Early albums continued...........
Album no.7 The Psychomodo - Cockney Rebel 1974
By the end of 1973, glam had almost reached its peak, Bowie had "retired" Ziggy at the Hammersmith Odeon, (on my 12th birthday!), to the screams and wails of the masses. But fear not, the now established rule of two singles had introduced a new set of freaks to add to my growing collection. In 74, the fairground stomp of the singles Judy Teen and Mr Soft introduced the world to Steve Harley.
Resplendant in bowler hat and eye make up, lifted from the cult book and film, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Stanley Kubrick, a cocky, sneering Harley led the original Rebel, who offered a unique new sound, dominated not by guitar but with violin, Fender Rhodes and lush orchestration to the fore.
In this household, the often overlooked debut album "The Human Menagarie - 1973" (discovered retrospectively) and this album are classics of the era that remain essential today. The band imploded on the release of this album, and despite the timeless response to the break up that was Harley's swansong, Make Me Smile,(Come up and see me) he never replicated the swagger and energy of the original Rebel sound again.
Bless his soul.
