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."[1] Though musically successful the label was not financially viable, and folded after only three years and 19 releases.
No Speak Catalog
edit| No. | Artist | Title | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Pete Haycock | Guitar & Son | 1988 | guitarist for Climax Blues Band, whom Copeland managed [2] |
| 002 | Wishbone Ash | Nouveau Calls | 1988 | band reunited to record this album for their former manager, Copeland[1] |
| 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 |