For my background couldn't I put like

<bgcolor=red>text</bgcolor>

- thinks - I dont think so.... maybe...

I don't think you have to put the </background>, and you might need to make a table.
I used a specific backgrond, but if you want it to be red it would look smoething like this:
<table border=0 width=100% height=100% background=red>
<tr><td>
Everything Here
</tr></td>
</table>
Give it a try, and let me know if it works.