Gleaming Spires began as a side project of Leslie Bohem and David Kendrick.

In 1980, they were enlisted as the bassist and drummer, respectively, for the art pop band Sparks, consisting of brothers Ron and Russell Mael.

While in Sparks, Bohem and Kendrick convened with producer Stephen Hague to record a series of demos.

The demo tape made its way to K-ROQ in Los Angeles,[1] and according to Kendrick, when Posh Boy founder Robbie Fields heard the tape, he decided to release the songs as they were; the Songs of the Spires album consists of these demos.

[1] All tracks are written by Les Bohem and David Kendrick, except where notedCredits adopted from the Songs of the Spires liner notes.