I.R.S. No Speak was an instrumental-only imprint of the I.R.S. Records record label, founded by Miles Copeland III in January 1988. Inspired by the success of Peter Baumann's Private Music, Windham Hill Records and Capitol Records Cinema Records, Copeland wanted to feature some of the many excellent rock musicians who had been left unemployed by the 1980s disco and punk takeover of the music industry. He also wanted to take a poke at new-age music, stating in the introductory brochure, "It should be apparent that what No Speak isn't is New Age. No Speak eats New Age for breakfast."No Speak promo brochure, 1988 Though musically successful the label was not financially viable, and folded after only three years and 19 releases.
No Speak Catalog No. Artist Title Date Notes 001 Pete Haycock Guitar & Son 1988 guitarist for Climax Blues Band, whom Copeland managed Hits, September 21, 1987 002 Wishbone Ash Nouveau Calls 1988 band reunited to record this album for their former manager, Copeland 003 Stewart Copeland The Equalizer & Other Cliff Hangers 1988 brother of Miles and the drummer for The Police 004 William Orbit Strange Cargo 1988 producer and electronic keyboardist 005 Billy Currie Transportation 1988 keyboardist with Ultravox 006 Steve Hunter The Deacon 1988 guitarist for Lou Reed 007 Jimmy Z Anytime... Anyplace! 1988 Jimmy Zavala, saxophonist for Rod Stewart 008 various artists Guitar Speak 1988 sampler with commissioned pieces from Alvin Lee, Randy California, Eric Johnson, Leslie West, Ronnie Montrose, Steve Howe, Phil Manzanera, Rick Derringer, Pete Haycock, Steve Hunter, Hank Marvin & Robby Krieger 009 Robby Krieger No Habla 1989 Guitarist for The Doors 010 various artists Guitar Speak II 1990 sampler with commissioned pieces from Tony Iommi, Jan Akkerman, James Mankey, Dennis Greaves, Hank Marvin, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Harvey Mandel, Jean-Paul Bourelly & Bernie Marsden 011 Jan Akkerman The Noise of Art 1990 guitarist for Focus 012 William Orbit Strange Cargo 2 1990 013 Darryl Way Under The Soft 1991 violinist for Curved Air, Darryl Way's Wolf 014 Ronnie Montrose Mutatis Mutandis 1991 guitarist for Montrose, others 015 various artists Guitar Speak III 1991 sampler with commissioned pieces from Nils Lofgren, Steve Hackett, Tom Verlaine, Bob Mould, Adrian Belew, Gary Myrick, Mick Taylor, Dominic Miller, Robert Fripp & Steve Morse MILES various artists Instrumental Hits for the '90s 1988 sampler of 17 songs from the No Speak catalog (promo only) IRSD-NSPROMO (39099) various artists Music Too Good For Words / Instrumental Rock for the 90s 1988 sampler of 8 songs from the No Speak catalog, 4 songs Forte and 4 songs Pianissimo—2 songs each from the first 4 No Speak releases 39112 various artists Music Too Good For Words, Two 1988 sampler of 12 songs from the No Speak catalog 13024 various artists Night of the Guitar - Live! 1989 highlights of a 26 November 1988 concert featuring Steve Howe, Leslie West, Robby Krieger, Randy California, Steve Hunter, Pete Haycock, Andy Powell, Ted Turner & Alvin Lee—LP and CD differ slightly in contents
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