Steve Harley, whose real name is Stephen Nice, is an English singer-songwriter best known for having been the leader of the Cockney Rebel during the 1970s.
Artist who started his professional career at the age of 17 not as a singer but as a journalist first for the Daily Express, then for several local newspapers. Career which he will quickly give up in favor of the musical career which he starts in 1971 by performing in bars and clubs. Then by forming the group Cockney Rebel in 1972.
Group which will know its hour of glory with titles like "Sebastian" in 1973, "Judy Teen" and "Mr Soft" in 1974, but also and especially "Make me smile (Come up and see me)" in 1975, title which will remain as their biggest single success.
Harley left the group during 1977 and began his solo career a year later in 1978 with the album "Hobo with a grin", an album which unfortunately went somewhat unnoticed as did the album "The candidate" which was released a year later in 1978.
He will have to wait until the mid-1980s to finally experience a semblance of recognition on the solo side with the title “Ballerina (Prima Donna)” in 1983, followed by the single “Irresistible” in 1985.
New albums “Yes you can” in 1992 and “Poetic justice” in 1996, two new albums which will have difficulty finding their audience once again. Just like those that will come out during the following decades, despite the presence within them of titles of significant quality...
Repeated failures which will have weighed heavily on the artist's solo career and which will never have allowed him to explode on a planetary level as he should have.
Artist who will leave us permanently on March 17, 2024 at the age of 73 following cancer.
To discover or to rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
70s Decade :
Sebastian (Cockney Rebel) 1973
Judy Teen (Cockney Rebel) 1974
Psychomodo (Cockney Rebel) 1974
Mr Soft 1974
Tumbling down (Cockney Rebel) 1974
Make me smile (Come up and see me) (Cockney Rebel) 1975
Mr. Raffles (Man, it was me) (Cockney Rebel) 1975
Here comes the sun (Cockney Rebel) 1976
(Love) Compared with you (Cockney Rebel) 1976
The best years of our lives (Cockney Rebel) 1977
Roll the dice (Cockney Rebel) 1978
Someone's coming (Cockney Rebel) 1979
Freedom’s prisoner (Cockney Rebel) 1979
80s Decade :
I can’t even touch you (Cockney Rebel) 1982
Ballerina (Prima donna) (Cockney Rebel) 1983
Irresistible 1985
The phantom of the opera 1986
Heartbeat like thunder 1986
Whatever you believe 1988
When I'm with you 1989
90s Decade :
Star for a week (Dino) 1993
2000s Decade :
A friend for life 2001
2010s Decade :
Faith & virtue 2010
Ordinary people 2015
Tracks :
1973 ... a first title which will allow the group to go directly from the shadows to the light. Nothing extraordinary at this stage but enough work to make people speak well about him...
1974 ... after a first year of running in, the group confirms with this title that it will be necessary to count on him in the years to come. At least let's hope ...
1974 ... this story started off pretty well but the rest will be a little more complicated to manage than expected. In particular with a level of success in the Charts which will fall to the level of the daisies ...
1974 ... this title will do better but it is clear that the group does not have a solid enough base at this stage to hope to join the big leagues. Can and must do better ...
1974 ... a title which will only be released in the United States, hence necessarily the most limited influence. And since it will not work more than that in the USA, a radiation ultimately close to 0 ...
1975 ... then THIS title comes ! We could fear the worst given the turn of events and yet they will achieve the perfect heist with this title. A title that will end up as a global mega hit and offer them their biggest success on the singles side. HU-GE !
1975 ... unfortunately, they will come back down from their pedestal as quickly as they got there. And the fall will be particularly brutal, to say the least ...
1976 ... covering one of the Beatles' flagship titles from 1969 is a highly risky and almost lost bet. They will still manage to save the furniture across the Channel but nothing more ...
1976 ... yet another title that will only be released in the USA. A strategy to say the least surprising and above all totally counterproductive given the result once again achieved ...
1977 ... business does not really improve in this year 1977. The group does not really take into account the new musical developments of the moment and sees himself relegated more and more to oblivion ...
1978 ... no noticeable evolution in 1978. The group is really struggling and cannot reinvent himself. Frankly a shame because the beginning of the 1970s was frankly promising ...
1979 ... even when the singer tries to play it solo, it doesn't change the situation at all. He is not ridiculous, it is clear but when we see what the competition offers, he will have to really beef up his game to hope to return to the race ...
1979 ... he will save the furniture in extremis with this title and obtain a first solo success. Not sure that it will happen again ...
1982 ... here he is again in band mode with a sound and a style that have rather evolved in the right direction. And yet, despite their best efforts, this will not be enough to bring them back into the race ...
1983 ... this one will know a fate a little more favorable. Despite this, we are still far from the musical standards that the young generation now craves ...
1986 ... his biggest hit of the decade. Success only in England and that he will owe only to this duo present in the musical 'The Phantom of the opera' ...
1986 ... undoubtedly one of his most successful solo titles and which nevertheless went completely under the radar. Sometimes you don't have to try to understand ...
1988 ... a title full of finesse and lightness totally outside the standards of the moment. Normal, it was recorded as part of a telethon ...
1989 ... the end of the decade will not bring much more. The fall behind the competition is becoming abysmal and almost impossible to fill now ...
1993 ... that does not prevent him from moving on to the next decade. What did not work during the 80s is not likely to work more than that during the 90s but he believes in it anyway. Rightly or wrongly, that's something else ...
2001 ... we suspected that there would be no miracle and the crossing of the decade 90 will be at least difficult for the singer. He is trying to return to the new 2000s, but the bet is risky to say the least ...
2010 ... we suspected that the 2000s would be tough and it will have been. Suddenly, another desperate comeback attempt during the following decade. And another failure ...
2015 ... nothing and no one seems to be able to tell him to stop. He continues his adventure at all costs and regardless of the results in the Charts. Beautiful self-sacrifice ...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :