Graduating from the college circuit to the London club scene whilst still students, the band slowly built a faithful following, regularly selling-out shows at the Marquee and Moonlight Clubs and released their first single 'Chenko' on the Cherry Red label in 1983. A song of loss woven around a North American Indian chant, the unusual record was a swift hit with radio, and it brought them to the attention of Seymour Stein, who signed the band to Sire in 1984.
They later re-signed direct to WEA, though affectionately retained the Sire logo.
Rolling
Stone review of 'The Circle & The Square': This
fascinating London twosome takes an offbeat and rewarding
direction on their first album, folding American Indian (covering
Buffy Sainte-Marie in the process) and other ethnic folk influences
into sophisticated modern pop creations for an unpredictable
and indescribable pan-ethnic mélange. Simon Toulson
Clarke and Julian Close make warm and varied music, much of
it employing a vocal chorus which adds African or North American
Indian color. The evocative lyrics bring a global political
intelligence to the songs, making them not only appealing
but affecting as well. Something like a less stern Peter Gabriel
LP, this imaginative and engaging record is simply astonishing.
[Ira
Robbins- Rolling Stone] Read
the for
'The Circle & The Square'.
In
August 1985 Red Box enjoyed their first UK
hit, ‘Lean on Me (ah-li-ayo)’, a song which reached
number three in the charts and stayed there for over a month.
Reaching No 1 in six countries and going top five in a further
twelve, the record gave worldwide exposure to the band. Buoyant
and anthemic, ‘Lean On Me’ was promoted with an
unusual video (nominated for Best Video - Brits 1985) in which
a sign language interpreter provided a translation
of the song's lyrics. The record was the most played on UK
radio that year.
The
following year, Red Box released the album ‘The Circle
& The Square’, an expansive and eclectic collection
of songs presenting a 'culture clash' of influences both musically
and thematically, and mixing traditional musical styles -
brass ensembles, choral music
and tribal chants - with modern, contemporary
rock and pop. The album is notable for introducing ethnic
rhythms and elements of World Music into
the '80s pop milieu alongside established
artists such as Paul Simon (Graceland, '86)
and Kate Bush (The Sensual World, '89).
Toulson-Clarke
responded to WEA’s request for something to appeal to
American radio with the sardonic ‘For America’.
Unsurprisingly, the song was not a hit in the USA, though
it did, worldwide, outsell ‘Lean On Me’, reaching
number one in eight countries, and going top ten in the remainder,
including the UK, where it spent twelve weeks in the chart
including two at number nine.
Both ‘Lean on Me’
and ‘For America’ remain staples of UK radio.
In
the late '80s Toulson-Clarke began work on a new album. The
tribalism of the first LP had opened a hairline crack in the
band’s relationship with Warner Bros., who were unconvinced
as to the commercial worth of mixing pop with world music.
‘Motive’ is less tribal than its predecessor,
with several tracks built around piano, brass and orchestral
arrangements. It also displays a more personal style of writing,
combined with the cultural and political allusions of the
previous record.
The opening song and first single, "Train" most
obviously carries over the sound of ‘The Circle &
The Square’. It is an ambitious up-tempo track, beginning
with the sound of a locomotive gradually picking up speed
and subsequently shunting to a halt at the song's end. However
a progressively deteriorating relationship between band and
label undermined any efforts to promote the album. The group
took time out to travel and swear a lot.
Toulson-Clarke
was encouraged back into the fold by Max Hole, head of East
West Records and a good friend. In the role of ‘music
consultant’ to the A+R Dept., he worked with artists,
sometimes as a songwriter, sometimes as a producer.
Due
to the scarcity of both albums on CD format, rare copies have
sold for vastly inflated prices. Cherry Red Records re-issued‘The
Circle and the Square’ in autumn 2008, adding all but
one of the band’s B-sides and the original ‘Chenko’.
There are rumours they will reissue ‘Motive’.
Graduating from the college circuit to the London club scene whilst still students, the band slowly built a faithful following, regularly selling-out shows at the Marquee and Moonlight Clubs and released their first single 'Chenko' on the Cherry Red label in 1983. A song of loss woven around a North American Indian chant, the unusual record was a swift hit with radio, and it brought them to the attention of Seymour Stein, who signed the band to Sire in 1984. 
In
August 1985 Red Box enjoyed their first UK
hit, ‘Lean on Me (ah-li-ayo)’, a song which reached
number three in the charts and stayed there for over a month.
Reaching No 1 in six countries and going top five in a further
twelve, the record gave worldwide exposure to the band. Buoyant
and anthemic, ‘Lean On Me’ was promoted with an
unusual video (nominated for Best Video - Brits 1985) in which
a sign language interpreter provided a translation
of the song's lyrics. The record was the most played on UK
radio that year. 
In
the late '80s Toulson-Clarke began work on a new album. The
tribalism of the first LP had opened a hairline crack in the
band’s relationship with Warner Bros., who were unconvinced
as to the commercial worth of mixing pop with world music.
‘Motive’ is less tribal than its predecessor,
with several tracks built around piano, brass and orchestral
arrangements. It also displays a more personal style of writing,
combined with the cultural and political allusions of the
previous record. 
