Skeletons: Early Songs (Demos: Late 80s): I Yearn For You

'I Yearn For You' is an early demo that shows the quality of Steve Smith's naked voice; I always loved it best when he wasn't having to compete with the band, who could be a little raucous in those days.
This is raw, a little ragged and all the better for it.
I'm not sure who's playing guitar; I hope it's me...

Skeletons: On and On

Another track from 'Bluer Skies Than This',
the previously unreleased demo/album from the early 90s.
'On and On': I think that the title refers to the sax solo...

Skeletons: Heartbeat on Sick Street

'Heartbeat on Sick Street' is another tune from 'Bluer Skies Than This' that didn't see the light of day.
I like the guitars on this though; Steve Davis on slide, stylishly wearing Lowell George's shirt and me (on the Strat) trying to squeeze into Nils Lofgren's leather pants (an obvious misfit...)

Skeletons: Early Songs (Demos: Late 80s): Stay

Crikey, this is a jolly little tune.
'Stay' is another early MM song from the late 80s that never saw the light of day.
You can hear Phil Smith's increasing influence with the solo sax and brass arrangement.
I'm skipping around the kitchen to this as we speak.
Go on, give it a go but watch your head on that cupboard.
Ouch!
Hurts doesn't it?

Skeletons: Early Songs 'Rain or Shine'

'Rain or Shine' is another track taken from the early MM years when Steve Smith was the singer
(boy does he croon here) and I was more pre-occupied with my Flange/Chorus/Echo pedals and the jingle jangle of semi-acoustics. Phil Smith is featured quite prominently on this; it may well be the first thing that he played with us. He had just left Haircut 100 and was looking for another vehicle for his considerable talents;  He played sax and keyboards for the live Miracle Mile line up which might explain why he stuck with us for so long; I think that he was a bit fed up with his instrument at the time and was getting into keyboards. His forte was always going to be the the sax though and I have many dodgy recordings embellished by his sublime playing.
You can see Phil fresh faced and fringed, at the top of the young Haircut pile (left) and on the right at a fairly recent reunion gig for the VH1 TV series 'Bands Re-united'. Phil is far left with the 'comb over' and wearing a pair of curtains, Les Nemes (ex MM bass player) is second from right in the beige.
I was at the gig and it was a... fantastic day...

Skeletons: Early Songs (Demos: Late 80s): I Swing

Although co-credited as a Smith/Jones composition,
'I Swing' is a song that in truth was written by Steve Smith (left).
Steve Davis and I spent a lot of time on the backing track and when it was ready we phoned Smithy to get him in to sing, only for him to inform us that he'd left the band and had formed his own unit 'Molly and the Moonbeams' with drummer Phil Sands. I'm sure that the writing had been on the wall but I'm buggered if I can remember the vagaries of the messages. Initially we were miffed, a lot of hard work had gone into preparing several tracks that were meant to be the MM debut with Steve as our figurehead (I'm hoping to unveil some of those soon) but came to understand Steve's move. We scratched our heads for a while and then Steve Davis had the bright idea that I might sing. We really had no choice, so, what you hear is my first ever vocal attempt (with the exception of an old 'Stacks' B side 'Maybe Monday')... I remember that we had brought in a backing vocalist Miriam Stockley (Queen/Mike Oldfield/Jason gulp Donovan), whose powerful voice dominated the track; I couldn't compete so... didn't bother.  It still sounds a bit thick tongued to me but I guess it has some historical significance to those interested...
Great song from Steve Smith though; he has developed his musical career Stateside in the guise of The Delta Boy. You can hear his undiminished pop sensibilities here on his MySpace page. His fine debut 'Automatic Pier' is also available as a download here on Amazon. Although a true original, think Lilac Time/Marc Bolan and a gentle Lennon and you are in his ball park...

Skeletons : Early Songs: (Early 90s): 'Not For This Boy'

'Not For This Boy' was the first MM song that ex Haircut 100 bassist Les Nemes played on.
We had already been introduced to Phil Smith (sax) by our then A&R man at Zomba,  Mark Fox (ex H100 percussionist) and those boys were pretty tight back then; rallying against Nick Heyward and the disappointments of the Haircut's enforced split just before the potentially money spinning 2nd album was about to be released. The music was in the can; Nick only had to commit his vocals; he chose instead to go solo; producing the very fine 'North of a Miracle'. Mark Fox threw his hat in the ring as lead singer briefly, before realising he best rest with his bongos; the album never saw the light of day, which was a shame; I heard a few of those mixes and they elaborated on the early sound of Pelican West with an urgency that reminded me of a poppy Talking Heads.
Here's a Nickless promo shot of the boys at the time (seemingly caught on CCTV) waiting for a bus.

Les and Phil recorded with Miracle Mile extensively and stayed with the gigging band , working not only on these early demos, but also on the debut 'Bicycle Thieves' and the follow up 'Candids', both leaving the band when we stopped gigging, just before the release of 'Slow Fade'.

For this track Les listened through once and then nailed the song first take. His big hero at the time was Ronnie Lane of the Faces and I think that you can hear it in his playful fretwork. Our Les was no backseat bassist... I believe that he currently resides in Spain and still plays with the Haircuts when they get together for the odd 80s review tour with T'Pau, Howard Jones and other lesser talents...

