Stranger in the City was the second solo album by John Miles

John Miles (musician)

John Miles is an English rock music vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player, best known for his 1976 Top 3 UK hit single, "Music".-Career:...

 and was released in 1977. Recording sessions started in the summer of 1976 when Miles was promoting his first album with producer Rupert Holmes

Rupert Holmes

Rupert Holmes is an American-British composer, singer-songwriter, musician and author of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape " and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980...

. Recording of the album was finished in England.

For this album, Miles recruited Australian keyboardist Gary Moberley because Miles felt that his previous album was missing something funky.

Both "Remember Yesterday" and "Slow Down" charted in the UK (respectively 32 and 10) and these would be the last singles that would chart in Britain until 1983. Although the singles did fairly well, the album itself barely cracked the top 40 of the UK chart and fell very quickly off the charts.

"Remember Yesterday" was written about Bob Marshall, who was according to Miles a very romantic type, because he drifted around from girl to girl.
The title track was already written and recorded during the sessions of Rebel

Rebel (John Miles album)

Rebel was the first solo album of John Miles. It was his most successful album to date with singles "Highfly" and "Music".-History:When Miles eventually signed to Decca, they introduced him to producer Alan Parsons in the summer of 1975...

and was originally planned to be released as the B-side of "Highfly", but was shelved.

"Manhattan Skyline" was written about the first impressions Miles and Marshall had of New York.


In 2007, the album was rereleased and remastered with several bonus tracks.

Track listing

All tracks written by Bob Marshall and John Miles except where noted

1. "Stranger in the City" 4:30
2. "Slow Down" 4:46
3. "Stand up (And Give Me a Reason)" 7:03
4. "Time" 3:57
5. "Manhattan Skyline" 3:06
6. "Glamour Boy" 4:49
7. "Do it Anyway" (Black) 2:46
8. "Remember Yesterday" 5:23
9. "Music Man" 4:53

Bonus tracks on reissue

1. "House on the Hill" (B-side of "Remember Yesterday") 4:19
2. "Slow Down" 4:14
3. "Stand Up (And Give me a Reason)" 3:45
4. "Remember Yesterday" 3:18

Personnel

• John Miles
  John Miles (musician)
  John Miles is an English rock music vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player, best known for his 1976 Top 3 UK hit single, "Music".-Career:...
  
  : Vocals, Piano, Guitar
• Bob Marshall: Bass
• Barry Black: Drums
• Gary Moberley: Keyboards