ABSTRACT
Beserkley Records was formed by Baltimore native Matthew Kaufman and his associate Steve Levine as an outlet for Earth Quake, a Berkeley band under their sponsorship recently dropped from A & M following two poorly selling albums. The band’s initial release, “Sitting in the Middle of Madness”/”Security” (Beserkley 5734; 1976), sold approximately 3,000 copies solely by mail and grassroots distribution, enabling Kaufman to release a second single, “Friday on My Mind”/”Tall Order for a Short Guy” (Beserkley 5737; 1976), which enjoyed even greater success. The band’s debut album, 8.5 (Beserkley 0047; 1976), reached #151 on the charts despite the absence of the two singles.
