Steve Harley (1951 - 2024) RIP

On Sunday 17 March, I heard on the news that Steve Harley had passed away. He died of cancer in his home, after an over 50 year career in music. For me he is the singer and writer of that one hit single from 1975 Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me). I loved it then, I loved it in between and I love it today. In fact my band Sweetwood covers the song at nearly every gig we play and usually we can get the audience to sing along at the end, in tribute to Steve Harley's fantastic song.

Not so long ago there was an item about Make Me Smile in the 'Top 2000 a-go-go' show. Harley explained his side to how the song was written in between two Cockney Rebel iterations, moving from Cockney Rebel to Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. It is a musical middle finger, so to say. The comment that resonated with me most, was his admission that 'Make Me Smile' was his pension. The money coming in from that one song, made it possible to live comfortably, next to being a radio dj and playing live until a few months before his fatal illness was discovered. People wanted to hear the song right up to his final years, after Covid lockdowns.

My introduction to Cockney Rebel was two years earlier with that rather weird single called 'Sebastian'. I could not make heads or tails of it at the time. This has changed somewhat in recent years, actually. A second single, 'Judy Teen', I have no recollection of at all. You will not find an album or cd by the band in my collection. Just that one single that I will forever associate with Steve Harley.

What makes it so good? It has an immediate attraction, starting with that rather strange, out of place intro, while at the same time Harley remains unassociated with his lyrics. It is as if he is just the impassionate storyteller, not attached to his message at all. At the same time everything around him is inviting and warm. The ooh-la-la's simply invite singing along to and the chorus is the cherry on the cake. No one hearing this will step away without singing along. What is also standing out, if not outstanding, are the full stops called tacets in the song. Every single time wondering what is going to happen next. And, of course, there's this beautiful acoustic guitar solo played by Jim Cregan. Underneath the solo the keyboard changes to a Hammond organ, making the song so much warmer and even more special. Everything about Make Me Smile is inviting and attractive.

At the time Harley had a relationship with Dutch singer Yvonne Keeley, real name Paaij, sister of Dutch singer Patricia Paaij. Keeley later scored a number 1 hit with Scott Fitzgerald called 'If I Had Words' and with her sister as 'Stars on 45'. Together with 'Make Me Smile', that is three number 1 hits. Not a bad score. The relationship did not last though. Tina Charles, who scored several solo hits in the mid-70s like 'I Love To Love', is one of the other background singers.

With 'Make Me Smile' Harley has his song for eternity. It's the kind of song that people will always come back to. In future movies and series staged in the 1970s, on oldie stations and in playlists of people from any generation with an interest in great pop classics. It's that kind of song that will have 100 million hits on Spotify soon.

And I? I get to play that guitar solo every time Sweetwood plays it. When our drummer proposed the song, I thought no way!, I can never learn that. Admittedly, I skip a few notes here and there, but overall it is very recognisable. Come up and see us some day.

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