Steve Harley
Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice in south London on 27 Februa… Read Full Bio ↴Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice in south London on 27 February 1951, died on 17th March 2024 at the age of 73) was an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel (subsequently Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel), with whom he still tours.
Growing up in the New Cross area of London and attending Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, his musical career began in the late 1960s when he was busking (with John Crocker) and performing his own songs, some of which were later recorded by him and the band.
The original Cockney Rebel was formed when Harley hooked up with his former folk partner, John Crocker (fiddle / mandolin / guitar), in 1972. They auditioned drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys, and keyboardist Milton Reame-James. They were signed to EMI after playing just five gigs. Their first single "Sebastian", a soaring rock epic, was an immediate success in Europe, though failed to score in the UK singles chart. Their first album, The Human Menagerie, was released in 1973 to critical acclaim, and is still felt by many fans to be their best. The orchestra arrangements were penned by a guy named Andrew Powell who was suggested to the group by their record company. The interesting aspect about Steve's backing band was that they had no real lead guitarist, which equaled to a revolutionary move at that time. Harley's unashamed theatricality, the weird costumes for his stage appearances and the dithyrambic live performance soon made Cockney Rebel one of the most critically acclaimed acts on the circuit, soon gaining a strong cult following.
Harley managed to irritate a significant segment of the music press with his self-aggrandisement, even as the music itself was getting rave reviews and gaining a wide audience. Shortly thereafter Harley got in touch with the talented producer Alan Parsons, who had made his first experiences as an assistant engineer during the The Beatles' Abbey Road sessions and had also engineered for a variety of artists since. Alan co-produced Cockney Rebel's next single "Judy Teen" which reached #5 in the UK charts. It was soon agreed that Alan Parsons also be the co-producer for The Psychomodo, which was released in 1974. When it came to orchestration Alan said 'I've got a guy' but Steve refused and replied 'No, use the same guy as last time'. Therefore, as fate would have it, The Psychomodo was the first album Powell and Parsons would work on together, but certainly not the last (as Powell was later steadily involved with The Alan Parsons Project). Soon after the release of the album Steve had his backing band dispersed an fully regrouped, with only drummer Stuart Elliot remaining. The next hit quickly followed, "Mr. Soft", also taken from the album, and after that "Big Big Deal" which was already recorded using the new lineup of Cockney Rebel. In 1975, the album The Best Years of Our Lives hit the market, and it was the first time that the album's sleeve officially stated 'Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel'. On keyboards was South-African Duncan Mackay, a highly talented keyboard wizard who had a strong influence on the sound of the group. "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" was the big chart buster taken off this record.
Harley, as doggedly unpredictable as ever, started touring the US supporting The Kinks. Overseas "Make Me Smile" was doing fine, and so a Best of album especially put together for the American market was compiled: A Closer Look, a selection from the period when label credits read Cockney Rebel rather than Steve Harley's Cockney Rebel. A next new single "Black or White" failed to enter the charts, same as "White White Dove" in January 1976. That didn't discourage Steve and he released the next album: Timeless Flight which was equally a disappointment commercially, even though it contains very strong moments of Steve and the band. The oddly percussive synth-playing of Duncan Mackay pervaded the album, and on a musical level made it almost as much Duncan's as it was Harley's. Already later that year a new long-player was brought out, Love's a Prima Donna. For that album Harley succeeded gradually to build a bridge between pop and classical music. The Beatles' classic "Here Comes the Sun" was the preview single of the album and charted in the UK's Top Ten in 1976's extraordinarily hot July. In between Steve had a first appearance for The Alan Parsons Project. For their 1977 album I Robot Harley contributed vocals for one of his most charismatic moments, the performance of "The Voice". Unfortunately, this first contribution was also his last. Parsons also often used the instrumental skills of Stuart Elliot and Duncan Mackay for his own project, and they became steady participants in the recording sessions Parsons held at Abbey Road Studios. Steve realized that he should regain the attention of his fans and undertook a vast tour of England in 1976, recording live on the concerts. This eventually spawned the double live album Face to Face (A Live Recording). By the time it was released Cockney Rebel had already ceased to exists and Steve went on a sojourn in California/USA where he had planned to write and records songs. Duncan Mackay recorded his second solo album Score and joined the reformed and expanded 10cc. In the meantime Harley recorded his planned album using the best-booked session musicians of the US: Rick Schlosser (drums), Ricky Fataar (drums, ex-The Beach Boys), Bob Glaub (bass), Bill Payne (piano, of Little Feat), Bill Champlin (backing vocals, then a member of Chicago), Michael McDonald (backing vocals, at the time a member of The Doobie Brothers) etc. By the end of the recording session Harley had already returned to England, where he finalized the new album at Abbey Road Studios. He later told reporters that the songs contained on the album were old ones, because he didn't succeed in writing songs in California. It should also be mentioned that Harley's long-time friend Marc Bolan played guitar on the track "Amerika the Brave" but tragically died in a motor car accident in south London shortly thereafter. He never heard the final product. Just one week prior to the album's release a preview single "Roll the Dice / Waiting" came out but unfortunately didn't make it up into the charts. A second single, a remix of "Someone's Coming", came out but followed the fate of the first.
