'Voiceless one' heard by millions as lost 90s track gets second life

A forgotten single recorded on the Isle of Man in the 1990s has captured a new audience after featuring alongside hits from Madonna, Lenny Kravitz and Pulp in on-demand series Love Story.

Carl Holden, from band Harvey, said 'Silver' hadn't seen "the light of day" since being recorded in 1996. Now, 30 years on it has had more than 87,000 streams, thanks to its place in the series, which can be streamed on Disney+.

Its second lease of life represents another rebirth, with its renewed popularity coming 13 years after Stuart Watret, who sings on the track, was diagnosed with primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), a rare condition which has severely impacted his speech.

Watret said: "The irony is not lost, the voiceless one is now being heard by millions".

The track, an ode to young love and written whilst he was at university, features on new series Love Story, in amongst other singles by household names such as The Stone Roses, Radiohead and Ella Fitzgerald.

After meeting at university, where Holden replied to Watret's advert in music magazine Melody Maker - the pair soon recorded Silver on the island.

Watret, now 57, grew up on the Isle of Man and knew of a recording studio in Douglas, run by Dave Armstrong, who plays bass on the track.

Holden, originally from Oldham, said: "We weren't earning much money and just left university so we were pretty skint.

"Dave recorded our songs and we painted the back of his house for him, as payment."

Watret, who still lives on the island, wrote the song whilst working a cleaning job in Preston and said its lyrics were inspired by young love.

"Once I worked out how to get an outside line in the office, I'd often call my girlfriend who was from the island but studying in York; and suggest I jump on the train.

"The lyrics were about that train trip from Preston to York with all the hope and joy that young love can bring," he said.

Love Story, the new series produced by FX and available to watch in the UK and Isle of Man through streaming platform Disney+, charts the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette, dubbed the 1990s 'Golden Couple'.

The nine-part show details their lives at the top of high society and struggles with fame. Their story ended in the middle of the night in 1999, off the coast of Massachusetts, when a plane flown by JFK Jr crashed - killing all six on board, including Bessette.

Love Story has since become the platform's most watched limited series ever.

In 2022, Watret pitched Silver to a publisher who specialised in placing music on TV and film, but it wasn't until late last year that they were told "things were moving".

Come February, the track, was included in both the show's playlist and accompanying playlists on several streaming services, alongside tracks by Madonna and The Beastie Boys.

After watching it, Watret said he was "transported back to the 1990s" because of the music.

"Big tunes, big names but it hasn't escaped us that we are the unknowns in the line up," he said.

Whilst the musical company the duo now inhibit - musicians which Holden was reared on - makes him "pinch" himself.

After recording Silver in the mid-1990s, the band stayed intact - recording more music and playing gigs in London until life "took over".

"We pressed whatever flesh we could," Watret admitted, but it wasn't until the age of streaming came about that the pair found a window.

They promptly dusted off the MP3 file and posted Silver online across streaming platforms in 2017, which welcomed a new audience to a once-dormant single.

But five years prior, Watret's diagnosis of PLS would change their ability to perform.

"A month after my 40th birthday I was out jogging. I stopped to catch my breath and noticed one of my feet felt funny.

"Over the years my voice and mobility were affected. Carl often reminds me the world lost a mediocre guitarist," Watret joked.

Despite the challenges, new AI technology which learns on Watret's old vocals, has allowed the pair to keep making music, with two new albums pencilled for the future.

"I could sing the song and then make it sound like Stu, I've become a voice donor almost so for him to have this voice again is fantastic," Holden said.

Over 30 years since travelling to the island to record Silver, the pair still hold fond memories of the Isle of Man.

"For the size of the island, the amount of bands you can see any week is staggering.

"The Isle of Man feels like our musical home," Holden said.

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