The Quick

In the mid-'70s, Los Angeles five-piece the Quick fused arty British Invasion songcraft, glittery glam rock riffs, and a slightly askew lyrical outlook during a fleeting run that produced just one studio album, 1977's Mondo Deco, plus a 1978 EP assembled from an abandoned demo session. Although their recorded output stayed minimal, the music proved influential for Redd Kross and the Dickies, who emerged soon afterward, and continued to resonate with numerous Burger Records acts well into the 2010s.

Guitarist Steven Hufsteter and drummer Danny Benair, after years of joint songwriting and recording that yielded scant results, launched the group in late 1974 by bringing bassist Ian Ainsworth aboard and then recruiting singer Danny Wilde from the band he shared with future Dickies members. Inspired by the louder, more dynamic wing of the British Invasion as embodied by the Who and the Move, the musicians attempted to secure a foothold in an L.A. scene still dominated by cover bands in glam rock's wake.

One night Hufsteter crossed paths with Kim Fowley, who had recently placed his band the Runaways with Mercury Records, and convinced him to manage the Quick without hearing any music. Their friend Billy Bizeau could then enter the lineup once Fowley supplied money for a keyboard. Using his Mercury connections, Fowley arranged an April 1976 demo, secured a June signing, and hurried the band into the studio the following month to begin their debut album.

At the Beach Boys' Brother Studios alongside producer Earle Mankey, a former Sparks guitarist whose band also left a notable imprint on the Quick, they finished Mondo Deco in three weeks. The sessions featured awkward encounters with Beach Boys members and a clash with Fowley that effectively ended the group's momentum. Fowley pressed them to adopt the "boogie" approach favored by many rock bands of the era, yet the Quick remained committed to their own distinct vision, causing him to step back and withhold promotional support. Mercury likewise lost interest, allowing both Mondo Deco and the "Rag Doll" single to vanish unnoticed.

After cutting ties with Fowley, the Quick shifted toward a harder-edged sound less beholden to Sparks. They terminated their Mercury contract in early 1977 and sought another label. Elektra soon requested a demo, so the band recorded with producer David Campbell, Beck's father, yielding a strong batch of songs that the label ultimately rejected. They self-released several tracks in 1978 as the 10-inch EP Tune in with Our Times; one cut, "Pretty Please," was later covered by Redd Kross. The EP earned some play on influential L.A. station KROQ, but progress had essentially halted. Their final concert took place in early 1978, after which internal friction and limited options led them to disband.

The members stayed active following the split. Benair played in the Three O'Clock before moving into publishing and marketing roles. Ainsworth and Wilde formed power pop group Great Buildings, after which Wilde founded the Rembrandts, whose Friends theme song reached any viewer with a television. Bizeau contributed songs to the Runaways, including their epic "Queens of Noise." Hufsteter performed with the Cruzados and the Dickies, added to the Repo Man soundtrack, and joined Tito & Tarantula in the 2000s.

Although the Quick's time passed quickly, their recordings endured through later releases. Rev-Ola issued Untold Rock Stories in 2003, gathering both demo sessions plus several live tracks. Burger Records released the single On Holiday with Earle Mankey in 2013 and reissued Untold Rock Stories on cassette in 2010 and on LP in 2016. Real Gone Music returned Mondo Deco to print in 2018 with a deluxe edition that added the Mercury demo and a previously unreleased outtake.