COCKNEY REBEL

Steve Harley was born on the 27th of February 1951 as Steven Nice. At the age of two Steve caught the dreaded and feared disease Polio, and spent four of his first fourteen years in hospital beds, where a good deal of his education took place.Music was always a strong force in the family. His mother was a jazz singer before she married, and it was obviously her talent that had been inherited by Steve.School wasn't really of interest and he found a job working for a newspaper, he had always wanted to be a journalist. After all this experience he decided it was not how he really wanted to earn his living. Steve had some piano and guitar lessons and at the age of 19 - 20 he started buskin around and formed a band. When Steve had written enough songs, the band practised a lot and Cockney Rebel was born.

1973

Cockney Rebel

The band signed for EMI and recorded their first album 'Cockney Rebel' later mentioned as 'The Human Menagerie' at the London Air Studios. After the summer-recordings of the album, the first single 'Sebastian' came out on the 31st of August. Unfortunately it only charted Britain, though it became a classic and massive hit elsewhere.Not long after that he came into contact with Alan Parsons who had been working as producer for The Beatles. They recorded 'Judy Teen', which has been released in March 1974.A new album 'The Psychomodo' was on the list, produced by Alan Parsons and Steve. The title is a contraction of the Hitchcock thriller 'Psyche' and the 'Quasimodo' character from the 'Notre Dame'. The album includes the hit 'Mr. Soft'. Over the years Steve played more than 15 different versions of this song. The album contains also 'Tumbling Down'. 'Tumbling Down' had been recorded with a full orchestra and for some countries the single 'Psychomodo'.On the 18th of July the band received a 'Gold Award' for the outstanding new act of 1974. Not long after that, on the 23rd of July, the band split up.

1974

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

After the split Steve had to form a new band for the Reading Rock Festival. In the meantime he released a solo single 'Big Big Deal' which he recorded with Stuart Elliot, but unfortunately it went nowhere.On the 23rd of November Steve wrote a piece about 'Steve Harley' in the Melody Maker.

The Best Years Of Our Lives
Very soon the band went into the Abbey Road Studios with Alan Parsons as producer. They choose the shortest track 'Make Me Smile' for release. Within two weeks Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel had a number one hit in England and a smash hit elsewhere. It became a million-seller. The album 'The Way We Used To Be' as it originally was called had been changed to 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' and was released March in 1975.To keep the momentum going 'Mr. Raffles' was cut and re-mixed into a few minutes version and in the summer of '75 and Steve went back into the studio to record some new songs he had written during his last tour. At the same time he had been asked to assist in the recording and production of Patricia Paay's first album 'Beam Of Light'. Steve re-arranged the song 'Sebastian' and wrote 'Understand' for her.

1975 Timeless Flight

It was poetry into music and its title was derived from the song 'All Men Are Hungry'.On the 7th of November there was the release of a single 'Black Or White' with a Hammersmith Odeon live 'Mad Mad Moonlight' on the other side. About the same timeSteve Harley & Cockney Rebel went to the States as a supporting act of the Kinks. As a lot of people had never heard of him and the song 'Make Me Smile' was doing fine, he released a compilation for the American market: 'A Closer Look'.In between the band went to States for a tour and as the single 'Black Or White' didn't chart he released in January 1976 the song 'White White Dove'.Unfortunately there was no escape from a flop and Steve's effort to reinstate the album's credibility failed.Steve went on tour with this concept and started to work at some bits and pieces. Although disappointed with sales of 'Timeless Flight', his interest in emotions developed and he wrote and produced one of his finest albums:

Love’s A Prima Donna

On this album Steve succeeded gradually to build a bridge between pop and classical music, whilst some songs contain certain elements of Doo-Wop, Sixties, Rock & Roll and some Jazz. Before its release the single-cover 'Here Comes The Sun' (Harrison) was expected to open the door to the charts and reached the position of number 10. As second single 'Love's A Prima Donna' has been released. As Steve hadn't had hits abroad now for a long time he decided to direct his energies and efforts toward the U.K. From this tour he recorded the concerts, sorted the best tracks and released a double live album.

Face To Face

Just before the release of the album, he announced that he had split Cockney Rebel again. The album gave a good view of the band live and Steve had achieved so far.To promote the album the song 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' with its B side 'Tumbling Down' was released in July as a single and a twelve inch.

Steve Harley

While he was recording and mixing for the 'Love's A Prima Donna' album, partly in Los Angeles, he felt attracted to the city and later bought a house in Beverly Hills. He stayed there for nearly a year to gain new experience and inspirations. He did record and write a few songs and in the summer of '78 he finished an album on his return to England.