Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

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Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel 1974
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel 1974
General information
Genre (s) Art rock , glam rock , progressive rock
founding 1972
Website www.steveharley.com
Founding members
Steve Harley
John Crocker (until 1974)
Paul Jeffreys (until 1974, † 1988)
Milton Reame-James (until 1974)
Stuart Elliott (until 1977)

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were a British glam rock band. They had their greatest successes in the 1970s with the number one hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) . The singer and songwriter Steve Harley was the head of the band, which had various lineups, and also worked as a solo artist.

history

The band was only called Cockney Rebel in its first line-up from 1973 , other members of the first hour were Steve Harley Jean-Paul Crocker, Paul Avron Jeffries, Milton Reame-James and Stuart Elliott. After the successful debut album The Human Menagerie (1973) and the successor The Psychomodo (1974) with the two top 10 singles Judy Teen and Mr. Soft , Harley broke up the band.

Because of his egocentricity , Harley was described in the music press as a difficult character, also because he didn't want to be pigeonholed musically. After a solo single, he formed a new band the following year, which he named Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel . Only Stuart Elliott remained loyal to him from the old cast. Then there were Duncan MacKay, Jim Cregan and George Ford. The song Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) is about this phase of separation.

The band was particularly noticeable because of the flashy outfit on the record covers. In addition, the obligatory electric guitar was initially replaced by a violin (see also Symphonic Rock ). Sebastian is one of her best-known titles , although this song did not reach the top chart position, but landed at the top of Musikpolls, especially in Germany. The biggest commercial hit was Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) , a number one hit on the UK charts in 1975 . The band was also able to celebrate singles successes with Judy Teen and Mr. Soft .

The band was supported by an orchestra for the titles Sebastian and Death Trip . These two pieces are considered examples of the then emerging symphonic rock . In contrast to many test tube bands of the time, Cockney Rebel could also prove their skills on stage. Recordings of the 1976/77 tour are z. B. can be heard on the double LP Face to Face Live .

Some of Steve Harley's songs can be heard in film productions, such as: B. Sebastian and Tumbling Down in Velvet Goldmine or Make Me Smile in The Full Monty (all or nothing) .

In 1977, Harley Cockney Rebel dissolved again and pursued a relatively to moderately successful solo career. Through his concerts with excellent fellow musicians, he has built a solid fan base in recent years, especially in Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2006 there was another tour on German soil.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK
1974 The Psychomodo UK8th
gold
gold

(20 weeks)UK
as Cockney Rebel
1975 The Best Years of Our Lives UK4th
gold
gold

(19 weeks)UK
1976 Timeless Flight UK18th
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
Love's a Prima Donna UK28
silver
silver

(3 weeks)UK
1977 Face to Face - A Live Recording UK40 (4 weeks)
UK
1998 More Than Somewhat - The Very Best Of ... UK82 (1 week)
UK
Steve Harley

More albums

  • The Human Menagerie (as Cockney Rebel, 1973)
  • The Quality of Mercy (2005)
  • The Cream Of (Best-of-Album, 2013, UK:silversilver)

Solo albums

  • Hobo with a Grin (1978)
  • The Candidate (1979)
  • Yes You Can (1992)
  • Poetic Justice (1996)
  • Stripped to the Bare Bones (Live; Unplugged, 1998)
  • Anytime! (The Steve Harley Band, 2004)
  • Stranger Comes to Town (2010)

Singles

all songs written by Steve Harley unless otherwise noted

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE UK UK US US
1974 Sebastian
The Human Menagerie 		DE30 (1 week)
DE 		- -
as Cockney Rebel
Judy Teen
 - UK5 (11 weeks)
UK 		-
as Cockney Rebel
Mr. Soft
The Psychomodo 		- UK8 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
as Cockney Rebel
1975 Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
The Best Years of Our Lives 		DE20 (8 weeks)
DE 		UK1
Silver + silver (digital)
Silver + silver (digital)
Silver + silver (digital)

(19 weeks)UK 		US96 (3 weeks)
US
Co-produced by Alan Parsons
in UK including re-entries in 1992, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2015
Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)
The Best Years of Our Lives 		- UK13 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
1976 Here Comes the Sun
Love’s a Prima Donna 		- UK10 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
Original: The Beatles (1969); Author: George Harrison
Love Is a Prima Donna
Love’s a Prima Donna 		- UK41 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
1979 Freedom's Prisoner
The Candidate 		- UK58 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
as Steve Harley
Authors: Jimmy Horowitz, Steve Harley
1983 Ballerina (Prima Donna)
 - UK51 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
1985 Irresistible
 - UK81 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
1986 The Phantom of the Opera
 - UK7 (10 weeks)
UK 		-

More singles

  • Hideaway (as Cockney Rebel, 1974)
  • Psychomodo (as Cockney Rebel, 1974)
  • Tumbling Down (as Cockney Rebel, 1974)
  • Big Big Deal (as Steve Harley, 1974)
  • Black or White (1975)
  • White, White Dove (1976)
  • (Love) Compared with You (1976)
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (live, 1977)
  • Roll the Dice (as Steve Harley, 1978)
  • Someone's Coming (as Steve Harley, 1979)
  • I Can't Even Touch You (1982)
  • Heartbeat Like Thunder (as Steve Harley, 1986)
  • Whatever You Believe ( Anderson , Harley & Batt , benefit single, 1988)
  • When I'm with You (as Steve Harley, 1989)
  • Star for a Week (Dino) (as Steve Harley, 1993)
  • A Friend for Life (as Steve Harley, 2001)
  • The Last Goodbye (2006)
  • Faith & Virtue (as Steve Harley, 2010)
  • For sale. Baby shoes. Never Worn (as Steve Harley, 2010)
  • Ordinary People (as Steve Harley, 2015)

swell

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: Germany - UK1 / UK2 - USA
  2. ↑ a b BPI gold / platinum database (Great Britain)
  3. ↑ Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7 .

Web links

Commons : Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files