RECORDS
Sapphire Records was a DIY label from 1979. A now-collectable EP by Rock trio Devotion, featuring an instrumental called 'Devotion' and two other tracks, seems to have been Sapphire's only release. Its catalogue number, SRTS/FMR-016, was one of a series used by Fairview Music studios, of Hull, and pressing was by SRT. The band had had an EP ('Redancer'; SRTS/FMR-006) out on the Fairview Music label a couple of years earlier, under the name of the Seedy Gees. The actual Sapphire label was orange with black printing and was of the typical plain SRT custom-pressing design. Distributed By Sapphire Records. Devotion was three-piece rock group from Hull, formed early in 1978 by Andy Shillito (bass), Mike Simpson (drums) and Marino Roberts (guitar/vocal) and originally called The Seedy Gees, with a set of cover versions. Later in the year the band began writing their own material and changed their moniker to Devotion, soon achieving a remarkable popularity in the Hull area. Although Roberts also handled lead vocals, it was his guitar playing which was far-and-away the centrepiece of the often-instrumental combo, a mixture of Neil Young’s soaring melody and post-Hendrix blues. In March 1979 Devotion entered Fairview Studio and recorded three self-penned tracks: two instrumentals – the Hard-Prog Rocker DEVOTION and a superior Hard Rock number entitled ACID – plus ENERGY FOR THE UNIVERSE, a strong Guitar Rock cut sung by Marino Roberts. The 7” EP was issued one month later through the SRT plant in an edition of 1,000 copies, all sold locally. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The Info.
| 79 | Devotion [Hull] | Devotion | SAPPHIRE | SRTS/FMR 016 |
