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In 1976, with drummer Jon Moss, bassist Steve Voice and guitarist Dave Wight, Miles formed the punk band London with himself as lead singer and chief songwriter. He also briefly adopted the name Riff Regan, (Riff from the character in West Side Story and Regan from John Thaw's character in The Sweeney). The band soon came to the notice of ex-Yardbirds and ex-Marc Bolan manager Simon Napier-Bell who secured them a record deal with MCA Records and a nationwide tour supporting The Stranglers throughout the summer of 1977. Their singles Everyone’s A Winner, Summer Of Love and Animal Games and their one and only album Animal Games were all produced by Napier-Bell at the IBC studios in London where The Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks had recorded so many of their classics.
Following a nationwide headlining tour London broke up after a farewell gig at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street. Jon Moss joined The Damned and then formed Culture Club with Boy George; Dr Colin Wight became a Lecturer in International Politics; Steve Voice formed The Original Vampires; Simon Napier-Bell went on to manage George Michael and Wham! and Miles was retained as a solo artist by MCA Records releasing four more singles All The Nice Boys And Girls In The World, Japanese Girls, You Call Me Lucky and The Only One before recording his final record Hard Hearts Don’t Cry on CBS Epic in 1981.
In 1982 Miles co-wrote the song Hottest Woman In Town with Andy Miller. Recorded at London’s Trident recording studios by ex-Ozzy Osbourne and Ian Gillan lead guitarist Berni Torme, it was released as a single and featured on the Metal Killers album.
In the mid-80s Miles started writing comedy scripts. His first play Because Of Mr Darrow was produced at the Finborough Arms Theatre in London and this was followed by Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami! It had a successful London fringe run starring Russell Wootton and Brittas Empire star Jill Greenacre before being produced for the first Liverpool Festival of Comedy.
Translated into many languages, Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami! has been performed all around the world including Vienna where as ...Und Morgen Fliegen Wir Nach Miami it became one of the city's most popular stage plays. Legendary British Director Cyril Frankel (Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and UFO) directed in a translation by Adolf Opel.
By this time Miles was writing stage and television material for the comic Frankie Howerd including the hour long special, Superfrank, for Channel 4. He also wrote an updated stage version of Up Pompeii!
Miles was also writing for the international Walt Disney Magazine creating cartoon stories for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and other well known Disney characters.
He then went on to create and write the BBC1 comedy series Wyatt’s Watchdogs. Produced and directed by Alan J.W. Bell, it starred Brian Wilde (from Porridge and Last of the Summer Wine) and Trevor Bannister (Are You Being Served?) This led to an invitation to write for the Alomo/BBCTV hit show Birds Of A Feather.
His next stage comedy was It’s Now Or Never! Directed by Marina Calderone, it starred Tony Roper (from BBC TV’s Rab C.Nesbitt), Peter Polycarpou (Birds of a Feather and Miss Saigon), Heather Alexander and Leyton Sommers as Elvis Presley.
This was followed by Getting Away With Murder, directed by Stephen Warden, which had a successful run in Hampstead, London.
Miles’ theatrical comedy Topless is a one-woman play set on an open-top London sightseeing bus. Following director Martin Bailey's original production in 1999, Topless returned to the West End of London for a second season the following year. Produced by The Big Bus Company and directed by the author, this unique theatrical piece was performed on top of a sightseeing bus driving through the streets of London. This was followed by the publication of his first novel Fripp.
Miles then worked for The Big Bus Company training Tour Guides in London, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Dubai.
He has two new plays being published this summer by Matador Books; Twist and Topless in Philadelphia. He has also reformed London with bass player Steve Voice and they will be playing gigs throughout 2008.
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