​​​​​​Steve Murray & Kingbird​
About 5 or 6 years ago Steve started to take an interest in alternative country, Steve Earle, Drive-by-Truckers , Ryan Adams etc . moving away from his punk pop roots for the first time (apart from a brief flirtation with dance music in the mid 90's)... he was inroduced to a blues jam night in Sale, Cheshire and it was there that Steve met one of the co-producers and musical collaborator, Mike Harries.
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From these jam nights Steve's appetite for listening and learning to play blues guitar developed, leading him to a hunger for early American country rock artists such as CCR, The Band, Little Feat and the genius of Neil Young and Jackson Browne.
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Along with his on going love affair of The Rolling Stones, this whole new musical world inspired him into writing a batch of new songs, firstly demoed with his old friend Paul Wainwright, many of which remained as the base tracks for the album. Then recorded, mixed and mastered at Mike Harries' Electric Caveman studio, with the addition of piano, organ and occasional mandolin and pedal steel.
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The fruits of which were to be heard on the critically acclaimed 2009 EP "Twisting the hand of fate"...
And now the contiuation of those songs are available on the new album "Audio Book" released in March 2013.
Murray is by no means a new comer to the music business, although commercial success​ has evaded him continually for whatever reasons. His most notable success being the 1979
FAST​ CARS​ ​single "The kids just wanna dance" ... which is in Record Collector magazines top 20 collectable singles of the New Wave era .​
The notoriety of this single led to the band comlpeting two tours of Japan in 2001 and 2008 and several prestigeous gigs throughout Europe including Berlin, Madrid and Rome. "The kids just wanna dance "has been covered by many young bands around the world who cite FAST CARS as one of their biggest influences. The most well known of these bands is the American Punk Pop band Emilys Army, who feature Green Days Billy Joe Armstrongs son on drums!
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Discography
1978 A Manchester Collection
A compilation album featuring
two Steve Murray penned
Fast Cars Songs
!979 The kids just wanna dance
​Fast cars single ​
Now a huge cult record and in Record Collectors magazine top 20 most
collectable singles of the punk/new wave era.
Original copies go gor over £250.
​1984 Roulette​
Design 9 Single
Recorded with Martin Jackson of
Swing Out Sister and Magazine on drums.
Playlisted on Key 103 in Manchester becoming a local summer hit
​1993 Sexy Rich and Famous
Made in Hong Kong Single
Recieved rave reviews in Melody Maker magazine by reveered music journalist , Simon Price and championed by Jo Whiley on Radio 1's evening session.
​1995 Give a dog a bone
Jimmy and the Duke single
A whitty rap based answer back to Motowns Jimmy Mack which credits Holland Dozier Holland Murray as the writers .Signed within hours by A&M Records, achieved massive PR success with Smash Hits etc but not enought Radio 1 airtime to become a huge hit!
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It is a musical journey that has seen Steve play in bands with people who have become members of Swing Out Sister, The Mighty Wah, The Fall and Magazine. He has shared the stage with people as diverse as The Jam (following a personal invite from Paul Weller) , The Spice Girls, and Mick Hucknall. He has shared rehearsal rooms and recording studios with Joy Division, Buzzcocks and Iggy Pop.
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When asked where his musical ambitions lie right now, Steve said ..." I just want to make MY favourite album of all time ......
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For more information on Fast Cars check out their website:
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2001 Coming...Ready or not​
Fast Cars Album
At last a collection of eraly demos and re - recorded old songs written by Murray which became specialist record label; Detour Records biggest selling album of all time
2004 Who Loves Jimmy Anderton
Fast Cars Album
Recoreded live at the legendary Deeply Vale festival in 1979 , which became the subject of a Granada TV documentary featuring an interrview with Steve and brother Stuart and live footage of Fast Cars in 1979
2006 Well...You started it !
Fast Cars Album
Featuring some early Fast Cars songs missed off the first album plus 6 new songs written by between 2001 and 2004 including an early version of the Kingbird song So James Dean
​2009 Twisting the hand of Fate ​
Steve Murray and Kingbird EP
The critically acclaimed 4 track Ep showcasing Murray's maturity as a song writer with his new found Alt Country groove , featuring a re work of the Fast Cars 1979 B side You're so Funny.
2013 Audio Book ​
Steve Murray and Kingbird Album
A collection of REAL songs written over a four or five year period , telling true life stories of Love , Life and Loss .....
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