BBC RADIO 5 LIVE (909am) SATURDAY, 9th APRIL, 9 - 11 a.m. Steve will appear 'live' on the Eamonn Holmes show. On Grand National Day, Steve will be discussing his passion for horse racing and his hobby as owner and gambler, and chatting about the summer concerts, Glastonbury Festival and the big autumn tours.
This interview was postponed from Grand National Day (as a result of the Royal Wedding and the Pope's funeral) to be broadcast on 30th April 2005 - the day of the 2,000 Guineas Colts' Classic at Newmarket.
Steve's first all-new studio CD, "The Quality Of Mercy," is being prepared for a September, 2005 release. The tracks are being fine-tuned at a studio in Suffolk, and are almost ready for mixing.
Manfred Esser will be shooting a cover photo at a session in Cologne, Germany, in April.
The CD will include three tracks already familiar with concert going fans, such as "A Friend For Life," "The Last Feast" and "Saturday Night At The Fair."
Steve and his regular band have spent many long days in recent weeks working in a Pro-tools studio in Suffolk. The album is now at the mixing stage and Steve, to demonstrate his own feelings with the way the work has developed, said at his "An Audience With....." show in Stamford, Lincs. recently, "I am making a record that pleases me - I can only hope it then pleases lots of other people, including the critics. We have a wild drum sound on the rocky tracks and the lyrics are flowing once again. I am very, very excited about this project. The band have looked at me as though I'm mad, when I've put forward certain production ideas, but they've come to accept now that sometimes the safe way is not necessarily the best way forward."
To support the new album, a 30+ date UK Tour, as Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel, is being planned for the autumn, beginning at the end of September, running through to a handful of Christmas Specials in December, when The Backbeat Beatles will appear as support. The tour winds up at Shepherds Bush Empire, December 9th.
In November, Steve takes an Electro-Acoustic band to Holland for a run of around 15 shows, then the set-up moves into Belgium (Dec 1-4).
Steve's debut DVD, "Live At The Isle Of Wight - plus 45-minute backstage documentary," is due for a May release. The DVD, which includes an in-depth interview with Steve, backstage and soundcheck footage, plus a Live bonus track, "Death Trip," filmed at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall, last December.
Instant music specialists, Concert Live, teamed up with leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, to produce instant live CDs of its annual rock concert fundraiser, ChildLine Rocks, at IndigO2 on 1st June, to raise money for ChildLine, the charity’s 24 hr confidential helpline for children who are in danger or distress or worried about a problem.
The CDs went on sale just minutes after the concert finished with Concert Live covering all costs of the CD production with a guaranteed £1 per unit or all profits from the product, which ever is greater, going directly to Childline. Including post concert online sales, Concert Live hopes to raise in excess of £10,000.
BBC RADIO 5 LIVE (909am) SATURDAY, 9th APRIL, 9 - 11 a.m.
