THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...VARDIS – ‘100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited’ (High Roller Records)

Some bands embody the very essence of the NWOBHM, and one of the most striking is Vardis. Frenetic, engaging and always seemingly playing just on the edge, the trio signed to LOGO and opened their long player account in 1980 with the strident live album ‘100 M.P.H.’ which charted in the UK and which was described by Geoff Barton in ‘Sounds’ as “really just about one long guitar solo with bass, drums and vocals almost incidental… Vardis have been captured in their element.” The band then issued a number of collectable singles and a clutch of albums, some of which, to be fair, did lose the plot in terms of quality and consistency.

‘100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited’ takes things back to the band’s earlier days, before they hooked up with LOGO and hit the headlines. If you splash out on the LP, side one is taken up with their first vinyl outing, the four-track ‘100 M.P.H.’ EP, recorded at Redball studios in June 1979 and released the following October. The songs are great, but the original single suffered quality-wise from trying to cram nearly 16 minutes of music onto a 7” record. Here, the four cuts sparkle in their glory. Flip the LP over and you’ll be greeted with the two tracks from their follow-up 7” ‘If I Were King’, a two-track session recorded in January 1977 and ‘Rock ’N’ Roll Lullaby’, a cut from a demo recorded in July 1978. The CD adds the other three tracks from this session, although features less in the way of inserts and fun stuff.

Most of the material here will already be familiar to fans, with the possible exception of ‘Rock ’N’ Roll Lullaby’ (although this would go on to be revisited, reworked and make a re-appearance later). Sparky and punchy, the songs bounce along, driven by frontman Steve Zodiac’s effervescent guitar playing and Yorkshire drawl, while Alan Selways’s gamboling bass lines ebb and flow under the melodies and the revolving door of drummers – finally culminating in the recruitment of Gary Pearson – keeps things neat and tidy at the back.

Vardis would never change the world, but their lively bluesy boogie-based anthems never failed to bring a smile to the cloudiest day. Let the serious bands do the serious stuff: Vardis came to entertain, and entertain they did.

Video clips:
‘100 M.P.H.’ (Live At Shepperton Studios 1981) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuIHDBmaAP0
‘Situation Negative’ (Live At Shepperton Studios 1981) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_23xTvbmnU

John Tucker May 2026