Ray's request for a Top 15 of Harley/rebel releated track's got me thinking and lead to a play last night of Is It True What They Say?..
I remember when the album was released in 1976 and in the middle of a Uk tour to promote love's A Primadonna Steve was interviewed on BBC Radio Manchester.During the interview the last track on the album was discussed....
"It's Friday night at the holiday camp,the punters are going home in the morning,it's the last night,the audience have had a little too much...the band arrive on stage,the singer has a spoof Elvis voice and the guitarist thinks he's Hank with a bum note in the middle of the solo.At the back of the crowd a couple of girls are taking things very seriously..hey what do you think of this group Betty?.It's the most basic rock and roll I can conceive and nobody's gonna call it pretencious and get away with it!"..or words to that effect!!
Well all these years later..play it,shut your eyes imagine the scene and tell me it's not a brilliant piece of music,full of humour and great imagery....
It's a risk taker and it works!!

Hi stewart g,

back into the collection to give that track a listen. That LP has some great Harley tracks.

Whenever I played Prima Donna at home, my friends would look at me quizzically during 'Innocence & Guilt' and I would just shrug my shoulders and try to look 'deep'. 'Is It True' always put a smile on everybody's face.

If you can write a piece that leaves everybody smiling with you - what a great way to finish an album.

While ferreting around, I also came across a live CD I bought quite INNOCENTLY on ebay YEARS ago; ahem, a bootleg I believe of a gig from the '89 tour.

I had quite forgotten that it was a double CD that began with five live tracks from a Cockney Rebel MKII gig in Copenhagen (dated 20.10.74).

It's a bit basic but, it must have been a very early gig for the newly created band? It has the fab Duncan MacKay working his early magic on 'Mirror Freak' and 'Sling It' seems to get a bit of the prog rock treatment.

It also has Steve asking the audience if they understand English - a small, charming, echo of a time when many other countries were more 'distant' worlds.