Bummed out by the lack of success of Hobo With a Grin Harley announced a planned comeback with a new band and a new concept. The album was finished in early October, and on the 20th he performed a sold-out gig at the London Hammersmith. One track of the new finished album was released as a single and made it into the charts: "Star for a Week" (later also known as "Dino") describes the story of an ordinary boy, searching for his own identity. Apparently the finished album was shelved thereafter for reasons unknown. In February 1979 Harley recorded The Candidate again mostly at Abbey Road Studios, using a variety of England's most outstanding and talented musicians. Unfortunately the album largely fell through the cracks commercially even though the single taken off of it, "Freedom's Prisoner", did well in Germany. By the end of 1980 EMI brought out The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.
Harley recollects the 80s as being his lost years, but still a lot of things happened in his life. He terminated a six-year relationship and got married to Dorothy Cromby in February 1981, accepted a proposition to play the 'Christopher Marlowe' in Marlowes "Conspiracy" and formed a new band. In early 1982 the single "I Can't Even Touch You" hit the market but remained a secret to the broad audience. EMI re-issued the double-CD The Human Menagerie/The Psychomodo. In 1986 he participated in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production The Phantom of the Opera, teaming up alongside Sarah Brightman. The pertinent, same-titled single was released in January 1986. In June 1986 RAK release a remixed version of "Irresistible / Lucky Man". The B-side of the UK release, "Lucky Man", had Midge Ure on guitar. An album which was also finished at the time under the working title El Gran Senor never saw release. One of the tracks of that period, "Sophistication", later re-surfaced on the album Anytime! (A Live Set). 1992 finally saw the release of previously unknown material, Yes You Can. The album consists of old songs never released before and some new ones, using a variety of different musicians. Stuart Elliot played drums on several tracks, participations of Jim Cregan and Duncan Mackay are contained. With this album in his luggage, Steve went on a new tour in 1992/93 throughout Europe. Motivated by the warm welcome of his fans, he wrote new songs which were eventually published on the 1996 album Poetic Justice, which remained a collector's item as so many times before. Ever since he's continuing to tour Europe, mainly presenting older songs with some new ones in between, mostly solely playing them with an acoustic guitar. This eventually spawned new releases which hit the market as Stripped to the Bare Bones - Live and Acoustic From the Jazz Café, London (1999), Acoustic and Pure - Live (2002, again with Jim Cregan) or Anytime! (A Live Set). Steve continues to compose new songs, published The Quality of Mercy in 2005, and also appeared as a featured artist on the Dossche release Ich bin Gott. For his 2006 Anthology tour, Stuart Elliot was again part of his backing band. In summer 2008 Harley toured the UK again, for the first time ever with a supporting artist, the young singer-songwriter Simon Le Fort.
In May 2010, Harley released his new studio album Stranger Comes to Town.
In April 2012, Harley teamed up with Australian guitarist Joe Matera and embarked on a promotional tour of Australia.
Harley's sixth solo album, Uncovered, including the single "I've Just Seen a Face", was released in February 2020.
Growing up in the New Cross area of London and attending Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, his musical career began in the late 1960s when he was busking (with John Crocker) and performing his own songs, some of which were later recorded by him and the band.
The original Cockney Rebel was formed when Harley hooked up with his former folk partner, John Crocker (fiddle / mandolin / guitar), in 1972. They auditioned drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys, and keyboardist Milton Reame-James. They were signed to EMI after playing just five gigs. Their first single "Sebastian", a soaring rock epic, was an immediate success in Europe, though failed to score in the UK singles chart. Their first album, The Human Menagerie, was released in 1973 to critical acclaim, and is still felt by many fans to be their best. The orchestra arrangements were penned by a guy named Andrew Powell who was suggested to the group by their record company. The interesting aspect about Steve's backing band was that they had no real lead guitarist, which equaled to a revolutionary move at that time. Harley's unashamed theatricality, the weird costumes for his stage appearances and the dithyrambic live performance soon made Cockney Rebel one of the most critically acclaimed acts on the circuit, soon gaining a strong cult following.
