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VARDIS were forged out of Glam, Punk, Heavy Metal, Blues and Rock 'n' Roll in the crucible of 1970s northern England. They are a
productofrock music across three generations: inspired by the great Rockers and electric bluesmen of the 50s and 60s, learning their
traderubbingshoulders with the young guns of Hard Rock and Punk in the 70s, and achieving prominence in the 80s as part of the New Wave
ofBritishHeavy Metal. The hard, ferocious attack of their sound directly influenced the development of thrash and speed metal across
NorthAmericaand Europe, cited by metal giants such as Metalli ...read more
VARDIS were forged out of Glam, Punk, Heavy Metal, Blues and Rock 'n' Roll in the crucible of 1970s northern England. They are a
productofrock music across three generations: inspired by the great Rockers and electric bluesmen of the 50s and 60s, learning their
traderubbingshoulders with the young guns of Hard Rock and Punk in the 70s, and achieving prominence in the 80s as part of the New Wave
ofBritishHeavy Metal. The hard, ferocious attack of their sound directly influenced the development of thrash and speed metal across
NorthAmericaand Europe, cited by metal giants such as Metallica and Megadeth. Never losing sight of the melodic, boogie sensibilities of
theirearliestinfluences, the Vardis brand of Hard Rock retains a unique heavy groove, and has endured as truly original.
Steve Zodiac was lucky to be a teenager in one of the most fertile decades in music history, the 1970s. He formed ‘Quo Vardis’ as a five-
piece rock ‘n’ roll band in 1973, at the age of 16. Before long, Vardis ditched the ‘Quo’ and four had become three, and the trio
honedtheircraft in the Working Men’s Club circuit of northern England, where anything less than total commitment was treated without mercy.
Thelineupof Zodiac (G/V), Alan Selway (B) and Phil Medley (D) released the self-funded 100 M.P.H. EP on Redball in 1979, which bought
thebandmajor label attention. Gary Pearson replaced Medley on drums, and Vardis signed with Logo Records.
Vardis quickly gained notoriety and a big live following due to their high energy, no holds barred performances, incorporating
elementsofblues, 70's Glam Rock and Heavy Metal with Zodiac's searing, untamed Telecaster sound. In 1980 they released the entirely
live,classicdebut album 100 M.P.H. that famously "GUARENTEED NO OVERDUBS”, before hitting the road in a brutal touring schedule. Kicking
offwith theinfamous Heavy Metal Barn Dance alongside Motörhead, Saxon, Girlschool and Angel Witch at Stafford’s Bingley Hall in July,
Vardisthenjoined Hawkwind on the 33 date Levitation Tour before embarking on their own 100 M.P.H. Tour which saw them though to January
‘81.Flyinghigh through this period the band regularly hit the top of the Heavy Metal Charts, and unusually for the NWoBHM, made inroads into
theUKsingles and album Top 100. Keeping up the momentum in ‘81, the band toured their first studio album The World’s Insane,
recordedtheirBBC Session for Tommy Vance’s Friday Rock Show and played the legendary Heavy Metal Holocaust in August alongside
Motörhead,OzzyOsbourne, Frank Marino, Triumph and Riot. The end of the year saw Logo release a compilation of Vardis singles and B-Sides,
MetalPower.
Ignoring label pressure to be “more like Van Halen”, 1982 saw Zodiac placed in the world’s top 15 rock guitarists by Sounds
Magazine,asVardis embarked on a UK Tour with Slade and their own European Tour supporting their third album Quo Vardis. Like the
previousstudioalbum The World’s Insane, Quo Vardis remained hard and fast but pushed the boundaries of Heavy Metal – Saxophones,
BagpipesandMandolins alongside collaboration with Squeeze’s Jools Holland and Status Quo’s Andy Brown caused some confusion
amongstrockjournalists, who struggled to quantify the band’s sense of fun and experimentation. This led to mixed reviews from some of
theestablishedHeavy Metal press, alongside support from more open-minded journalists and DJs, with John Peel championing the trio’s
directionon BBCRadio 1. Despite the release of the band’s first Best Of compilation, The Lions Share (1983), a conservative attitude to their
studiogenrebending would turn out to be the least of Vardis’ troubles…
Vardis’ Management and Publishing companies, accustomed to placating their disgruntled, unpaid artists with a line of baking soda and£20for
the fruit machine, found Zodiac no easy man to manipulate. Ripped off for earnings and rights, he took court action and won backhissongs in
a two-year legal battle causing a lengthy and undesired hiatus. 1984 saw Selway leave the group, replaced by Terry Horbury,whoafter playing
with Dirty Tricks, Ozzy Osbourne and McKitty in the 70’s, had short stints with Winner and Strategy before joining Vardis.Thislineup recorded
the stripped down, balls to the wall, Vigilante for Raw Power in ‘86, a vicious indictment of industry use and abuse oforiginalartists. Pearson
quit the band after recording wrapped, so Zodiac and Horbury promoted the record live with Rogue Male’s SteveKingsley ondrums. Zodiac,
disillusioned with the music business, walked away for good and Horbury played on with the Kofi Baker band
Nothing was heard from the band for nearly three decades, despite the release of two compilation albums: The Best of Vardis (1997)
andthedouble CD The World's Gone Mad: The Best of Vardis (2002). In 2014, Zodiac began remastering Vigilante, and to coincide with the re-
releaseon Hoplite Records, Vardis reunited with the Zodiac/Horbury/Person lineup. In March 2014 they headlined Brofest II, going on
toperform atfestivals in England and Germany before an emotional homecoming show at Unity Hall, Wakefield, where it all began.
After the warm reception of fans at the reunion shows, Zodiac and Horbury not only felt at the top of their game, but that they
hadmoregears to hit, and so decided to continue. Recruiting the dynamic powerhouse Joe Clancy (ex- Black Orkhyd, Crimson Kiss
andMichaelSöbygge), who had spent the previous ten years on drums with Adrian Smith's (Iron Maiden) side project blues band, Vardis set
towork ontheir first new material in nearly 30 years. To mark the start of a new era, this lineup released 200 M.P.H. EP in June ’15 to
criticalacclaim;with a live launch show at London's Bush Hall. Starting work on a full album, in November 2015 Vardis penned a worldwide
dealwithSPV/Steamhammer, who announced the release of the band’s fifth major album, Red Eye, was scheduled for 2016.
Recording sessions for Red Eye saw the band hit new heights in chemistry and performance, despite Horbury being in
somephysicaldiscomfort. In a matter of days after recording wrapped, Terry Horbury was admitted to hospital for tests in London and died
onDecember15th, only two weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. After this tragic loss, the Zodiac and Clancy focused all energy
intocompleting theproduction of Red Eye in memory of their friend and bandmate. Horbury expressed his wish for Vardis to continue, but it
tooksome timebefore new bassist Martin Connolly (ex-Rick Wakeman, Paul Fox, The Entire Population of Hackney) was
recruited.TheZodiac/Clancy/Connolly lineup forged a tight chemistry quickly as the band rebuilt their high-energy live show for 2016 tour
dates andtherecording of a new live album. « hide |
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