The Radio Sweethearts were formed in 1992 by John Miller and Francis Macdonald to fulfil Miller's dream of being in a proper Country band. Their debut single was released on the San Francisco indie label Swingset in 1994. In 1996 they released their Kim Fowley produced debut album "New Memories" through New Orleans label St.Roch Records making them the first British Country act to secure a record release Stateside without having a record deal in the UK. In 1998 the "New Memories" album was released with six bonus tracks as "New Memories...Revisited" on the newly formed Shoeshine Records. This was followed by the critically acclaimed "Lonesome Blue" album (co-produced by Alex Chilton) on Shoeshine americana offshoot Spit & Polish alongside the debut album from NY Country Darling Laura Cantrell, "Not The Trembling Kind". The Radio Sweethearts acted as Laura's backing band on the Spit & Polish Revue tours of the UK (also featuring the late, great John Herald) and also were the backing band on Laura's debut John Peel session. Radio Sweethearts also recorded their own session for John Peel whom they had befriended after John Miller featured in the Channel 4 TV series John Peel's Sounds Of The Suburbs. John Peel was a great supporter of the band, and also of the later solo John Miller records. Radio Sweethearts recorded tracks for a number of compilation albums, most notably "Shoeshine Chartbusters" (D:Pop - Japan), "Caroline Now - A Tribute to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys" (Marina - Germany), and "A Tribute To Frankie Miller" (alongside such names as Robert Carlyle, Edwyn Collins, The Proclaimers, Billy Connolly, Rod Stewart and Lulu).
As well as Laura Cantrell, Radio Sweethearts also acted as backing band for a number of other visiting US acts such as Chip Taylor, Ben Vaughn and John Herald.
Although the band never officially split, individual work committments meant that they stopped performing in 2001 (though they did reform for a one-off performance at Christmas 2004) and it remains to be seen if they will ever play together again. Meanwhile why not enjoy the sights and sounds of Radio Sweethearts right here on MySpace. If you need more info on Radio Sweethearts or want to track down the CDs try www.shoeshine.co.uk or www.johnmillermusic.com.
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