Harley managed to irritate a significant segment of the music press with his self-aggrandisement, even as the music itself was getting rave reviews and gaining a wide audience. Shortly thereafter Harley got in touch with the talented producer Alan Parsons, who had made his first experiences as an assistant engineer during the The Beatles' Abbey Road sessions and had also engineered for a variety of artists since. Alan co-produced Cockney Rebel's next single "Judy Teen" which reached #5 in the UK charts. It was soon agreed that Alan Parsons also be the co-producer for The Psychomodo, which was released in 1974. When it came to orchestration Alan said 'I've got a guy' but Steve refused and replied 'No, use the same guy as last time'. Therefore, as fate would have it, The Psychomodo was the first album Powell and Parsons would work on together, but certainly not the last (as Powell was later steadily involved with The Alan Parsons Project). Soon after the release of the album Steve had his backing band dispersed an fully regrouped, with only drummer Stuart Elliot remaining. The next hit quickly followed, "Mr. Soft", also taken from the album, and after that "Big Big Deal" which was already recorded using the new lineup of Cockney Rebel. In 1975, the album The Best Years of Our Lives hit the market, and it was the first time that the album's sleeve officially stated 'Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel'. On keyboards was South-African Duncan Mackay, a highly talented keyboard wizard who had a strong influence on the sound of the group. "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" was the big chart buster taken off this record.
Harley, as doggedly unpredictable as ever, started touring the US supporting The Kinks. Overseas "Make Me Smile" was doing fine, and so a Best of album especially put together for the American market was compiled: A Closer Look, a selection from the period when label credits read Cockney Rebel rather than Steve Harley's Cockney Rebel. A next new single "Black or White" failed to enter the charts, same as "White White Dove" in January 1976. That didn't discourage Steve and he released the next album: Timeless Flight which was equally a disappointment commercially, even though it contains very strong moments of Steve and the band. The oddly percussive synth-playing of Duncan Mackay pervaded the album, and on a musical level made it almost as much Duncan's as it was Harley's. Already later that year a new long-player was brought out, Love's a Prima Donna. For that album Harley succeeded gradually to build a bridge between pop and classical music. The Beatles' classic "Here Comes the Sun" was the preview single of the album and charted in the UK's Top Ten in 1976's extraordinarily hot July. In between Steve had a first appearance for The Alan Parsons Project. For their 1977 album I Robot Harley contributed vocals for one of his most charismatic moments, the performance of "The Voice". Unfortunately, this first contribution was also his last. Parsons also often used the instrumental skills of Stuart Elliot and Duncan Mackay for his own project, and they became steady participants in the recording sessions Parsons held at Abbey Road Studios. Steve realized that he should regain the attention of his fans and undertook a vast tour of England in 1976, recording live on the concerts. This eventually spawned the double live album Face to Face (A Live Recording). By the time it was released Cockney Rebel had already ceased to exists and Steve went on a sojourn in California/USA where he had planned to write and records songs. Duncan Mackay recorded his second solo album Score and joined the reformed and expanded 10cc. In the meantime Harley recorded his planned album using the best-booked session musicians of the US: Rick Schlosser (drums), Ricky Fataar (drums, ex-The Beach Boys), Bob Glaub (bass), Bill Payne (piano, of Little Feat), Bill Champlin (backing vocals, then a member of Chicago), Michael McDonald (backing vocals, at the time a member of The Doobie Brothers) etc. By the end of the recording session Harley had already returned to England, where he finalized the new album at Abbey Road Studios. He later told reporters that the songs contained on the album were old ones, because he didn't succeed in writing songs in California. It should also be mentioned that Harley's long-time friend Marc Bolan played guitar on the track "Amerika the Brave" but tragically died in a motor car accident in south London shortly thereafter. He never heard the final product. Just one week prior to the album's release a preview single "Roll the Dice / Waiting" came out but unfortunately didn't make it up into the charts. A second single, a remix of "Someone's Coming", came out but followed the fate of the first.
