Spike

Quireboys’ frontman Spike is both exhausted and excited! Exhausted because the hectic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle seems to have taken its toll on this particular day (though he assures me that he will probably drop dead if he STOPS his hectic schedule). Excited because his labour of love album, 100% Pure Frankie Miller, is going to be released next week!

Spike’s sparkling celebration of long-time pal and inspiration Frankie Miller is a very special album indeed. Two decades after suffering the brain haemorrhage that cut short a colourful career, Miller has emerged as one of rock’s great survivors and his music lives on. 100% Frankie Miller is the ultimate appreciation to a Scottish legend featuring ‘lost’ treasures and previously hidden gems.

Music-News’ Claudia A. chats with Spike about tributes and tribulations.

Music-News:
Spike, you’ve been a long-time friend of Frankie Miller. Did you initially befriend him because you are a fan of his music, or did the friendship happen due to other reasons?

SPIKE:
Well, you know that since his brain haemorrhage he can’t really speak proper nor stand proper anymore. Anyway, what happened was when The Quireboys got back together again, I did a solo album in 2005 and recorded a couple of Frankie’s songs. When we played gigs in London, Frankie’s wife Annette would bring him along to the shows. So we got to know each other really well. One day she said to me that Frankie has all these songs, demos and unfinished ones, which nobody had ever heard before. There were other artists before who were thinking of doing something with the songs but no one ever did anything with them. Honestly, I looked at the material and realized there were over three hundred songs or so which needed sifting through. But I really wanted to keep Frankie’s music alive and so I decided to record some. It took me a hell of a long time to pick the ones for this album, it was a real labour of love!

Music-News:
Before you started with recording the album, for how long had you actually planned the project?

SPIKE:
I’ve been talking about it for the past four/five years. Yeah, it’s been that long! Cos what happened originally was that initially I had planned to do this album as a Country album. But then I got Free’s Simon Kirke and Andy Fraser involved, so I thought that the album needs to have a couple of rock numbers on it. Well and now, the album is just a mixture of everything. What I wanted to do is keep Frankie’s songs alive, cos otherwise these songs would have been lost.

Music-News:
So how did you actually choose the songs amongst the vast material available?

SPIKE:
Well, initially I listened to them all, than brought them down to eighty, to seventy, to sixty… know what I mean. I mean hopefully, if all goes well then I can do another two or three albums with Frankie’s songs. Because now, I can do my own solo songs for The Quireboys, and record my own solo albums with more Frankie songs! I’m sure that my 2005 solo album ‘It’s A Treat To Be Alive’ will come out again once the ‘100% Pure Frankie Miller’ one is released, haha!

Music-News:
How did you handpick the musicians that collaborated with you on 100% Pure Frankie?

SPIKE:
What happened was, when we decided to do this we didn’t want to do this as a tribute album, right. So everybody who is on it is a friend of Frankie’s and a friend of mine, and we all know each other. So when word got around that I was doing this project, a lot of people rang up and said “Oh I’d like to have a chat with you, I’d like to be on it” and I would say “Yeah but you don’t really know Frankie and I don’t really know you either…” know what I mean. So I wanted to do this solo album as if it was a friend’s thing, know what I mean. And I’ve known Bonnie Tyler, who duets with me on the album, for a while and she’s one of Frankie’s best friends. Also, back in Newcastle we did a show together and she said she wanted to do it.

Music-News:
Tell me, how did you get Ronnie Wood involved? I know that you’re a fan of the Stones.

SPIKE:
I’ve known Ronnie’s son Jesse since he was fourteen, and met him at an awards ceremony when his dad (Ronnie) was with him. Back in the day, The Quireboys opened for the Stones, but then I hadn’t seen Ronnie for ages so I told him about my planned Frankie album. So Ronnie, who’s also a friend of Frankie, said that he’s up for it and would love to play on the album. So this is what I mean, everyone on this album knows each other, and that way we’re all equals, haha.

Music-News:
How do you think the ‘100% Pure Frankie Miller’ album will fare, especially with the younger generation?

SPIKE:
True, there are a hell lot of people out there you haven’t discovered Frankie Miller yet, but there are a lot of people who do know who he is, you know. And I do think that the album will help keep his music alive even though I’m nowhere near as good a singer as Frankie Miller, know what I mean.

Music-News:
Very funny… Spike, you are a fantastic singer as you should darn well know! I’m sure that the album will do real well. Thanks for your time doing the interview, and I look forward to the next batch of your Frankie albums…