Recorded live at the Electric Ballroom in London and issued on Logo Records in 1980, Vardis’ debut album »100 M.P.H.« is considered to be one of the milestones of the glorious New Wave Of British Heavy Metal period.
However, the roots of Vardis go way back to 1977, when they formed in Wakefield under the name of Quo Vadis.
The trio quickly started to record demos and in 1979, their debut 4-track 7” EP »100 M.P.H.«, consisting of raw, fast, almost punkish versions of “100 M.P.H.”, “Blue Rock”, “Destiny” and “The World’s Insane”, saw the light of day via Redball Records (today a precious collector’s item). Along with five other songs, »100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited« compiles nine of the earliest Vardis studio recordings.
»100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited« has been mastered (including additional audio restauration) by Patrick W. Engel at his Temple Of Disharmony in September 2025, ensuring the best possible audio quality, and includes new liner notes by bassist Alan Selway, who says about »100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited«: “This album represents our journey. From hopefuls to recording artists, plotting a course of licking stamps, building speaker boxes, wielding spanners and screwdrivers in greasy hands and endless late nights in motorway services after triumphant performances in all manner of venues, from grotty pubs with their sticky carpets to tour date rock clubs filled with denim, leather and shaking heads. It represents a friendship forged in a common goal: to progress and ultimately succeed. From a boy to a man, I grew up with this band, with these comrades, these songs.”
The CD version of »100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited« contains three exclusive bonus recordings of “Blue Rock”, “Dirty Money” and “The World’s Insane”, recorded at Ohm Studios in July 1978.
Bassist Alan Selway remembers: “With some inventive overdubbing of acoustic guitar, tambourine and double-tracked vocals plus my harmony vocals on the first recorded version of ‘Blue Rock’, we were beginning to explore arrangements and expand the band’s capabilities beyond our usual live loud straight- down-the-line three-piece boogie.”