Chronologically the Cream of Cockney Rebel:

(My subjective view. You may disagree with me. Predominantly edgy. Always melodious.)

1. Sebastian (released August 1973, as a single). The first commercially successful single in at least two countries in mainland Europe.

2. Hideaway (released September 1973, as the first album track)

3. What Ruthy Said (1973)

4. Mirror Freak (1973)

5. My Only Vice (Is The Fantastic Price I Charge For Being Eaten Alive, 1973)

6. Muriel The Actor (1973)

7. Death Trip (1973)

8. Judy Teen (1974). The first commercially successful single, in the UK.

9. Sweet Dreams (1974). The first album track, on the second album.

10. Psychomodo (1974)

11. Mr Soft (1974)

12. Singular Band (1974)

13. Ritz (1974)

14. Cavaliers (1974)


Not all the songs I like, from Cockney Rebel, but for me, the cream...The only reason I've left out Loretta's Tale, is because the top line doesn't contain the octave shift of, I think, every other song Ive referred to on this thread. I still love the track for its sophistication.

I'll edit in the same, for Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel -


For me, the very best of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel- the subjective selection, chronologically:

1. The Mad, Mad Moonlight (1975) After the introductory craic, with the new band, this is the opening (full) track, to the third, most commercially successful album.

2. Mr Raffles (1975)

3. Panorama (1975)

4. MAKE ME SMILE (Come Up and See Me) 1975

5. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1975) . In my view, there is no better version than the original EMI album version (EMC 3068).

6. Red Is A Mean, Mean Colour (1976). The opening track of the fourth album.

7. All Men Are Hungry (1976)

8. Black Or White (1976)

9. Don't Go, Don't Cry (1976)

10. Lay Me Down (1976). The best B side by Harley, for me. Worthy as an A side.

11. Seeking A Love (1976). The opening track to the fifth album. It's about as relevant as it can get. Harley and Cockney Rebel have now caught up with my other favourite band, Roxy Music, in terms of the number of studio albums each have produced. This milestone is also significant in that Harley has been sole producer.

12. GI Valentine (1976)

13. (Love) Compared With You (1976)

14. (I Believe) Love's A Prima Donna (1976)

15. Carry Me Again (1976)

The only reason I've left out 'Here Comes The Sun', is because it's not a Harley song. The only reason I've left out 'The Coast of Amalfi (2005), in the end, is because the top line does not have the octave shift, that, I think, every other song on this thread has. I still love the song and it is great to me that I had similar thoughts running around my head about the place, a dozen or more years before Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel released the track.

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The third part will be a continuum of the subject matter adjacent.to this thread (Continuum 4 refers).


Happy New Year !


Continuum 2: Actually, I had intended to include the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel songs as part of the first 'canvas' and the second part of the triptych was to be the same for some solo songs, as follows;

Continuum 3:

Sensationally Steve (the ultimate selection)

(Jem's subjective selection, by rank):

1. Victim of Love (1992). The live at the BBC version (1995) is the better, for me, over the studio album version- Yes You Can. Such heart. Edgier. A collaboration. I feel (rightly or wrongly) if this had been released by Cockney Rebel, in a new set of New Bond Street boots from the 90's - like my 1996 pair (but earlier), which have never been re-soled or re-heeled, and with uppers that, when polished, only look six months old (in 2026!) - together with a new set of Cockney Rebel 'suits', this should or probably would, have charted! - when I jumped on to that tube carriage in 1998, Glen Matlock looked at them first, then looked at me...Sorry, I have now name dropped GM a few times on various threads herein but not only is he an under valued bass player, he's an under valued writer. I watched, on 30 December, Sky Arts and, "I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol". Excellent. Of course later, Glen worked with Midge Ure and later than that Midge worked with Steve Harley.

2. Star For A Week (Dino), also 1992.

3. Big Big Deal (1974).

4. Riding The Waves (For Virginia Woolf), 1978.

5. The Lighthouse (1992).

6. All In A Life's Work (1996).

My favourite 35 Harley songs!!!

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Continuum 4: Further to Hb thread 'The Impression of Being Relaxed Vol 2?', the thread in the 'Forum Questions' section, and some of my comments under the adjacent thread to this one, 'The Best Year Of Our Lives - A New Novel'.

Looking at Wikipedia and Steve's Diary Entries herein, it looks like the main more recent gaps would be between 2009 and 2014 inclusive. The first six months of 2015 also seem absent (if Steve made any - of course that was the year he got messrs Cregan and Mackay back together with himself and Stuart, for the 40th Anniversary of 'The Best Years Of Our Lives Tour'). From halfway through 2015 until late 2022, the entries become occasional. Maybe he was thinking of another volume?

Was Steve in the habit of keeping a diary, way before the documented (more recent) periods (from 2000?) He might have been, but somehow I can't see it. I don't know why. On four occasions between 1992 and 2022, I was only a few feet away from him, he was busy, performing his work...and I never met him...other than performer to audience...I had intended to in 2024 and booked in 2023, but it wasn't to be...but in late 2022 we did exchange glances, and that was great...his best songs are his legacy.

Perhaps an established pop-rock biographer might one day collate all.the known newspaper articles, interviews and album and show reviews - maybe with a specific project in mind?

The original post above has made me realise that I haven't read much of what is here, before August 2022, when I joined. I have read January 2016 now, which.led me to the knowledge that George Underwood and Birgit (also initially thanks to midge) had a part in The Best Years...album cover.

As a lyrical writer and lover of English Language and Literature, as well as a gregarious pop-star musician, he probably found the exercise very natural to undertake...and we know he was partial to history...

For my birthday, I'm going to ask someone close to me to buy me either 'The Impression of Being Relaxed (2000-2008) or the e-book, Matabeleland, by Steve (his novel).

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