The label of Quicksilver Productions, a small independent company from Reading run by Neil Howard and Kevin Heaton. There weren't any dates on the first few Quicksilver singles, and online sites have generally listed them as being from the early '80s. However, research by James Denholm has brought to light an article from January 1978 about local band Scorpio which states that they were signed by Quicksilver and had a single out 'ten months ago', which places that record at around March 1977 and earns Quicksilver a place on this site. The single, 'Taking England By Storm' b/w 'Hawks', had a catalogue number of QUIK ONE, and it is now very collectable - thanks to Nicholas Hough for coming up with a picture. QUIK TWO, 'Happy' by Red Express, also came out in the '70s - in September 1979 - but it was only available in 12" form. Scorpio had another single out in 1977, in May, under the name of 'Oddjob'. It offered the titles 'Express Yourself' and 'Rasshopper' and it was the record with which Lightning's red 'rock / pop' label was launched. Its catalogue number was TRO-9016.
A link-up between Quicksilver and Saga saw a single by Three Party Split, 'Dubious Parentage' b/w 'Kandidate', come out on the B&C label in April 1979 as BCS-16, with a production credit to Quicksilver. A second Three Party Split single, 'Insane' b/w 'Totally Insane', was planned for release as BCS-19 but the release was cancelled - some pressings exist. The Red Express 12" appears to have been intended for release, as BCS-17, but only blank white-labelled copies exist. It may be that when the B&C issue failed to materialize Quicksilver put that record out themselves. Local paper the 'Evening Post' of the 22nd of September 1979 carried an article on Quicksilver which stated that, in addition to the current Red Express record, singles by General Accident and The K9s were in the pipeline. The General Accident record duly appeared in March 1980 but there's no sign of the K9s single. The final Quicksilver record came out in 1982. Thanks to James Denholm for bringing Quicksilver to my attention and for providing most of the information on this page.
Copyright 2024 Robert Lyons.