John Miles (born John Errington; 23 April 1949 – 5 December 2021) was an English rock singer, guitarist and keyboard player best known for his 1976 top 3 UK hit single "Music", which won an Ivor Novello Award, and his frequent appearances at Night of the Proms. He won the "Outstanding Musical Achievement" award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. He released 10 albums from 1976 to 1999 and was also the touring musician for Tina Turner in 1987.
Early life
Miles was born John Errington in Jarrow, County Durham, to Alec and Doris, attending St. Peters School before passing his eleven-plus exam and joining Jarrow Grammar School. While still a pupil at Jarrow Grammar School, Miles started guitar lessons in nearby Hebburn and was encouraged by his grammar school music teacher, Jimmy Joseph, to take up a career in music; however, his first job after leaving school was making lavatory signs. Miles played in several local bands, including The Derringers, The New Atlantians and The Urge before joining The Influence, which also included Paul Thompson, later the drummer with Roxy Music, and Vic Malcolm, later lead guitarist with Geordie. This outfit released the single "I Want to Live" (Orange Records, 1969). Following this, he formed The John Miles Set, with Bob Marshall and Dave Symonds before starting his solo career in 1971.
In 1972 Billboard magazine reported on a new distribution agreement between Orange Records and the larger Pye Records label; "Orange, the label offshoot of the Orange recording studios, will release John Miles' "Come Away MeLinda"[sic] as its first record through Pye."
Other releases included those written by Australian writing duo Vanda & Young: "The World Belongs to Yesterday" (1972), "Yesterday Was Just the Beginning of My Life" (1972) and "One Minute Every Hour" (1973). It was while on a break on a Saturday stint at Peter Stringfellow's Leeds club that he first started writing what became "Music". In 1972, the band appeared on the television series Opportunity Knocks.
Career
Success
Miles signed a recording contract with the Decca UK label in 1975 and issued four albums; Rebel (1976) - No. 9 on the UK chart, Stranger in the City (1977) - No. 37 UK, Zaragon (1978) - No. 43 UK and More Miles Per Hour (1979) - No. 46 UK. However, Miles had the most success with singles and released a total of eighteen during this era, with four reaching the UK top 40. In addition to "Music", he also charted in the UK with "Highfly" (1975) - No. 17, "Remember Yesterday" (1976) - No. 32, and "Slow Down" (1977) - No. 10. In 1975, the readers of the Daily Mirror voted Miles as Best Newcomer. Not long after "Music"'s release, Miles was described by Melody Maker as:
"Music" won Miles an Ivor Novello Award for Best Middle of the Road Song in 1977. Most of his songs were co-written with the bassist in his backing group, Bob Marshall.
At the peak of his success, in 1976 and 1977, Miles made several appearances on the weekly pop TV shows Supersonic and Top of the Pops. The debut album did receive some attention in the US. Two singles from the debut album reached the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Highfly" peaked at No. 68, followed by "Music" which stalled at No. 88. In Canada, "Highfly" reached No. 74, and "Slow Down" reached No. 68. However, "Music" reached No. 1 on the Dutch and Belgian charts and No. 4 on the Swiss charts. "Slow Down" was his biggest US chart hit, peaking at No. 2 on the disco chart, and at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1977. It was later featured in the 1979 film Players, starring Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin. The album Zaragon reached No. 3 on the Swedish and Portuguese charts. In his US tour to promote Zaragon, Billboard stated that:
The relative success in the US charts led to Miles supporting Elton John on his tour. Miles and his band would go on to tour with other famous artists, such as Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull and the Rolling Stones. In 1978, Miles was invited to appear on the BBC Sight and Sound in Concert programme which was simultaneously on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 2 on 11 March 1978.
Later career
Unfortunately the early success of Rebel tailed off so much that Ian Gilbey in Electronics & Music Maker wrote:
From 1985, Miles participated almost every year in the Night of the Proms, a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Denmark and the United States. Regularly there were also shows in Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. The concerts consist of a combination of pop music and popular classical music (often combined) and various well-known musicians and groups usually participate.