Solo recordings (1974)

"Teenybopper Death (He Loves You Bernadette)"
Michael wrote this song together with Nick Lowe of the Brinsleys (who would later become a producer, known for his work with Elvis Costello).
The song was written in late summer 1974, just after Silverhead had split up, and the lyrics were about the tragic death of Bernadette Whelan - a young girl who died from injuries she suffered at a crowded David Cassidy concert in London a few months earlier.
It was supposed to be Michael's first solo single, but when details about the song reached the press, it caused a huge controversy. The single release was quickly cancelled.

"Bernadette's death upset me a great deal. I expected somebody to be killed at Altamont, at a Stones gig or a Silverhead gig, but I don't expect them to be killed at a light entertainment concert. (...) I figured it was sociologically interesting and I am very media conscious. I am not an offensive person."
- MDB, 1974

"Leon"/"New Moon Tonight"
Michael's first solo single was released by Purple Records in October 1974. It featured the songs "Leon" and "New Moon Tonight". Both songs were written by Philip Goodhand-Tait. They were produced and arranged by Del Newman. "Leon" was later recorded by Roger Daltrey of The Who, who included the song on his solo album One of the Boys (1977).

"After Silverhead broke up and I was completely out of my head on drugs, they cleaned me up, and they put me in the studio to record a single on my own, and it was a song called Leon. And it came out on Purple Records, which was a subsidiary, I think, of EMI, and I can't remember it. I couldn't even hum it to you."
- MDB, 1999

7" single