Skeletons: Early Songs: Early 90s Demos: 'Tap Room Tales'

One of my favourite albums at the time of recording 'Tap Room Tales' in the early 90s (sorry that I can't be more specific, that decade remains a blur) was 'Rattlesnakes' by Lloyd Cole. I love the guitar solo at the end of the magnificent 'Forest Fire' and tried to emulate it here; failing pretty miserably as you can hear. I guess that you could call the song a pean to the muse; a nod to my then fledging musical career that brought me to London, all the way from... Skipton. In the song we replaced the (not very rock and roll) Skipton; Gateway to the Dales, with the city of Manchester, partly to affiliate ourselves with The Smiths or any number of shoe gazing bands from that fair city that were hogging the musical headlines at the time, but mainly because I needed that extra syllable.
My main memory of the song's recording (at Steve Davis's Brixton Studio) was my vocal, done whilst demolishing the prop of a bottle of Jack Daniels with Steve. We were going for a relaxed Tom Waits and ended up with a pissed poor Pogues/Shane MacGowen drawl; so much for 'the method'...
After finishing the vocal that you hear here, I stumbled back down Acre Lane towards the tube and thought I'd celebrate with a Chinese. Sitting on the last tube home, I used my guitar case as a picnic table and tucked into my sweet and sour chicken/prawn fried rice combo. As we went through the first tunnel nausea struck; I would surely puke. Being a good citizen and not wanting to soil the carriage I did what any like minded Londoner (who'd just imbibed a pint of bourbon) would do: I dutifully took my guitar out of its case and used the case (beautiful red velvet lining) as my... receptacle. That guitar was never the same again. It currently rests under the stairs in Corsica, a silent reminder of my rock and roll years; it still gently hums in a soiled velvet embrace; lending a unique resonance to the term 'feedback'...

Skeletons: Early Songs: Early 90s Demos: Showboat Sam and the Mystery Man

'Bluer Skies Than This' was a collection of recordings that were never meant for release; it's function was to get us gigs and possibly a deal in the days when we were tempted to do the corporate dance. 

Of its ten tracks three went on to feature on 'Bicycle Thieves' (Bluer Skies/Whiskey Kisses/The Killing Time) and one finally made it onto 'Candids' (Shoot the Moon). Please remember that this was the late 80s so the production values are of that time; DX7s and chorus pedals ruled the day. There's a whiff of Deacon Blue about a lot of this; I was quite taken with the band after seeing them support The Bible in some east London church, and had their debut 'Raintown' on permanently. 

This first offering is 'Showboat Sam and the Mystery Man'. 

Showboat Sam?

Who's he? 

Why, he's the devil and the deep blue sea.

And the mystery man?

 Ask my analyst...

Skeletons: Early Songs: Late 80s Demos: Nothing to Do with You

Here's a jaunty nugget unearthed and presented by Steve Smith who was a member and indeed the singer of the initial MM line up. The sweet smell of the 80's; you can tell that we'd been listening to Prefab Sprout; this features a key change and a fade. Popfantastic! Miracle Mile have always rocked gently but if you listen closely, in amongst the gated drums and Thomas Dolby keyboards of 'Nothing to Do with You', you can hear my guitar feeding back. I can still smell my old leather pants... I love the way Steve effortlessly rhymes 'camera' with 'barrier'.
I have a DAT in the attic with a tape stuck in the machine. If I can release the songs/demos from that digital dungeon I'll share them with you. Brace yourselves...

Skeletons: Breaking Down the Barriers

Miracle Mile have been going long enough for there to be a skeleton or two lurking in the closet. Better out than in so, in a series of sensational revelations (it is sunday) I'll be exposing them bones afore they reveal themselves. The initial incarnation of Miracle Mile featured Steve Smith on bass and vocals, Phil Sands on drums and myself as an 'umble guitar player. There was a single 'Bless this Ship' which I believe was Mike Reid's 'Play of the Day' on radio one. I'll try and track that one down, but the B side was an earlier recording, 'Breaking Down the Barriers' which you can hear here (taken from scratchy vinyl), complete with dancing sleeve. It's not often that you'll find McArthur's Park, Joseph Clark (as God), Holy Joe and Captain Scarlet in the same song... Although its worryingly categorized alongside A Flock of Seagulls, it sounds pretty good to me; Steve always was the better singer, warbling like Steven 'Tin Tin' Duffy before The Lilac Time existed. Steve now lives in Hollywood and still writes as The Delta Boy.
You'll also hear the MM debut of saxophonist Phil Smith from Haircut 100 who became a fixture in the live band (on keyboards and sax) for a couple of years. Although the cover/beermat above looks a little tired after strutting its stuff so energetically in that You Tube video, it's notable as the first sleeve design done for us by my great mate Nick Reddyhoff (right) who went on to do the artwork on all of the Miracle Mile album covers. He still hasn't been paid a penny and now lives pennyless and destitute in a flimsy tent on the Norfolk coast with his wife Lucinda and my two god children Tats and Zac (he couldn't afford full names for them) and a dog whose name they've had to change by deed poll from 'Porridge' to 'Gruel'.
God bless that man...