FIRE
Another of those odd little concerns which pop into
existence and almost as rapidly pop out again. Fire was one of two
labels owned by leisure group Scotia Investments, the other, appropriately,
being Smoke (q.v.). 'Record Retailer' of the 20th
of March 1971 broke the news that Scotia was forming a new
company, Scotia Music, and that it intended to launch its own label. 'RR'
of the 17th of April reported developments: Scotia had bought publishers Mother Mistro
Music, and there were to be three labels rather than one. Two of them, Smoke
for 'Contemporary' music and Fire for 'Pop', would release their first records 'within the next few weeks',
and an
as-yet unnamed outlet for MOR material would follow them. Shel Talmy had been appointed
managing director of Scotia's music division. At first things went
according to plan: Fire's debut was announced in 'RR' of the 15th of May
1971, which said that a single by Simba was due out on the 14th, with
distribution by Transatlantic. The article added that former Transatlantic
executive John Whitehead was in charge of both Fire and its stable-mate.
The Simba single, an Afro Rock version of the Kingsmen's hit 'Louie Louie' b/w 'Movin'',
duly emerged, with a catalogue number of FIR-100, but then there was trouble.
On the 26th of June 'RR' broke the news that Scotia was undergoing a 'revamp':
no records would be issued on the company's labels 'for the time being' and any
new product would be licensed out. The first Smoke single came out a week
later - presumably they were already pressed - but, like the Fire single, it
turned out to be the last, as 'for the time being' ended up as a permanent
state. That wasn't the end
of Scotia's involvement in the music business, however: it was responsible for
another label later in the decade - see 'Scotia (1979)'.
Simba consisted of members of
Jade Warrior and Assagai, and the single was produced by Dave Watson for Shel
Talmy Productions, so there was some experience behind it. The British version
can be found in one-sided as well as two-sided form; the French release, on the
AZ label (SG-322; 1971), seems to be commoner, and the single also came out in
the Netherlands and Sweden. In addition, both tracks surfaced on a Various
Artists budget album from Contour Records, 'Afro Rock Festival' (2870-311;
1973). Thanks to Alan
from the excellent 45cat site for
bringing the Fire label to my attention, and to Robert Bowes for supplying the
scan.
Copyright 2009 Robert Lyons.