The Quick :: Mondo Deco (Reissued)

I was first turned on to the Quick several years ago when Dave Newton and I had radio shows back to back at the now defunct Little Radio loft studios in the warehouse district of downtown L.A. Dave’s show was immediately after mine and he would usually pop in 15 to 20 minutes early to chat, drink beer, and generally nerd around about records (good times, Dave). For the most part he solely spun tracks from his 7″ collection that dated back to his teenage years growing up in the UK. This proved to be a constant treasure trove of punk, post-punk, new-wave, pub-rock, you-name-it. It was always the best part of my day, and I always made notes on records to check out later.

Occasionally amongst the 7″s, some 12 inch records and CDs would find their way into the mix as well. One day while digging through his crate I spotted a CD (bootleg?) compilation of old ’70s Rodney On The ROQ stuff featuring the Quick. I quickly ripped it to my laptop as I did with most of the stuff Dave turned me onto.   Sadly, that laptop died and the music with it. But not my appreciation for the Quick.

The Quick are just one of the many power pop curiosities leftover from the late ’70s that, while eluding most, are treasured by genre completists. Radio Heartbeat Records just reissued the band’s sole release, 1976’s Mondo Deco; an album I hadn’t picked up since compiling an early power-pop mixtape a couple of years back (which, now, thinking about the tracklisting, I need to unearth pronto: Rubinoos, Nerves, Blue Ash, Raspberries, Flamin’ Groovies, etc).

An oddity, I didn’t know quite what to make of the LP during the first few listens. What   was this? And how to describe it? Post-glam? Proto power-pop? It sounds like what it is; a hedonistic Sunset Strip take on British glam coupled with a fascination with Big Star. A notable sidenote in their bio helps bridge this convergence of sounds: the Quick were one of the bands of the era discovered by L.A. scenester/manager/musician/producer Kim Fowley. Not unlike another Fowley discovery, the Runaways, the Quick seemed to straddle said genre lines—something I imagine led to their only releasing the one album: Mondo Deco.

If any of the above piqued your curiosity, take it step farther and check Mondo Deco’s fifth track, the glammed up “Anybody.” Visit the folks at Radio Heartbeat Records for the reissued vinyl pack.

MP3: The Quick :: Anybody
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10 thoughts on “The Quick :: Mondo Deco (Reissued)

  1. Radio Heartbeat has reissued so much bad-ass stuff. Equally worth checking out are their titles by Hubble Bubble, Milk n’ Cookies, 20/20 & my favorite (and most obviously Big Star-influenced) Radio City.

  2. What happened to Little Radio? Its still on the air but there aren’t any shows anymore that was the best part of the radio station. It was like the west coast counterpart to WFMU minus all the weird late night noise.

  3. Hi, Ian from The Quick here.

    Just to clarify. All we were doing was schmooshing together
    an obsessive interest in the more perverse aspects of Brit Invasion
    bands mixed with a dash of Bowie and Sparks and dollops
    of Jacques Tati and Fassbinder.

    Is all.

    Cheers!

  4. The Quick may never reunite but their original singer Marty Zucker is still active as “Marty Zucker & the Falcons”. Check them out here:
    ttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47015063247&ref=mf

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