| Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | October 1987 [1] | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | EMI [2] | |||
| Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel chronology | ||||
| ||||
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released by EMI in 1987. [2]
| Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | October 1987 [1] | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | EMI [2] | |||
| Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel chronology | ||||
| ||||
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released by EMI in 1987. [2]
Greatest Hits was originally issued on CD format only in October 1987. It was the first Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel compilation to be released by EMI since 1980's The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel and was also the band's first compilation to be released on CD. [3] Although the compilation did not make an appearance in the UK Albums Chart, it had sold over 10,000 copies by April 1988 and ranked among the best selling albums of EMI's mid-price range. [4]
EMI then released the compilation on vinyl and cassette formats on 9 May 1988, again as part of their mid-price range. In addition to the encouraging sales of the CD, EMI were also prompted by renewed interest in the band following the use of their 1974 song "Mr. Soft" in a television advert for Trebor Softmints. [5]
The CD version features fifteen tracks spanning from 1973 to 1978. The vinyl and cassette editions contain twelve tracks, omitting "(Love) Compared with You", "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" and "Freedom's Prisoner". [6]
All songs written by Steve Harley except "Here Comes the Sun" by George Harrison and "Freedom's Prisoner" by Harley and Jimmy Horowitz.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mad, Mad, Moonlight" | 5:36 |
| 2. | "Mr. Soft" | 3:17 |
| 3. | "Sebastian" | 5:42 |
| 4. | "Judy Teen" | 3:41 |
| 5. | "(Love) Compared with You" | 4:20 |
| 6. | "Mr. Raffles (Man It Was Mean)" | 4:29 |
| 7. | "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" | 4:32 |
| 8. | "Here Comes the Sun" | 2:58 |
| 9. | "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" | 3:58 |
| 10. | "Best Years Of Our Lives" | 5:30 |
| 11. | "Psychomodo" | 4:01 |
| 12. | "Sling It" | 2:39 |
| 13. | "Freedom's Prisoner" | 3:49 |
| 14. | "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" | 4:08 |
| 15. | "Tumbling Down" | 5:55 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mad, Mad, Moonlight" | 5:36 |
| 2. | "Mr. Soft" | 3:17 |
| 3. | "Sebastian" | 5:42 |
| 4. | "Judy Teen" | 3:41 |
| 5. | "Mr. Raffles (Man It Was Mean)" | 4:29 |
| 6. | "Here Comes the Sun" | 2:58 |
| 7. | "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" | 3:58 |
| 8. | "Best Years Of Our Lives" | 5:30 |
| 9. | "Psychomodo" | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Sling It" | 2:39 |
| 11. | "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" | 4:08 |
| 12. | "Tumbling Down" | 5:55 |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| New Musical Express |   [8] |
Upon release, Mark Sinker of New Musical Express reviewed the compilation and stated: "[Harley] was five years late on the eccentric cameo Englandisms that Bowie and the Kinks had defined and exhausted. He had a sillier speech defect than Ian Hunter, and a more absurdly elevated sense of rock's theatrical possibilities. He was camper than Queen could be, and far less forgiveable than Ferry. And still, for all that, he wrote a wicked little melodrama of a tune. The art-pomp of most of these songs has exactly the wistful tinge that Ray Davies had lost, by the early '70s. I don't suppose we noticed that. We were too busy thinking ourselves smart for knowing what he was on about, or hating him for not being real ROCK. I'm obviously going senile, but this is a brilliant record." [8]
Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic retrospectively wrote: "Of all the glam-rock acts to hit it big in England during the 1970s, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were second only to David Bowie himself in terms of artsy ambition. Tunes like "Judy Teen" and "Love's a Prima Donna" may have been poppy enough to sail into the English singles charts, but they also boasted unconventional instrumentation and poetic lyrics with lots of surreal, Bob Dylan-esque wordplay. The result was a string of intelligent yet catchy singles, all of which are compiled on this collection. Greatest Hits also includes a generous array of album favorites, and highlights Harley's oft-underrated skill with ballads. The only real downside is that its surprisingly short track list omits some early gems: the compilers could have easily thrown in another two or three songs to fully flesh out the track selection. Despite this quibble, Greatest Hits is a fine collection and makes a great introduction to this group's ambitious, artsy style of pop." [7]
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were an English rock band who formed in the early 1970s in London. Their music covered a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years, they have had five albums on the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles on the UK Singles Chart.
Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, known by his stage name Steve Harley, was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel. He had six UK hit singles with the band in the mid-1970s, including "Judy Teen", "Mr. Soft", and the number one "Make Me Smile ".
"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" is a song by the English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1975 by EMI as the lead single from the band's third studio album The Best Years of Our Lives. The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. In February 1975, the song reached number one on the UK chart and received a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry in October 2021. It spent nine weeks in the Top 50, and as of 2015, has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The song is one of the most-played songs in British broadcasting history.
The Human Menagerie is the debut studio album by Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1973. It was produced by Neil Harrison.
The Psychomodo is the second studio album by Cockney Rebel, released on 2 June 1974 by EMI. It was produced by Steve Harley and Alan Parsons.
The Best Years of Our Lives is the third studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1975. It was the first album to feature Harley's name ahead of the band's. The album was produced by Harley and Alan Parsons, and contains the band's only UK number one, the million-selling "Make Me Smile ".
Love's a Prima Donna is the fifth studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1976. It was produced by Harley, and would be the band's last album before splitting in 1977.
"(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1976 as the second single from their fifth studio album Love's a Prima Donna. It was written and produced by Harley. The song reached No. 41 in the UK and would be the band's last charting single before their split in 1977.
"Big Big Deal" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released as his debut, non-album solo single in 1974. The song, which was written and produced by Harley, would be his last release before scoring the UK number one hit "Make Me Smile " in 1975. "Big Big Deal" also preceded the formation of the second line-up of Harley's band Cockney Rebel.
"I Can't Even Touch You" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released under his band's name Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel by Chrysalis as a non-album single on 12 March 1982. The song was written by Harley and produced by Midge Ure.
"Psychomodo" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released in 1974 as the lead single from their second studio album The Psychomodo. "Psychomodo" was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"Tumbling Down" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released in 1975 as the third and final single from the band's second studio album The Psychomodo (1974). The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"(Love) Compared with You" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1977 as the third and final single from the band's fifth studio album, Love's a Prima Donna (1976). Released as a single in America only, the song was written and produced by Harley.
More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley is a compilation album by Steve Harley, which was released by EMI in 1998. It features sixteen tracks recorded by Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Harley as a solo artist, spanning from Cockney Rebel's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie to Harley's 1996 solo album Poetic Justice. At least one song from each studio album is included, with the exception of Harley's 1979 album The Candidate.
"Mr. Soft" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley, which was released in 1974 as the second single from their second studio album The Psychomodo. The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. "Mr. Soft" peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Sebastian" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released as the band's debut single in 1973 from their album The Human Menagerie. The song was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
"Hideaway" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. Released as the opening track on the band's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie, "Hideaway" was released in 1974 as a single in Denmark only. It was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1975 as the title track from the band's third studio album The Best Years of Our Lives. In 1977, a live version of the song was released as a single from the album Face to Face: A Live Recording.
A Closer Look is a compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI Records in the United States in 1975. It features material recorded by the original Cockney Rebel as well as the reformed Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel line-up.
The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel is a compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1980. It features material from the original line-up of Cockney Rebel, the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel line-up, and two tracks from Harley's solo career.
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