Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the addition of friends Greg Hetson and John Stielow on drums, the band's first gig was opening for Black Flag. The band has since released seven albums and three EPs. Career Red Cross In April 1979, the band had their first practice in the living room of original drummer, John Stielow's parent's living room. The first song they played was 'Annette's Got the Hits'. Other songs such as 'Cover Band', 'S&M Party' and 'I Hate My School' were also played that same first practice. They eventually changed the band name to Red Cross, which was allegedly inspired by the masturbation scene in the film The Exorcist. They soon began working on their 1980 debut self-titled EP. Eventually, Hetson left to join the Circle Jerks (and later Bad Religion) and Reyes left for Black Flag. They appeared on the Posh Boy compilation The Siren, and then to complete the lineup on their first full-length album, Born Innocent, they assembled a revolving door of musicians including original drummer John Stielow. Full of the brothers' pop culture obsessions, Born Innocent featured odes to Linda Blair (who starred in a television movie of the same name), a cover of "Look on Up from the Bottom" by the Carrie Nations from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and Charles Manson (whose song "Cease to Exist" they covered). The album also contains nods to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Tatum O'Neal, and Lita Ford. Not long after the release of the album, the group was threatened with a lawsuit from the International Red Cross and changed the spelling of their name to Redd Kross, allegedly being inspired by Redd Foxx. Redd Kross In 1984, Redd Kross returned with drummer Dave Peterson to record Teen Babes from Monsanto, an album featuring covers by Kiss, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and The Shangri-Las. In 1984, lead guitarist Robert Hecker joined the band, as they embarked on tour in support of Teen Babes from Monsanto. In that same year, they were featured on the soundtrack of Desperate Teenage Lovedolls with their cover of the Brady Bunch Kids''' "It's a Sunshine Day". Jeff and Steve appear in the movie,