Chris Rainbow -

Chris Rainbow (November 18, 1946 — February 25, 2015) was a Scottish art-pop musician, singer, and songwriter from Glasgow who released the 1975–78 Polydor albums Home of the Brave and Looking Over My Shoulder, followed by the 1979 EMI release White Trails. As a vocalist, he sang select songs for the Alan Parsons Project and joined the early Eighties Camel lineup.

Background

Christopher James Harley was born on November 18, 1946, in Glasgow. Between 1964 and 1972, he worked as a graphic artist but moonlit as a musician from 1970, when he joined the Glasgow group Hope Street, whose later lineup included pianist Callum Kenmuir.

Billed as Hopestreet, the group recorded the 1972 single “Iron Sky” (b/w “Never Mind”). Parlophone issued the March 1973 follow-up “Wait Until Tomorrow” (b/w “Ladies (At the Bottom of the Garden)”). Harley went solo under the Christopher Rainbow name, which distinguished him from Cockney Rebel singer Steve Harley.

Rainbow moved to Polydor for the March 1974 single “Solid State Brain” (b/w “Electra City”) followed in September with “Give Me What I Cry For” (b/w “Gotta Song”). Capital Radio presenter Kenny Everett repeatedly aired both singles in advance of Rainbow’s debut album.

Home of the Brave

Christopher Rainbow released his debut album, Home of the Brave, in June 1975 on Polydor.

Nine Rainbow originals fill the album, performed with guitarist Seymour Duncan, bassist Reggie McBride, keyboardist Don Grusin, synthesist Malcolm Cecil, and drummer Ollie Brown. The album features vocal backing by the Waters siblings: Julia Tillman, Maxine Willard, and Oren Waters.

“Tarzana Reseda” glides through interlaced guitar and keyboard lines. “On My Way” drifts through wistful harmonies and late-summer air. “Glasgow Boy” mourns over solitary piano while rain and running footsteps sharpen the street lament. “Mr Man” lopes on an offbeat sway. “Is the Summer Really Over?” sighs through soft phrases and seaside melancholy. “Home of the Brave” unfurls two serene, winding themes through a spacious arrangement.

A1. “Tarzana Reseda” (2:58)
A2. “Funky Parrot” (3:47)
A3. “On My Way” (4:36)
A4. “Glasgow Boy” (6:02)
A5. “Mr. Man” (3:04)

B1. “In Memory” (3:37)
B2. “Is the Summer Really Over?” (3:35)
B3. “A Woman on My Mind” (3:13)
B4. “Home of the Brave” (7:01)

Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff produced Home of the Brave with engineer Chris Brunt. Their work followed development of the TONTO synthesizer system and production on the 1972–73 Stevie Wonder albums Talking Book and Innervisions.

Home of the Brave appeared in a sleeve designed by AGI graphics director John Kosh, also credited on 1974/75 covers for Andy Fairweather Low, Hummingbird, Hudson-Ford, Rod Stewart, Stackridge, and Streetwalkers. The front presents a scuba-clad Rainbow zoomed and misted with a shoreline visible behind the inset photograph.

Polydor lifted “Mr. Man” as a June 1975 single (b/w “A Woman on My Mind”). “Gimme Just a Little Beat of Your Heart” followed in September (b/w “Tarzana Reseda”).

Looking Over My Shoulder

Chris Rainbow released his second album, Looking Over My Shoulder, in June 1978 on Polydor.

Looking contains eleven Rainbow originals, including the pre-released a-sides “Allnight” and “Living in the World Today.”

“Dear Brian” addresses Brian Wilson, who later acknowledged the song after Rainbow’s death. Bassist Mo Foster (ex-Affinity) and drummer Simon Phillips (ex-Chopyn) appear together on “Gimme Just a Little Beat of Your Heart” and “Dear Brian.” Guitarist Mart Jenner works across the sessions, while Easy Street associate Pete Zorn plays bass, saxophone, and flute on selected tracks. Three tracks features drummer Henry Spinetti, a concurrent sessionist for Gerry Rafferty and Peter French.

“Show Us the Sun” drifts through heavy sighs and crashing-wave effects. “Dear Brian” wanders across shifting chords, then blooms into an extended harmony coda. “All Night” teases through comic turns and graceful phrasing. “Solid State Brain” quickens beneath serious lyrics. “Blue Bird” glides over saxophone and bass figures beneath layered harmonies.

A1. “You and I” (4:09)
A2. “Gimme Just a Little Beat of Your Heart” (3:31)
A3. “Show Us the Sun” (3:13)
A4. “Dear Brian” (6:09)
A5. “Allnight” (3:01)

B1. “Solid State Brain” (2:35)
B2. “Dansette” (2:13)
B3. “Blue Bird” (4:27)
B4. “Give Me What I Cry For” (3:22)
B5. “Living in the World Today” (2:57)
B6. “In and Out and Round About” (4:41)

Rainbow produced and arranged Looking Over My Shoulder at CBS Studios in London. Sailor/UPP soundman Dick Palmer engineered the main sessions. Chris Brunt handled “Dansette” and “Living in the World Today” amid work on 1978 albums by Caldera, Hubert Laws, Lenny White, Moody Blues, and Ronnie Laws.