Bummed out by the lack of success of Hobo With a Grin Harley announced a planned comeback with a new band and a new concept. The album was finished in early October, and on the 20th he performed a sold-out gig at the London Hammersmith. One track of the new finished album was released as a single and made it into the charts: "Star for a Week" (later also known as "Dino") describes the story of an ordinary boy, searching for his own identity. Apparently the finished album was shelved thereafter for reasons unknown. In February 1979 Harley recorded The Candidate again mostly at Abbey Road Studios, using a variety of England's most outstanding and talented musicians. Unfortunately the album largely fell through the cracks commercially even though the single taken off of it, "Freedom's Prisoner", did well in Germany. By the end of 1980 EMI brought out The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.
Harley recollects the 80s as being his lost years, but still a lot of things happened in his life. He terminated a six-year relationship and got married to Dorothy Cromby in February 1981, accepted a proposition to play the 'Christopher Marlowe' in Marlowes "Conspiracy" and formed a new band. In early 1982 the single "I Can't Even Touch You" hit the market but remained a secret to the broad audience. EMI re-issued the double-CD The Human Menagerie/The Psychomodo. In 1986 he participated in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production The Phantom of the Opera, teaming up alongside Sarah Brightman. The pertinent, same-titled single was released in January 1986. In June 1986 RAK release a remixed version of "Irresistible / Lucky Man". The B-side of the UK release, "Lucky Man", had Midge Ure on guitar. An album which was also finished at the time under the working title El Gran Senor never saw release. One of the tracks of that period, "Sophistication", later re-surfaced on the album Anytime! (A Live Set). 1992 finally saw the release of previously unknown material, Yes You Can. The album consists of old songs never released before and some new ones, using a variety of different musicians. Stuart Elliot played drums on several tracks, participations of Jim Cregan and Duncan Mackay are contained. With this album in his luggage, Steve went on a new tour in 1992/93 throughout Europe. Motivated by the warm welcome of his fans, he wrote new songs which were eventually published on the 1996 album Poetic Justice, which remained a collector's item as so many times before. Ever since he's continuing to tour Europe, mainly presenting older songs with some new ones in between, mostly solely playing them with an acoustic guitar. This eventually spawned new releases which hit the market as Stripped to the Bare Bones - Live and Acoustic From the Jazz Café, London (1999), Acoustic and Pure - Live (2002, again with Jim Cregan) or Anytime! (A Live Set). Steve continues to compose new songs, published The Quality of Mercy in 2005, and also appeared as a featured artist on the Dossche release Ich bin Gott. For his 2006 Anthology tour, Stuart Elliot was again part of his backing band. In summer 2008 Harley toured the UK again, for the first time ever with a supporting artist, the young singer-songwriter Simon Le Fort.
In May 2010, Harley released his new studio album Stranger Comes to Town.
In April 2012, Harley teamed up with Australian guitarist Joe Matera and embarked on a promotional tour of Australia.
Harley's sixth solo album, Uncovered, including the single "I've Just Seen a Face", was released in February 2020.
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Steve Harley Lyrics
2 Seeking a love to share my pillow Share my dreams and…
2000 Years From Now He wakes, the celebrating is done Still he silently screams…
A Friend For Life Cregan-Harley Through a smoke-filled glass on a desperate…
All In A Life With the sky caving in and the world falling out Hope…
All In A Life's Work Harley The hungry man knows who's to blame, the city boys…
All Mean Are Hungry Was in the early evening and the sun was punching…
Amerika The Brave Harley Sunny wanted to shine for you Amerika the Brave …
Audience With the Man Harley You lead the lost sheep up to the mountain You te…
Back To The Farm Only twilight, calm and barkless; no more daylight, only dar…
Bed in the Corner I've just been speaking to the one who holds the…
Before They Crash The Universe They came to my town They came with attitudes on fire They…
Best Years Of Our Lives European Maids, hard to ignore You, me and the boys, barred…
Black or White Behind the wall the ears of love are listening Behind the…
Blinded With Tears She was looking for the moon and the stars combined But…
Cavaliers Make mine old time, or I'il spit in your eye It's…
Chameleon And Louise. cowering into nowhere Speaking in terms of a for…
Compared with You I been trying to write this line But the years've gone…
CRAZY LOVE I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles And…
Crazy Raver Lazy stage-star; wanna be a raver You've gotta make it…
