Cockney Rebel
Formed in 1973 by the strongly opinionated ex-journalist Steve Harley (b. Steven Nice, 27 February 1951, South London, England). Following his advertisement in a music paper he recruited Jean-Paul Crocker, Paul Avron Jeffreys (b. 13 February 1952, d. 21 December 1988 in the Lockerbie air disaster), Milton Reame-James and Stuart Elliott. Visually they looked like early Roxy Music with a strong David Bowie influence. Their debut hit Judy Teen was a confident start, but one that was spoilt by the self-destructive Harley. He antagonized the music press and shortly afterwards disbanded his group. The most stable line-up was with Jim Cregan (guitar, ex- Family), George Ford (keyboards), Lindsay Elliott (percussion), Duncan McKay (keyboards) and Stuart Elliott, the drummer from the original band. Their first two albums remain their best and most satisfying works with Harley venturing into dangerous fields with his Dylanesque lyrics, winning him few critical friends. They reached the UK number 1 position with the sparkling Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) now billed as Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel. Harley's limited but interesting vocal range was put to the test on George Harrison's ‘Here Comes the Sun’, which made the UK Top 10 in 1976. Harley spent much of the next few years living in America and returned to the lower echelons of the charts in 1983 with Ballerina (Prima Donna). Ironically this was the second time he had visited the charts with a song containing the word Prima Donna (in 1976 Love's A Prima Donna had similar success). Harley returned to the best sellers in 1986 duetting with Sarah Brightman in the title song from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, a part that Harley was originally scheduled to play. That year he attempted a comeback after being signed by Mickie Most. Little was heard until 1988 when a UK television commercial used one of his early hits Mr Soft. This prompted a compilation album of the same name. In 1992 Harley returned to the UK top 50 with the re-released Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) and embarked on a major tour.