Cuban Heels formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1977 and was headed by John Milarky, who had previously been a member of Johnny & the Self Abusers, a Scottish punk band that metamorphosed into Simple Minds.
Initially, an R&B band who played the odd punk track, they soon found growing popularity with the mod revival crowd.
Consequently, their live set balanced original songs like Modern Girl, Too Much Too Loud, Samantha’s World and Young Pretender with covers such as Cat Stevens‘ Matthew and Son and Cliff Richard’sOn The Beach.
Their debut single – released on the Edinburgh-based Housewives Choice label in March 1978 – was a pop-punk reworking of Petula Clark‘s hit Downtown.
A line-up change saw Nick Clarke (bass) and drummer Ali McKenzie replacing Paul Armour and Davie Duncan.
The band maintained a gruelling live schedule – supporting bands ranging from The Stranglers and The Jam to Graham Parker And The Rumour – and released two more independent singles (Little Girl and Walk on Water) but a lack of commercial success prompted the group to settle on a more comfortable pop sound with an image to match.
A deal with Virgin Records saw the album Walk Our Way To Heaven and a string of singles – Sweet Charity, My Colours Fly and a remake of Walk On Water – suffer the same fate as previous offerings.
The band called it a day in 1982.
John Milarky
Vocals Laurie Cuffe
Guitar Paul Armour
Bass Davie Duncan
Drums Nick Clarke
Bass Ali MacKenzie
Drums
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