WILDFIRE

 

Wildfire Records small independent company - or possibly or custom recording one - operating out of Washington, Tyne and Wear.  The few examples of its records that I have seen dated from 1977-79.  They came in two separate series, each with its own distinct label design.  The earliest was Wildfire Clubland (q.v.), but there was also a plain Wildfire one, which came on the scene in 1979 and seems to have had a connection to Newcastle's Soundlink studios - all three of the EPs that I have seen on the label were recorded there.  The artists involved appear to have been the usual kind of Cabaret / Club acts that you would expect to find financing their own records, so it may perhaps be that they paid Soundlink to have them made via Wildfire.  As this series is later that the Clubland one in the main, however, there are other possible reasons for the change - it could be that Soundlink took over Wildfire, or even that Wildfire underwent a reorganization and that the Soundlink connection is only a coincidence.  Catalogue numbers were in the SEM-000s; they reached at least SEM-009, but so far I have only been able to account for three of them; news of the others, if they exist, would be welcome.  The Diablo EP shown above, which featured 'Ghost Riders In The Sky' and three other tracks (SEM-002; 1979), came with white labels as well as the usual red ones, which suggests that it was popular enough to merit at least a couple of pressings.  Thanks to Robert Bowes for the second scan and for bringing Wildfire to my attention.

Copyright 2009 Robert Lyons.