Someone's Coming
"Someone's Coming" | ||||
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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) |
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Producer(s) | Steve Harley | |||
Steve Harley singles chronology | ||||
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"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 sonsg 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 New Musical Express 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] Jim Ward of the Harborough Mail remarked that "a more relaxed Harley has turned his back on his frantic days with Cockney Rebel". He noted that the song "almost has a country 'twang' about it" and added the "nice guitars on the backing make it a pleasant listen".[15]
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".[16] 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."[17] 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
- "Someone's Coming" – 3:55
- "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
- ^ "Rebel Without The Claws". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ a b John Shearlaw, ed. (4 November 1978). "News: Steve Harley Returns". Record Mirror. p. 5. ISSN 0144-5804.
- ^ "The Great Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel Story". Steveharley.www.50megs.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Images for Steve Harley - Hobo with a Grin". Discogs.
- ^ "Steve Harley - Hobo With A Grin (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ a b c "Allentown". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ Jones, Lesley-Ann (2012). Ride a White Swan: The Lives and Death of Marc Bolan. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 359. ISBN 9781444758801 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Steve Harley - Someone's Coming (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Steve Harley : Someone's Coming : EMI Demo 1978 MINT". eBay. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Images for Steve Harley - Someone's Coming". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Images for Steve Harley - Hobo with a Grin". Discogs.
- ^ "Steve Harley - Poetic Justice (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - The Collection at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ Morley, Paul (17 March 1979). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 28.
- ^ Ward, Jim (22 March 1979). "Singles". Harborough Mail. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Hobo_Review_Disc". Harleyfanzone.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ Gibbons, Chris (28 July 1978). "On the rocks". Buckinghamshire Examiner.
- v
- t
- e
- Steve Harley
- Stuart Elliott
- James Lascelles
- Barry Wickens
- Kuma Harada
- Robbie Gladwell
- David Delarre
- Oli Hayhurst
- John Crocker
- Adam Houghton
- Paul Jeffreys
- Nick Jones
- Pete Newnham
- Milton Reame-James
- Jim Cregan
- George Ford
- Francis Monkman
- Duncan Mackay
- Lindsey Elliott
- Jo Partridge
- Ian Nice
- Lincoln Anderson
- Paul Cuddeford
- Marty Prior
(Cockney Rebel)
- The Human Menagerie (1973)
- The Psychomodo (1974)
(Steve Harley
& Cockney Rebel)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1975)
- Timeless Flight (1976)
- Love's a Prima Donna (1976)
- The Quality of Mercy (2005)
(Steve Harley)
- Hobo with a Grin (1978)
- The Candidate (1979)
- Yes You Can (1992)
- Poetic Justice (1996)
- Stranger Comes to Town (2010)
- Uncovered (2020)
- Face to Face: A Live Recording (1977)
- Stripped to the Bare Bones (1999)
- Acoustic and Pure: Live (2003)
- Anytime! (A Live Set) (as The Steve Harley Band, 2004)
- Birmingham (Live with Orchestra & Choir) (2013)
- A Closer Look (1975)
- The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (1980)
- Greatest Hits (1987)
- Make Me Smile – The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (1992)
- Live at the BBC (1995)
- More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley (1998)
- The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (1999)
- Best of the '70s (2000)
- The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology (2006)
- The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (2008)
- Cavaliers: An Anthology 1973–1974 (2012)
- "Sebastian"
- "Judy Teen"
- "Hideaway"
- "Psychomodo"
- "Mr. Soft"
- "Tumbling Down"
& Cockney Rebel)
- "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)"
- "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)"
- "Black or White"
- "White, White Dove"
- "Here Comes the Sun"
- "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna"
- "(Love) Compared with You"
- "The Best Years of Our Lives (live)"
- "I Can't Even Touch You"
- "Irresistible"
- "The Last Goodbye"
- "Big Big Deal"
- "Roll the Dice"
- "Someone's Coming"
- "Freedom's Prisoner"
- "Ballerina (Prima Donna)"
- "Heartbeat Like Thunder"
- "Irresistible"
- "The Phantom of the Opera" (with Sarah Brightman)
- "Whatever You Believe" (as Anderson, Harley & Batt)
- "When I'm with You"
- "Star for a Week (Dino)"
- "A Friend for Life"
- "Faith & Virtue"
- "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn"
- "Ordinary People"
- "I've Just Seen a Face"
- "Out of Time"
- Live from London (1985)
- The Come Back, All is Forgiven Tour: Live (1989)
- Live at the Isle of Wight Festival (2005)
- Birmingham (Live with Orchestra & Choir) (2013)
- Discography
- List of songs recorded by Steve Harley
- Beam of Light
- Score
- "Dandy in the Underworld"
- "Madman"
- "Somebody Special"
- "Gi' Me Wings"
- The Alan Parsons Project