Quartz

Decades Active:	1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
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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...

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