Foster and Phillips also overlapped on 1977/78 albums by Bonnie Tyler (The World Starts Tonight), Ray Russell (Ready or Not), and Yellow Dog (Beware of the Dog) amid separate credits by Mo (Eddie Hardin, Judie Tzuke, Kevin Ayers, Walker Brothers) and Simon (Gary Boyle, Gordon Giltrap, Phil Manzanera, Roger Glover).

Jam logo-maker Bill Smith designed the cover around an outdoor portrait by Martyn Goddard, whose photos also grace 1977/78 sleeves for Jigsaw, The Movies, The Who, Trevor Rabin, Racing Cars, and Barclay James Harvest. The front sleeve places Rainbow before a blurred coastal horizon under the album title and a red script logo. On the backside, Rainbow leans over the CBS sound board.

Polydor issued “Allnight” in June 1976 (b/w “Shan-Lee Shin-To”). “Living in the World Today” followed in June 1977 (b/w “Middleman”). In March 1978, the label reissued Rainbow’s 1974 a-side “Give Me What I Cry For,” backed this time with “You and I.”

White Trails

Chris Rainbow released his third album, White Trails, in September 1979 on EMI.

Rainbow wrote all eight songs and retained bassist Mo Foster with drummer Simon Phillips from the preceding album. Guitarists Ian Bairnson and Mart Jenner join reedist Pete Zorn. Synthesist Dave Lawson completes the principal cast, while saxophonist Dick Morrissey appears on “Be Like a Woman.” Backing singers Christy Thompson, Linda Taylor, and Marylyn Bairnson appear on “Be Like a Woman” and “Streetwise.”

“Love You Eternally” glides on luminous Fender Rhodes figures. “White Trails” opens into a samba-inflected passage beneath broad, layered harmonies. “In Love with Love” unspools delicate harmonies before bells enter late. “Streetwise” saunters amid split-channel chorused licks across a curvilinear bassline and sly verses that flare into a clarion call.

A1. “Love You Eternally” (3:31)
A2. “Don’t Take the Night Away” (4:46)
A3. “Song of the Earth” (3:48)
A4. “Be Like a Woman” (4:16)

B1. “Ring Ring” (3:06)
B2. “Streetwise” (3:38)
B3. “White Trails” (5:52)
B4. “In Love with Love” (6:51)

Rainbow produced and arranged White Trails at Scorpio Sound in London. Ray Hendriksen, a ontime Fire associate, engineered the sessions with assistant Steve Parker. Hendriksen worked in sequence on albums by Electric Sun and the 1978/79 Duncan Browne albums The Wild Places and Streets of Fire.

The Cream graphics firm designed the sleeve around a reproduction of Shepherd Boy, an 1860 oil-on-canvass by German painter Franz von Lenbach.

EMI lifted “Ring Ring” in June 1979 (b/w “Streetwise”). Later that year, “Love You Eternally” appeared as a Dutch single (b/w “Be Like a Woman”).

Lemon Records issued an expanded 2018 CD with the seven-inch version of “Body Music,” the twelve-inch version of “Girl in Collision,” and the extended “Body Music.” Parlophone also placed the eleven-track edition on digital services.

Renewed circulation of “Be Like a Woman” brought Rainbow his first UK chart entry on the 2026 rankings. The song entered the Official Singles Chart on April 9 and reached No. 82 two weeks later. Across nine weeks, the song returned to the chart in June and also reached No. 15 on the Independent Singles Breakers Chart.

“Body Music”

Chris Rainbow capped his solo run with the September 1981 standalone single “Body Music” (b/w “Girl in Collision”). British music and celebrity photographer Brian Aris later supplied the images for Body Music, an EMI visual program that paired his photography with three Rainbow songs and appeared in 1984 on LaserDisc and VHS.

Side Work and Later Activity

Rainbow joined the Alan Parsons Project on the 1979 album Eve, where he sang “Winding Me Up.” He returned for The Turn of a Friendly Card, Eye in the Sky, Ammonia Avenue, Vulture Culture, Stereotomy, and Gaudi. The association continued through the 1999 Alan Parsons album The Time Machine. He also sang on Another Sleeper, the 1979 Harvest jazz-rock collaboration by Hummingbird alumni Max Middleton and Robert Ahwai.

Rainbow next appeared behind Jon Anderson on the erstwhile Yes singer’s 1980–82 solo albums Song of Seven and Animation. Camel enlisted Rainbow for their 1982–84 albums The Single Factor and Stationary Traveler. He joined their 1984 tour, documented on the European live release Pressure Points.

Under his birth name Chris Harley, Rainbow produced the 1982 recording of “Loch Lomond” by Celt rockers Rundrig. Between 1985 and 1993, he produced the Rundrig albums Heartland, The Cutter and the Clan, Once in a Lifetime, The Big Wheel, and Amazing Things. He returned for their 1999 album In Search of Angels. Harley also produced records by Blair Douglas, Donnie Munro, Wolfstone, and the River Detectives.

Rainbow established Vital Spark Music Studio on the Isle of Skye. The facility hosted projects by Donnie Munro and Blair Douglas, while later archival releases gathered radio advertisements, demos, instrumental recordings, and unfinished solo material.

Chris Rainbow died from Parkinson’s disease at age 68 on February 22, 2015, at his Isle of Skye home.

Discography: