About the band: Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. After the second album, band leader Steve Harley changed the name to Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. In total they released six studio albums. Cockney Rebel currently have one song in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: Cockney Rebel shocked the musical establishment in 1973 with an almost 7 minute single Sebastian, taking the phenomenon of glitter rock to an altogether new level. This track from their 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie is a bombastic composition, full of drama, absurdly over the top - and I love every second of it. Singer and band leader Steve Harley obviously had paid close attention to what David Bowie and Roxy Music had been doing, but manages to create his own sound, helped by the unique instrumental line-up: no guitars, but a killer violin. Run time: 6:56.
