Cockney Rebel

Fronted by ex-journalist Steve Harley (born Steven Nice), Cockney Rebel first stirred in mid-1973 with the release of the epochal single "Sebastian." With a lineup selected as much for its classical versatility as its rock punch, but with little care for the orchestral conceits which marred other bands of that ilk, Cockney Rebel debuted with one of the most widely acclaimed albums of the year. The Human Menagerie succeeded in appearing both epic and concise at the same time and, while neither album nor single charted, both paved the way for what even cynics knew was an imminent breakthrough. Harley himself, meanwhile, was a brilliant self-publicist, adding his own very loud voice to the tide of approval which greeted Cockney Rebel's early work. Reading the group's press, it was often difficult to determine where Harley's ambition ended and the journalist's praise began, but that, too, added to the buzz which surrounded them. So much fevered activity finally paid off in spring 1974 with the release of "Judy Teen," the group's second single and an immediate Top Ten hit. Cockney Rebel followed through with landmark album, The Psychomodo, a gallant and extraordinarily adventurous album which promptly proved another massive success. A session for BBC Radio disc jockey John Peel, subsequently released on the At the BBC album, offered up further evidence of the band's inventiveness, while Harley demonstrated his own keen grasp of media by making himself as available (and appealing) to the pop market as to the heavyweight rock audience -- one of the group's most remarkable ventures that summer was a short-lived appearance at the Biggin Hill air show. It was a successful band, but it was not a happy one. Conceived as a democracy, the musicians now chafed at being regarded as...