Quartz Biography
Quartz was formed in 1974 in Birmingham, England, by two former members of local bands Idle Race and Lemon Tree, guitarist Mick Hopkins and vocalist Mike "Taffy" Taylor. Initially known as Bandylegs, they joined forces with Geoff Nicholls (guitar/keyboards), Derek Arnold (bass) and Malcolm Cope (drums) to become Quartz. It was their friendship with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi that helped to secure the band a recording contract with Jet Records, and Iommi agreed to produce their first album as well as taking them on Black Sabbath's 1977 tour. Quartz should have been a stepping stone to stardom but the band was deluged with press accusations of plagiarism of their sponsors. By 1978 Quartz had been dropped by Jet, and found themselves moving from label to label in search of commercial success. Indie imprint Reddingtons Rare Records offered a new bolthole in 1980 as Quartz, reduced to a quartet following the departure of Nicholls for Black Sabbath, had a crack at the singles market with their version of Mountain's classic, "Nantucket Sleighride", which was used as the theme to UK television's Weekend World current affairs programme. The band soldiered on, releasing a 12-inch red vinyl single, "Satan's Serenade", also on Reddingtons, and had a track featured on EMI Records' Mutha's Pride EP showcase after becoming caught up in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Jet reissued their debut album in a large brown paper bag with a competition that allowed the winning entrant to fill said receptacle at a famous record shop. This promotion was backed up with a mini-tour followed by support slots to Gillan on their UK tour. MCA Records finally picked up their contract and released Stand Up And Fight, which contained one of their best-loved numbers in "Stoking Up The Fires Of Hell'. Mike Taylor and Derek Arnold were replaced by Geoff Bate and Steve McLoughlin respectively on 1983"s Against All Odds. This was the band's final shot at success and Quartz ground to a halt the following year.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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