...are still very much around.

Last night I found myself having a look at some of the media presence of Milton Reame-James and (Jean-Paul) Crocker (latterly via The Crocker Brothers website), not for the first time.

I've visited Stuart Elliott's website quite a few times (since 2020) and (by chance and circumstance), managed to exchange emails with the man himself, during lockdown. For me, this was special, so I thank him again.

He of course, as a founder member of Cockney Rebel, was a tour de force in the most crucial periods of the life of the band. Being also instrumental (pardon the pun) in the emergence of the music of the hugely talented and iconic Kate Bush (from the beginning to Aerial), speaks for itself, in the quality of his own work.

Paul Jeffreys, as many of you know, was sadly murdered in December 1988, along with everyone on the Pan Am Flight 103, also (I think) eleven people on the ground lost their lives, over and in Lockerbie - overall 270 lives were lost because of the crime. BBC 1's 'The Bombing Of Pan AM 103' continues tonight (02/06/25: 21:00) in the UK.

He was a fine bass player and this came through on the first two albums. He remained friends with Milton Reame-James in particular, from the time of the split in 1974, for the next fourteen years.

Amongst other bands, he had a three or four year stint with Warm Jets (from a website dedicated to him). That band might have been named after Brian Eno's debut album, 'Here Come The Warm Jets' (1973)? - I bought the vinyl LP of this quite a few years ago - this is another (though tenuous) link between Cockney Rebel and Roxy Music!

Milton Reame-James was also in Warm Jets during the same period as Paul. I think from what else I've seen online, that this must have been an earlier incarnation of the band - they released singles in 1978 and 1979 but there is another band called Warm Jets that found some success as an indie band from 1998 (?) These seem to be separate bands (?) All the members of each band are listed as different individuals. The tenuous link I refer to earlier, applies to the 'second' band, it seems.

I was impressed to learn that he later became involved with an incarnation of Be-Bop Deluxe (I bought the single, Ships In The Night, in 1976 - I'm unsure as to whether Milton was in with Bill Nelson then, or not). In my view, he's a fantastic keyboard player. He's also a scientist (we are informed) and that has similarities with Queen's Brian May (albeit different branches). Paul Jeffreys was also in Be-Bop Deluxe at the same time as Milton.

John Crocker, in my view - whilst unquestionably a very fine musician, conveys a seeming bitterness - about the Cockney Rebel split (he says through The Crocker Brothers site - at least as at 31/05/25) that he tries to forget everything before 1974! Why would he want to do that?! His contribution to both of the first two Cockney Rebel albums was amazing. In fact the period 1973/1974, in my view, saw Cockney Rebel at their most innovative. Theirs was a unique sound when Crocker, Reame-James and Jeffreys were on board. Again my opinion, as excellent as Messrs Cregan, Mackay and Ford were (are - in the case of Jim and Duncan. George sadly, died in 2007) , that original, unique sound, was gone, after the first two albums. Geoff Emerick definitely contributed to the early sound, in his technical capacity.

[EDIT: 11/06/25: Geoff was the Engineer - responsible for the overall sound - but I should have mentioned the Producer, Neil Harrison. I've only just read that it was he who wanted and instigated the orchestral arrangements on Death Trip and Sebastian. That was so...the right decision and I believe that Steve acknowledged his gratitude in the media].

[EDIT: 12/06/25: I should have also mentioned the man that put together those orchestral arrangements i.e. Andrew Powell. These gave the album even greater depth extending Steve's compositions - to the sublime. Also there was symmetry in the music - 5 tracks on each side, those classical/rock tracks being the 5th track on each side. This symmetry continued with the gatefold cover - the five members of the band framed in rectangles (front) or squares (inner). The rear cover symmetry was slightly different - an art deco meets Star Trek (Enterprises) shrine, to the songs. Marvellously creative, lyrical and musical, the whole thing].

I can't help thinking of my 'Harley Ferry parallel' thread again. In mid 1973, the year before Rebel split, Roxy Music almost split over the departure of Brian Eno (there were rumours about Andy Mackay maybe joining Mott The Hoople - he'd appeared with them on TOTP's on a couple of MTH singles - incidentally, Steve Harley once approached Ian Hunter with a view to a potential song collaboration, but it didn't happen because, as Ian has stated, he had moved to the United States - I guess the IT/social media/communication hardware and software wasn't sufficiently advanced at the time?) Incidentally, Air Studios - that seemed so legendary a venue, was the locale for the greatest (in my view) Cockney Rebel and Roxy Music albums.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN (and remember I am not only a fan of everyone referred to here - I want to remain loyal to each...), that after two Roxy albums featuring just Ferry compositions, their third album Stranded - which made number one in the UK chart - Mackay and Manzanera started co-writing with Ferry (e.g. Amazona, A Song For Europe) FERRY NEEDED TO OFFER this, to keep his band together (?) From that time on Mackay, Manzanera, Thompson, Jobson, shared credits with Ferry, on some of the songs of Roxy Music. Ferry however, remained the main songwriter in the band.

As we know, this didn't happen with Cockney Rebel. Paradoxically, perhaps, Steve first collaborated on songs (with former Cockney Rebel members) in 1978, during the Rebel hiatus (too late for Crocker, Reame-James and Jeffreys). (For me) this was bitter-sweet (perhaps in equal measure) i.e. that it was a factor that broke the first version of the band...but with the release of Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) and Mr Raffles in the stratospheric 1975, that feeling was somewhat obviated...

(However, no one can take ANYTHING away from all the MUSICIANS involved in the entire COCKNEY REBEL recording catalogue).


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