RITZ by Cockney Rebel (music and lyrics by Steve Harley, 1974)

Elegance

Ostentatious (like Roxy Music dropped glam [for elegance], was Steve sensing the end for glam, I think it's fair to say that, by 1974, glam was becoming, slowly, unfashionable)?

Did Steve enjoy staying in hotels? More than once during the late interviews he stated, 'We live well...[on the road]'?

For us wee things, in 1974, the reference to Pablo Fanque, must have been lost on most - certainly on me - but then we didn't have Google Chrome or even, Google Scholar, etc!

The thing is Fanque was (also) born in 1810 (Norwich) and died in 1871 (Stockport). He was a circus owner and equestrian performer. He was black and popular for decades, in the Victorian era...

Could Steve see some parallel in his ('74 established) own career?

Although fanciful on my part, Steve's love outside his work, became horses and a couple of years after this track, he was donning a clown like suit with wide toed shoes - after buying and seeing the images on Face To Face, three years later, I bought myself a pair of similar shoes (to his) - they didn't work for me like wedges or DM's though! Such was his influence on me...

In the same vein (as wondering about the lyrics...), whilst I knew about a few artists (at 15 - now I know much more...) the first line, "Hark to Rouault's white insanity" - I hadn't a clue.

Georges Rouault, French painter, 1871-1958 was a Fauvist and Expressionist. Colour and expression. Like early Cockney Rebel, yes? I think so.

Steve's love of literature is also 'in there' i.e. Shakespeare (Hamlet and Othello - we've seen modern productions of the same in the theatre ourselves). Ophelia and Desdemona (the latter is also 'dropped' in Psychomodo, of course).

The power struggle for Nero - he sought to rule independently - [16/09 I removed this next bit - forgive me, I've been preoccupied today, but now I realised!!! X]

Anyway, my ramblings are one thing, but another is that I always liked this track of the album and yesterday I reminded myself;