YES, YOU CAN (1992) - 30th Anniversary

I'm a fan of 48 years standing (following, buying records in the early period and 1990's), though it's 30 years, when I first witnessed Steve Harley live, so I thought this thread could be a milestone anniversary celebration!

Opening the tour brochure, Steve and the band (Cockney Rebel, of that period), Ian Nice (clearly a relation, the name and DNA-appearance revealing), Milton McDonald, Billy Dyer, Nick Pynn and Paul Francis, embarked upon a series of British and European dates, as follows:

Hanover, Rotterdam, Bochum, Uelzen, Cologne, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, Zurich, Berne, Saarburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Scheldewindeke, Bradford, Swindon, Coventry, Redcar, Newcastle, Glasgow, Dublin, Reading, Cardiff, Weston - S - Mare, Worthing, Wolverhampton, Norwich, Lewisham, Sheffield, London, Hull, Manchester, Nottingham ('my gig'), Amsterdam and Varingen (35 gigs, in all).

I hope that I'm right in thinking that this was the first major tour, following 1977 (maybe a few hardcore fans might put me right if Steve was active in 1978 or 1979, though I don't recall anything?) I /we were excited about Nottingham, more than fifteen years after Love's A Prima Donna...I never thought I was going to see/hear him/Cockney Rebel. In 1982, whilst still residing where I was brought up, I ordered the single, 'I Can't Even Touch You/ I Could Be Anyone, from my local (hip) record store ('Cobweb').

"Heaven is calling to me
I gotta run now,
The feeling is right.
A fireball is rising inside me.
It's something I didn't anticipate.

Forever,
Steve Harley
X"
(1992)

Viva, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel!


Addendum: Although I'd been a fan since 1974 and a purchaser of his/their recorded work from 1975, 1992 was the first time, as I've said previously, I saw and heard Cockney Rebel live. When I first saw Steve in Nottingham back then, at close quarters, a little like being in the school assembly hall, he reminded me, at 41, of Errol Flynn (!) 1909-1959, I don't know exactly why, though I spent a short time in art school, in 1983 (already an adult and I was working as well), but I liked it. There were certain facial structure similar characteristics, but I was slightly awestruck. It might have been the swagger and the confidence, but I'm really glad we went. Happy memories. Anyway, this (below) is already in the public domain and it was about two months before the tour covered in the programme I still have.

Check out 'The Lighthouse', one of the songs I'm least familiar with - it's between 40 and 50% through the hour and some - the whole band and leader were really 'feeling it' - I can appreciate how much Harley had put into that song (a lot of energy, light is energy) and the whole band are into it, the violin is spectacular. Today is probably only the second time I've listened to it (the first being 24 May 1992, that evening in Nottingham). It's nice when there are some surprises like that. Especially as Steve may not be releasing any more new material (his recent comments refer, in the News Section, Home page). VB. J.