Dancing on the telephone When you call me,I dance on the telephone When I'm waiting,…
Death Trip So now we're on a death trip Listen to the blood…
Faith & Virtue We live on cartoons and Fridays We travel wishing on the…
Fire in the Night Standing in line In the shadow of the twin-spired cathedral …
Freedom I want to be the jiver you'd want to meet I…
From here to Eternity Harley I got this wild woman lover, she's as strange as…
Give Me More You beat my pillow with your whispers and your screams Like…
Here Comes the Sun Here comes the sun, here comes the sun And I say…
Hideaway Let them come a-running And take all your money and hide…
Hot Youth If ever the day comes that London is Belfast Who’d stone…
How Good It Feels Harley At the end of the day with my senses away When…
I Believe Love I should say by the way that you're acting today I…
I Can Show me a hole where the rain gets in And I'll…
I Wish It Would Sunshine blue skies please go away The girl has found anothe…
I've Just Seen A Face I've just seen a face I can't forget The time or…
Irresistable I wish you could be be here, I'm sending you…
Irrésistible I wish you could be here I'm sitting in my vest It's…
It Wasn't Me It wasn't me who wrote the epitaph I only burned the…
Judy Teen Judy Teen, the queen of the scene, she's rag doll…
Living In A Rhapsody Cregan-Harley-Mackay Of blood rhea, from what's? to Belai…
Loretta's Tale Watch Loretta taste the wine Kick the actor from behind Spra…
Love on the Rocks Harley Someone's played a rotten trick getting back at me…
Love's A Prima Donna I should say by the way that you're acting today I…
Loveless Harley In a daggers-drown debate, you get caught in the c…
Mad Mad Moonlight It was just like a dream, yeah, a surreal scene,…
Make Me Smile You've done it all, you've broken every code And pulled the…
Mirror Freak Oh exhibition yourself, we'll hold a show on the shelf 'Caus…
Mr Raffles Man, it was mean to be seen in the robes…
Mr Soft Bom bom bom bom - bom bom bom bom Mr. Soft…
Mr. Raffles Man, it was mean to be seen in the robes…
Mr. Soft Bom bom bom bom - bom bom bom bom Mr. Soft…
Muriel The Actor She, got my number and she - chasing me so…
My Only Vice Simply Lorraine sings for a while In a three-octave harmoni…
New Fashioned Way Roll away the stone, let me breathe again She waves her…
No Bleeding Hearts Don’t tell me I belong I don’t care where the keys…
Nothing Is Sacred As the sun was coming up on the danube, the…
One More Time Harley When the alcohol begins to dim the mind And the f…
Only You I have been living a life of a sad lost…
Panorama Murder follows me like a leech from sunset, hard on…
Promises True romance in the dead otf the night The breeze in…
Psychomodo I been losing my head, I been losing my way I…
Rain In Venice Rain on my window, blurring my vision of another day Can't…
Riding The Waves Harley She shook her head and I saw jewels I saw golden…
Ritz Hark to rouall's white insanity Clowns in drag concealing va…
Roll The Dice Roll me the lucky one, I feel the sensation I got all…
Safe Harley Wherever you go Whatever you do However you feel…
Sebastian Radiate simply, the candle is burning, so low for me…
Singular Band Thinking lots of a pretty face When we were yong, such…
Sling It The ship was sailing through a tempest of fear There was…
Sling It! The ship was sailing through a tempest of fear There was…
Someone Seeing you re is such a good thing Now can say…
Spaced Out One, two, three, four Can’t define the beauty or the rhym…
Star for a Week Anxious mother pleads, come home, dino I can't believe that'…
Strange Communications Harley I send you messages when I think of you And you…
Sweet Dreams Pop paper people printing "rebel insane" They in my head and…
Take The Men & The Horses Away Long burning sun Hard battle done They’re the blind who se…
That With the sky caving in and the world falling out Hope…
The alibi Flicking through her horoscope She's entranced by the messag…
The Best Years Of Our Lives European Maids, hard to ignore You, me and the boys, barred…
The Last Feast Harley What'd I say ? What did I do ? To cause a…
The Last Time I Saw You Harley The last time I saw you My eyes were red from…
The Lighthouse Darkness is a message on the sea Light is like a…
The Phantom Of The Opera In sleep he sang to me In dreams he came That voice…
This Old Man One, two, one, four You gotta be a dreamer to unleash…
True Love Will Find You In The End True love will find you in the end You'll find out…
Tumbling Down Gee, but it's hard when one lowers one's guard to…
Two Damn'd Lies Harley Two damn'd lies Married in compromise You know h…
Understand Shall I begin from here to tell everything ? Relinquish hono…
Victim Of Love Heaven is calling to me I gotta run now the feeling…
What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted As I walk this land with broken dreams I have visions…
What Ruthy Said You're wearing grey today, you're from Berlin I'd say You'r…
white white dove Rose and Cross - so is the battle lost? Is there…
Woodchopper Harley You give me valentine, think you're a writer You …