I remember reading towards the end of last year that Steve Harley was receiving treatment for a nasty form of cancer. But I was still saddened to hear that he passed away this weekend. His musical career started with playing folk clubs and peaked with the huge success of his iconic 70s band Cockney Rebel. It always bugs me when journalists refer to Cockney Rebel as a glam rock band, they were so much more than that. They had their first success at the tail end of the glam period with the non-album single “Judy Teen” hitting number 5 in the UK charts in 1974. “Sebastian” from the first Cockney Rebel album ‘The Human Menagerie’ reached number two in the charts in the Netherlands and Belgium the previous year. Harley was incredibly diverse in his music, which I loved about what he did. ‘The Psychomodo’ from 1974 remains one of my favourite albums of all time and one of the few albums I ever skip a track on, even in the age of streaming. The pinnacle, and the song that most people will remember Steve Harley for is most likely “Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)” which made it to the top of the UK charts and the Irish charts in 1975. I saw Cockney Rebel a couple of times in the 1970s and I saw Steve play live a few times since then, the last time was in 2010. The music world has lost a huge talent in Steve Harley. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and fans across the globe. R.I.P Steve Harley.
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