In 1986, Michael Raphael (aka) Nikki Love left the band “Strange Toys”, in which he formed with his brother Steven (aka) Stevie Travis, leaving behind a majority of the songs he had written.

Michael was searching for the next level. His brother Steven wanted to pursue and master the piano and suggested that Michael meet his friend and singer Tom Chappell. Tom and Michael recruited Doug Hovan on drums; Mike Anderson on bass and the band “You Talk We Talk” was officially formed. The band name came from a “Pressure” song of the same name.

The band instantly started taking San Francisco by storm opening for acts like “Poison” who was just releasing their debut album “Look What The Cat Dragged In” They also opened for acts such as “Vain” and interestingly enough Michael Raphael was approached by Davy Vain about joining “Vain” but Michael (aka) Nikki Love declined. Michael’s plan was to take his new band and relocate to Los Angeles in the footsteps of his childhood friend “Faster Pussycat” guitarist Greg Steele.

In 1987, Michael Raphael moved to Los Angeles but the guys in the band decided to stay behind. Michael than met Danny Simon (aka) Simon Daniels and formed “Jailhouse” which started by using some “You Talk We Talk “songs titled “Momma And Daddy” and ”The Same The Same” which are included on this CD. Michael also dropped the glam name “Nikki Love”.

Jailhouse went on scoring mild hits on MTV and VH1 such as “Please Come Back” and “Modern Girl”.

After reinventing himself for a third time in the late 1990’s, he was asked to join a band from his former “Jailhouse” manager which was called “Neve”. Shortly after Randy Jackson signed ”Neve” to Columbia Records. Neve scored a hit on the Billboard charts called “It’s Over Now” which led to touring with acts like “KISS” (all original members) as well as the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan with acts like “Rage Against The Machine” and “The Black Crowes.”

Michael Raphael then went on to produce, write and earn platinum and gold discs with bands like “Busted” in the UK and Disney projects. Today, Michael is a full-time composer for film and television. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.