Day After Day #320: Annie's Gone

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Annie's Gone (1990)

Punk rock can take you in some interesting directions. Jeff (lead vocals, guitar) and Steven (bass, vocals) McDonald were punk pioneers as kids, forming the Tourists in 1978 in Hawthorne, California, when Steven was still in middle school. Timing is everything, since their first gig was opening for Black Flag. The early lineup of the band included Greg Hetson, who would later play with Circle Jerks and Bad Religion, and Ron Reyes, who left to join Black Flag.

The group changed its name to Red Cross, releasing a six-song debut EP in 1980 and their first full-length album, Born Innocent, in 1982. The album was full of pop culture references to Linda Blair, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Lita Ford, and covers of a song from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and a Charles Manson song. After the International Red Cross threatened to sue, the band changed the spelling of their name to Redd Kross. 

Two years later, Redd Kross recorded Teen Babes from Monsanto, a sped-up power pop EP of covers of songs by the Stooges, Kiss, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie. Lead guitarist Robert Hecker joined the band as they went on tour. They released a full-length album called Neurotica in 1987, combining punk with garage and power pop sounds.

By the time the band's third album, Third Eye, came out in 1990, the McDonald brothers were in their mid-20s and were music veterans. Their sound had evolved into pure power pop, very different from the early days of the band. The lead single, "Annie's Gone," is ridiculously catchy.

"I heard the other day/That she went and gone away/She was always sort of out of step/She couldn't ever be/Something that you couldn't see/She was always there right in your face/Annie's gone/Annie's gone/Annie's gone/It's so dark/It's so dark around here now/Can't believe she's gone away/Can't believe she's gone to stay/But it's true/Annie's gone."

The song got some airplay on college and alternative radio, hitting #16 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.

"I guess she couldn't play/By the rules she had no say/And she did her in this way today/I know I feel like this sometimes/Feel like giving up my mind/But it's all I have and it is mine/Annie's gone/Annie's gone/Annie's gone/It's so dark/It's so dark around here now/Can't believe she's gone away/Can't believe she's gone to stay/But it's true/Annie's gone."

The video features the band playing with Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums and also includes actress Ann Magnuson. 

Also in 1990, the McDonalds appeared in the movie The Spirit of '76, a comedy spoofing '70s culture that was directed by Lucas Reiner (son of Carl, brother of Rob) and starring David Cassidy, Leif Garrett and Olivia d'Abo. Roman Coppola co-wrote the script and Sofia Coppola designed the costumes (she also appears on the Third Eye album cover nude, wearing a mask). The McDonalds played teen stoners in 1976 who help time travelers from 2176 get back to their time. There are a lot of familiar faces in the movie, including Tommy Chong, Carl Reiner and Moon Zappa; it only had a limited release and grossed a total of $52,310 at the box office.

By the time 1993's Phaseshifter came out, Redd Kross' combination of hard rock riffs and bubblegum pop smarts was tailor made for the guitar-crazy grunge era. Videos for "Jimmy's Fantasy" and "Lady in the Front Row" got play on MTV's 120 Minutes. The band had added new members in Eddie Kurdziel, Gere Ferrelly and Brian Retzell and toured heavily for a year; I saw them play a kickass show at the Paradise in Boston on that tour.

Redd Kross didn't release their next album until 1997's Show World, which got good reviews but didn't sell as well as the previous release. The band went on hiatus after the tour; in 1999, Kurdziel died of a drug overdose at the age of 38. Steven McDonald stayed busy, producing and playing on albums by The Format and fun., and playing in the band on the first Tenacious D album. He joined Sparks in 2006 for a tour and album, and later joined the Melvins in 2015.

Redd Kross resurfaced in 2012 on Merge Records with the excellent album Researching the Blues and then released Beyond the Door in 2019. Earlier this year, the band issued another strong album called Redd Kross. It's been a long, strange trip for the McDonald brothers, but they're clearly having a good time doing what they want.