Steve Harley Sebastian (Live) HD

Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, 27 February 1951, Deptford, London, England) is an English singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still occasionally tours (albeit with many personnel changes through the years).
Harley started out playing in bars and clubs in the early 1970s, mainly at folk venues on open-mike nights. He also busked around London on the Underground and in Portobello Road. While auditioning for folk band Odin in 1971, he met violinist John Crocker, with whom he formed Cockney Rebel in late 1972.
Cockney Rebel went on to release The Human Menagerie and The Psychomodo before splitting up in 1974.However, Harley carried on with drummer Stuart Elliot, renaming the band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, with whom he had more success. From the next album, The Best Years of Our Lives, came the number one and million selling single, "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)"
Harley had two more hits during the mid 1970s with "Mr Raffles" and "Here Comes the Sun" which were both Top 20 hits, but he did not have any further major successes, and in the 1980s he all but faded from the public eye, relocating to the United States. He was set to star as the Phantom in the London premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, and recorded the promotional single of the title song, but was surprised to be replaced close to rehearsals by Michael Crawford.
His songs "Sebastian", "Tumbling Down", and "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" were included in the Todd Haynes 1998 rock musical Velvet Goldmine. The soundtrack album included "Make Me Smile", but omitted "Sebastian", yet included a cover version of "Tumbling Down" with vocals by Jonathan Rhys Myers. "Make Me Smile" was also included in the 1997 film, The Full Monty.

Sebastian
Described as a "Gothic love song" by Harley himself, the song featured a 50-plus piece orchestra alongside the band, with orchestral arrangements by Andrew Powell. Although the song failed to become a commercial success in the UK, it did manage to become a hit across continental Europe. It peaked at #2 in both Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as #30 in Germany. However since its release in the UK and Europe it has gained reputation over the following years as one of Harley's greatest songs. To date the song has consistently been included in live concerts performed by Harley.

When the single failed to make the UK charts, EMI Records told Harley there were no potential singles from the album, and that the band had yet to record one. Harley responded by writing the follow-up single "Judy Teen" which went to #5 in the UK in early 1974. However before the release of the band's breakthrough single, EMI decided to hold the song back at the beginning of the year whilst "Sebastian" was re-issued on 25 January (originally due to be 11 January), as the third time being released as a single. This was in hope of it becoming a chart hit, however "Sebastian" still did not become a UK hit, and did not make a chart appearance. In the Sunday Express of 5 April 2014 Harley spoke of the song's European success. He said "Sebastian was a number one in most of Europe in 1974. It happened so quickly. I didn't pay many dues to be honest. That's what the NME [New Musical Express] held against me at the time."

Harley first began performing the song during his days of busking. In the Daily Express magazine of May 2007 he revealed "I started busking in the early 70's, which gave me a platform to experiment on the public with my songs. I had one called "Sebastian", which was six minutes of gothic poetry! I got absolutely no money."

In 1983 Harley released a non-album single "Ballerina (Prima Donna)", a song written by Mike Batt, which just stalled outside the UK Top 50. For the 12" vinyl version of the single a new version of "Sebastian" was recorded, and this version was produced by Batt. In the UK, the 12" vinyl actually swapped both tracks around so that "Sebastian" was the a-side and "Ballerina" became the b-side. Harley's 1985 non-album single "Irresistible" also featured the song on the 12" vinyl release, although this was the 1973 original version.
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