ITV's 'London's Greatest Hits' concluded on Monday 22nd August with Londoner's voting for their favourite top ten hits. Steve came in at a very respectable number 7 with Make Me Smile. Here's the top ten in full:

1. The Jam - Going Underground
2. The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
3. Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
4. Clash - London Calling
5. Madness - House of Fun
6. Ralph McTell - Streets of London
7. Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
8. David Bowie - Let's Dance
9. The Who - My Generation
10. Squeeze - Up The Junction

Thanks to all those who voted for Steve.

"It’s 26 years since Harley last used the name of the band with whom he enjoyed his biggest chart successes in Make Me Smile, Judy Teen and Mr Soft and recorded five albums, however to mark the 30 anniversary of Smile he’s dubbed his touring band Cockney Rebel Mark III and even recorded a new album, The Quality of Mercy, his first since 2000’s Yes You Can.

He’s in fine voice, at times sounding not unlike a cross between Sting, Gerry Rafferty and (on the superb The Coast of Amalfi) Chris De Burgh, and this is easily the best thing he’s done in years. Co-penned by ex Rebel Jim Cregan, opening track The Last Goodbye shows his ability to pen classic, radio friendly quality pop hasn’t dimmed with the years, a fact ably reiterated by the chorus friendly tumbling folksy Saturday Night At The Fair and the 60s sounding No Rain On This Parade.

But if the uptempo material shines, the slower songs positively glow. A father’s hymn of love to their child, Journey’s End (A Father’s Promise) mines a seam of Celtic folk influence, the God searching Save Me (From My Self) with its keening pedal steel and the closing plea for enduring love A Friend For Life are all stand-outs, but the centerpiece surely has to be The Last Feast, a seven minute throaty slow blues-rock burner that (referencing Phantom of the Opera) again finds Harley confronting God as he addresses the fear of mortality.

Giving it the full works after a spate of solo acoustic dates, no doubt fan demands will mean much of the set focus is on past favourites (hopefully Sebastian included), but there’s material here that will stand the test of time just as strongly."

Order the new Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel album "The Quality Of Mercy"

Every order will count towards a national chart position.

"A very impressive CD from the mighty Steve Harley" - Billy Sloan, Radio Clyde

LET'S GET STEVE BACK INTO THE ALBUM CHART!

" A winner - just may be the best thing he's ever done"
" ..... the beauty and vibrant electricity of this album" - Drew McAdam, music journalist

A St. Patrick's Day special event - March 17th - may soon be confirmed for Steve and the rock band at a venue off the north-west of England.
Also, from April 19th into the middle of May, dates should soon be confirmed in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. More as it comes....
All sorts of possibilities are being worked on for weekends throughout the summer.

Steve has agreed to act as a panellist choosing "Best Local Hero" for ANGLIA TV. The programme is part of the regional series "Britain On The Move" and is scheduled for broadcast on Anglia Television, TUESDAY 19th at 19.30hrs. Check local listings.

Ordering details coming soon.

BBC RADIO 5 LIVE (909am) SATURDAY, 9th APRIL, 9 - 11 a.m.
Steve will appear 'live' on the Eamonn Holmes show. On Grand National Day, Steve will be discussing his passion for horse racing and his hobby as owner and gambler, and chatting about the summer concerts, Glastonbury Festival and the big autumn tours.

This interview was postponed from Grand National Day (as a result of the Royal Wedding and the Pope's funeral) to be broadcast on 30th April 2005 - the day of the 2,000 Guineas Colts' Classic at Newmarket.

Sale: 11707 - Rock & Film Memorabilia
Lots 376 - 381
27th April 2005 - Knightsbridge
Starting at 10 am

Steve's first all-new studio CD, "The Quality Of Mercy," is being prepared for a September, 2005 release. The tracks are being fine-tuned at a studio in Suffolk, and are almost ready for mixing.

Manfred Esser will be shooting a cover photo at a session in Cologne, Germany, in April.

The CD will include three tracks already familiar with concert going fans, such as "A Friend For Life," "The Last Feast" and "Saturday Night At The Fair."

Steve and his regular band have spent many long days in recent weeks working in a Pro-tools studio in Suffolk. The album is now at the mixing stage and Steve, to demonstrate his own feelings with the way the work has developed, said at his "An Audience With....." show in Stamford, Lincs. recently, "I am making a record that pleases me - I can only hope it then pleases lots of other people, including the critics. We have a wild drum sound on the rocky tracks and the lyrics are flowing once again. I am very, very excited about this project. The band have looked at me as though I'm mad, when I've put forward certain production ideas, but they've come to accept now that sometimes the safe way is not necessarily the best way forward."

To support the new album, a 30+ date UK Tour, as Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel, is being planned for the autumn, beginning at the end of September, running through to a handful of Christmas Specials in December, when The Backbeat Beatles will appear as support. The tour winds up at Shepherds Bush Empire, December 9th.

In November, Steve takes an Electro-Acoustic band to Holland for a run of around 15 shows, then the set-up moves into Belgium (Dec 1-4).