Steve Harley, Frontman of Cockney Rebel, Dies

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Steve Harley performing “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” with Cockney Rebel on TopPops in 1975

Steve Harley, the singer-songwriter and guitarist for his U.K. band, Cockney Rebel, died today (Mar 17, 2024). He had announced on Christmas Eve 2023 that he was battling ” a nasty cancer.” His death at his home at age 73 was announced by his family on his Facebook page. “The birdsong from his woodland that he loved so much was singing for him,” the post said, in part. Cockney Rebel, which recorded and performed in a range of styles including glam rock, earned a #1 U.K. hit in 1975 with the song “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me),” written by Harley and which he produced along with Alan Parsons.

Rod Stewart led the tributes. “Absolutely devastated, words fail me,” he said in a statement. “The Cockney Rebel has left us. Loved you and admired you, Steve, and always will.”

From the biography on his website: Harley was born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice in Deptford, south London, on February 27 1951, the second of five children. He contracted polio in 1953 and spent almost four years in hospital between ages three and 16. At 12, while recovering from surgery, he was first introduced to the poetry of T.S. Eliot and D.H. Lawrence, the prose of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, and the music of Bob Dylan and realized that his life was likely to be preoccupied with words and music.

While in the hospital during Christmas 1964, the ward welcomed the young Rolling Stones who were on a goodwill PR visit. “Charlie Watts spent quite a time chatting with us kids,” Harley told an interviewer, “but the others seemed more interested in joking about the huge poster of The Beatles pinned to a wall.”

Steve began his singing career “floor-spotting” (singing for free as a member of the audience) in London folk clubs in 1971, such as Les Cousins and The Troubadour on nights featuring John Martyn, Ralph McTell, both leading lights of the London folk movement at the time.

He later joined folk band Odin as rhythm guitarist and co-singer, which was where he met the first Cockney Rebel violinist, John Crocker. When the folk scene proved a little tame for him, he formed Cockney Rebel—as a vehicle for his own work—along with Crocker, drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys and guitarist Nick Jones.

The band signed to EMI for a three-album deal in 1972 and released The Human Menagerie in early 1973. A single, “Sebastian,” became a European hit, reaching #1 in several countries, though it failed to chart in the U.K. A follow-up, a non-album single, “Judy Teen,” was released in March 1974 and became a top 5 U.K. hit.

The band went into the studio to record a second album, The Psychomodo, with Harley producing with Alan Parsons. The title was a success, reaching #8 in the U.K. but, following a tour, in-fighting among the band, many of its members departed. Harley and Elliott recruited several new members and the new lineup recorded 1975’s The Best Years of Our Lives, again produced by Harley and Parsons. Its lead single, “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me),” reached #1 in the U.K. and many other countries in February 1975.

On the day Harley passed, Parsons wrote, in tribute, “Steve Harley was an amazing person and a fantastic entertainer. It’s so sad that he will no longer be here to ‘Make Us Smile’.”

The song has been covered more than 120 times in seven languages and has been featured in several movies including The Full Monty and is regularly used on TV and radio advertising campaigns around the world.

Rest in peace Steve Harley he was a lovely guy I met him a few times #steveharleyrip #steveharley https://t.co/wkozQfbB01

— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) March 17, 2024

“Man, Cockney Rebel were awesome, first two albums perfection,” wrote Duran Duran’s John Taylor in a tribute. “Then the Number One pop song “Come Up and See Me” took Harley to the mainstream. We were so lucky to have him guest with us on that song…the moment Steve entered was truly chilling, and I still remember it today. An amazing moment. Thanks Steve for the music and your good vibes. We shall miss you.”

Boy George wrote, “R.I.P and goodbye legend. Amazing songwriter. One of my heros. He once gave me a T-Rex badge. Cockney Rebel were 70s genius.”

RIP Steve Harley pic.twitter.com/HxD0pc9INi

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) March 18, 2024

Leo Sayer wrote, “This is so sad, and I didn’t even know he was ill. Steve was a great songwriter, singer, live performer, bandleader, and overall lovely fella. We jousted in the charts together in 1973 right at the start of our careers and he was always a worthy adversary, coming up with such great records that I loved at the time, and still do. We weren’t that close but admired each other as artists. RIP Steve. ‘I’ll ’come up and see you one day, and I know you’ll make me smile!’”

The band’s recordings are available in the U.K. here.