In November, Phil joins Kevin, Nigel and Steve Bentley.
They rehearse and write material together and go through a couple of name changes, including Purgatory and Hellfire, until one day Steve opens a dictionary, closes his eyes and puts his finger on Elixir. This becomes the new name adopted by the band.
The band look for a vocalist and recruit female singer Sally Pike. They record a four song demo tape at Bark Studios, Walthamstow, and play two gigs at The Green Man, Stratford, before they part company with Sally.