercial success, although "Be With Me" also reached the top spot on the UK Indie Chart in May 1985.
[4] Jerry Kidd released a solo single "Petals and Ashes (a song for Emma Goldman)" in 1985 (on Self Drive Records), after leaving Red Guitars; it had a mix of "Crocodile Tears" on the b-side.
In 2023 they released a red vinyl 40th anniversary remix of Good Technology and Fact in June 2023 (Cat No SCAR 16 T) on the band's own Self Drive record label, distributed by Cargo.