This June, Real Gone Music is reissuing the one and only album from L.A. band The Quick.  The post-glam, pre-punk group's 1976 album Mondo Deco was their only full-length LP and has never been on CD before.  Real Gone's new edition, due June 1, adds 11 bonus tracks and new liner notes, archival photos, a new band essay, track-by-track-commentary and more!

The power pop band consisted of Steve Hufsteter (guitar - and writer of most of the material), Danny Benair (drums), Ian Ainsworth (bass), Danny Wilde (vocals) and Billy Bizeau (keyboards).  They came together in 1976 and began playing various clubs around Los Angeles including The Starwood and The Whisky A Go Go.  They were signed to Mercury Records after sending in some demos.  Their debut album, Mondo Deco, was produced by Kim Fowley, who at this point was still involved with The Runaways and Earle Mankey (original guitarist for Sparks).  One single was released: "Rag Doll" b/w "Last in Line".  But neither it nor the LP dented the charts and they were soon dropped from Mercury.

In 1978, Elektra Records staff arranger David Campbell (father of Beck) produced several songs for the group.  Though never signed to the label, the band released some of these tracks via their fan club on 7" and 10" vinyls.  These songs became known as "The Elektra Demos."  In April, 1978 the group held a third anniversary show which turned out to be their last performance, as they broke up shortly thereafter.

During their short existence, however, they did manage to acquire fans including Brian May and Mark Hamill.  DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would play their material frequently on L.A. radio station KROQ-FM.  Hufsteter would go on to found the L.A. band The Cruzados while Wilde and Ainsworth formed the group Great Buildings.  After that, Wilde formed The Rembrandts, who co-wrote and performed "I'll Be There For You," the theme song to the sitcom Friends in the '90s.  Bizeau would write "Queens of Noise" for The Runaways and Beniar would join groups like The Weirdos and The Three O' Clock.

The Quick's material has largely been absent on CD, aside from appearances on some compilations.  The most notable release was Rev-Ola's Untold Rock Stories from 2003.  That CD gathered up the 10 demos sent to Mercury plus the 9 songs from "The Elektra Demos."  It also included the bonus track "Angel" and two live cuts.

Real Gone's new expanded edition of Mondo Deco presents the whole original album on CD for the first time plus the 10 Mercury demos.  It also includes an unreleased outtake version of "Anybody."  It has been newly remastered by Bill Inglot.  The package also includes a new essay on the band's legacy, extensive liner notes by The Quick Fan Club President Lisa Fancher (who is the founder and head of Frontier Records), and track-by-track commentary by Benair.  Never before seen archival photos are also seen in the booklet.

If you would like to take a trip back to the power pop sound of mid-1970s Los Angeles, we've got the full tracklisting and preorder links for the expanded 21-track Mondo Deco, due June 1!

The Quick, Mondo Deco: Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)

1. It Won't Be Long
2. No No Girl
3. Playtime
4. Hillary
5. Anybody
6. Hi-Lo
7. Rag Doll
8. Last in Line
9. My Purgatory Years
10. Don't You Want It
11. No No Girl (Mercury Demo)
12. Teacher's Pet (Mercury Demo)
13. Hi-Lo (Mercury Demo)
14. Hillary (Mercury Demo)
15. Rag Doll (Mercury Demo)
16. My Purgatory Years (Mercury Demo)
17. It Won't Be Long (Mercury Demo)
18. Heaven on Earth (Mercury Demo)
19. Born Free (Mercury Demo)
20. Don't You Want It (Mercury Demo)
21. Anybody (Unreleased Outtake)

Tracks 1-10 from Mondo Deco, Mercury Records LP SRM 1-1114, 1976
Tracks 11-20 unreleased originally, first appeared on Untold Rock Stories, Rev-Ola CD CR Rev 30, 2003
Track 21 Previously Unreleased