Redd Kross, an alternative rock/ garage rock/ power pop/ cover version band from Hawthorne, California had their roots in 1978 in a band called The Tourists begun by Jeff and Steve McDonald while the brothers were still in middle school. With the addition of friends Greg Hetson on guitar and Ron Reyes (a.k.a. Chavo Pederast) on drums, the band's first gig was opening for Black Flag. They also opened for The Germs.
At the time of their first self-titled EP, in 1980, the band changed their name to Red Cross and shortly afterward, Hetson left to join the Circle Jerks and later, Bad Religion and Reyes left for Black Flag. To complete the lineup on their first full-length album, Born Innocent, they assembled a revolving door of underground and studio musicians including a young Janet Housden on the drums. Full of the brothers' pop culture obsessions, Born Innocent featured odes to Linda Blair (who starred in a television movie of the same name) and Charles Manson (whose song Cease to Exist they covered). Not long after the release of the album, the group was threatened with a lawsuit from the International Red Cross and changed their name to Redd Kross, allegedly being inspired by Redd Foxx.
In 1984, Redd Kross returned with drummer Dave Peterson to record Teen Babes from Monsanto, a cover album featuring songs originally by artists including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and The Shangri-Las, and containing stickers reading Quit School.