Someone's Coming

"Someone's Coming"
Single by Steve Harley
from the album Hobo with a Grin
B-side	"Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)"
Released	1979
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	4:36
Label	EMI Records
Songwriter(s)	Steve Harley Jo Partridge
Producer(s)	Steve Harley
Steve Harley singles chronology
"Roll the Dice" (1978) "Someone's Coming" (1979) "Freedom's Prisoner" (1979)

"Someone's Coming" is a song by English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released in 1979 as the second and final single from his 1978 debut solo studio album, Hobo with a Grin . The song was written by Harley and Jo Partridge, and was produced by Harley.

Background

Harley's debut solo album, Hobo with a Grin, was released in July 1978 but failed to meet commercial expectations. The lead single, "Roll the Dice", was released during the same month and, although it gained radio play, failed to enter the UK Singles Chart. After spending most of the year living in Los Angeles, Harley returned to England at the end of 1978. ^[1] Around this time, EMI made plans to release "Someone's Coming" as the album's second single. It was originally scheduled for release on 10 November 1978, ^[2] but this was subsequently pushed back to 23 February 1979. For its release as a single, a remixed version of the song was created. ^{[3] [2]} Like its parent album and "Roll the Dice", "Someone's Coming" was a commercial failure, failing to make an appearance in the UK charts.

"Someone's Coming" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. ^[4] Any remixing or additional recording was done in Los Angeles, and the song was mixed at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. ^[5] The song features performances from ex-Cockney Rebel members Duncan Mackay, George Ford and Stuart Elliott, and the backing vocals are provided by Marc Bolan, Gloria Jones and Yvonne Keeley.

Speaking to The Morning Call in September 1978, Harley told Len Righi that the song was one of the oldest on Hobo with a Grin and had originally been written for Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. He also revealed that his close friend Marc Bolan had performed on the song, along with another track from the album, "Amerika the Brave", during Bolan's final studio session in July 1977 before his death in September 1977. ^{[6] [7]} Bolan contributed backing vocals but was uncredited. Harley commented:

"The last time Marc went in the studio was for 'Amerika the Brave'. He also can be heard singing background on 'Someone's Coming,' though he's not credited. He was a close friend. I had known him for a couple of years. We were a lot different. He was much more of an extrovert than me, but we grew very close. They say opposites attract." ^[6]

Release

"Someone's Coming" was released by EMI Records on 7" vinyl in the UK only. ^[8] A promotional demo/DJ copy of the single was also issued by EMI. ^[9] The single was released in a generic company sleeve. ^[10] The B-Side, "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)", was written and produced by Harley. Taken from the Hobo with a Grin album, the song was recorded at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles. ^[11] The song was later re-recorded for Harley's 1996 album Poetic Justice . ^[12]

Following its release as a single, and on the Hobo with a Grin album, "Someone's Coming" has since appeared on the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel 1988 Castle Communications compilation The Collection as part of the label's "The Collector Series". ^[13]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Paul Morley of NME described "Someone's Coming" as "a watery ballad, with mournful steel guitar and flabby strings." He questioned the song's chart potential, commenting, "Harley is definitely one of the main benefactors of the new pop and without losing any respect (he never really had any) he could continue with his old perfidious, insidious pop and have a few hits. But... elderly popsters just want to grow serious, bare themselves and reveal the stretchmarks." ^[14] Sandy Robertson of Sounds was negative in her review, remarking, "You see, the only polio victims who ever make good rock 'n' roll are Ian Dury and Kim Fowley." ^[15] Jim Ward of the Harborough Mail was more positive, noting that "a more relaxed Harley has turned his back on his frantic days with Cockney Rebel". He added that the song "almost has a country 'twang' about it" and the "nice guitars on the backing make it a pleasant listen". ^[16]

In a review of Hobo with a Grin, Rosalind Russell of Disc commented, "The definition Harley had with Cockney Rebel has melted [and] he's gone fuzzy round the edges. He's also become surprisingly soppy. I can appreciate the idea behind 'Someone's Coming' for instance, but the emotion drenched drama is too strong to stomach." Russell added that the song "suffers from an oddly old fashioned arrangement" which she felt was "years out of date". ^[17] Chris Gibbons of the Buckinghamshire Examiner noted, "There is little of the bite or feeling that Cockney Rebel had - [and] 'Someone's Coming', the one track where they all get together again, is even a limp track." ^[18] In the US, Len Righi of The Morning Call remarked that "one of the best things about the song is Jo Partridge's guitar work". ^[6]

Track listing

7-inch single

1. "Someone's Coming" – 3:55
2. "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" – 4:34

Personnel

Someone's Coming

• Steve Harley – vocals
• Jo Partridge – electric guitar
• Marc Bolan – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Duncan Mackay – electric piano
• George Ford – bass
• Stuart Elliott – drums
• Lindsay Elliott – congas
• James Isaacson – tambourine
• Gloria Jones, Yvonne Keeley – backing vocals
• Jimmy Horowitz – strings arrangement

Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)

• Steve Harley – vocals
• Jo Partridge – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Greg Porée – electric guitar
• Duncan Mackay – electric piano, synthesizer
• Bill Payne – piano
• Bob Glaub – bass
• Rick Shlosser – drums
• Bill Champlin, Bobby Kimball, Tom Kelley – backing vocals

Production

• Steve Harley – producer
• Michael J. Jackson – additional production, mixing
• James Isaacson – engineer, remixing, additional recording
• Tony Clark – engineer on "Someone's Coming"
• Haydn Bendall – assistant engineer – engineer on "Someone's Coming"

References

1. "Rebel Without The Claws". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
2. John Shearlaw, ed. (4 November 1978). "News: Steve Harley Returns". Record Mirror . p. 5. ISSN   0144-5804.
3. "The Great Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel Story". Steveharley.www.50megs.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
4. "Images for Steve Harley - Hobo with a Grin". Discogs .
5. "Steve Harley - Hobo With A Grin (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
6. "Allentown". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
7. Jones, Lesley-Ann (2012). Ride a White Swan: The Lives and Death of Marc Bolan. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 359. ISBN   9781444758801 – via Internet Archive.
8. "Steve Harley - Someone's Coming (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
9. "Steve Harley : Someone's Coming : EMI Demo 1978 MINT". eBay. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
10. "Images for Steve Harley - Someone's Coming". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
11. "Images for Steve Harley - Hobo with a Grin". Discogs .
12. "Steve Harley - Poetic Justice (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
13. "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - The Collection at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
14. Morley, Paul (17 March 1979). "Singles". New Musical Express . p. 28. ISSN   0028-6362.
15. Robertson, Sandy (17 March 1979). "Singles". Sounds . p. 25. ISSN   0144-5774.
16. Ward, Jim (22 March 1979). "Singles" . Harborough Mail. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Hobo_Review_Disc". Harleyfanzone.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
18. Gibbons, Chris (28 July 1978). "On the rocks". Buckinghamshire Examiner.