Love's a Prima Donna

In February 1976, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel released the album Timeless Flight, which reached the UK Top 20. Having embarked on a tour to promote the album, Harley began writing new material and the band soon returned to the studio to record their next album Love's a Prima Donna. Recording sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios, London, in June and September 1976.[2] While work on the album continued, EMI released the preceding single "Here Comes the Sun" - a cover of the George Harrison-penned Beatles song. Released in July,[3] the band's version became the most successful UK cover, peaking at #10 in the UK Top 50 and lasting on the chart for seven weeks.[4]

In September, Record Mirror announced that the album had been completed with Harley due to fly to Los Angeles to cut the disc. Having finished recording the album, guitarist Jim Cregan left the band to join Rod Stewart's touring band.[5] Released in October, Love's a Prima Donna peaked at #28 on the UK Albums Chart, remaining in the Top 50 for three weeks. It became Harley's last studio album to reach the UK Top 100. During the same month, the second single, "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna", was released. Although it failed to reach expectations, it did peak at #41 in the UK Top 50, remaining on the chart for four weeks.[4] Additionally, EMI had made plans to release "(Love) Compared with You" as the third single, however the release was cancelled. Instead, the song was released as the album's only American single.[6][7]

Following the album's release, the band embarked on an eight-date UK tour in December 1976. On the tour, Cregan was replaced by Jo Partridge. Having toured with the band for the Timeless Flight tour, Partridge also contributed to two tracks on Love's a Prima Donna. He provided guitar and backing vocals on "Here Comes the Sun", as well as backing vocals on "(If This Is Love) Give Me More".[2] During the tour, Harley recorded a number of concerts, which he used to create the double live album Face to Face: A Live Recording, which was released in 1977. It reached #40 in the UK and includes six tracks from Love's a Prima Donna.[8]

The album's concept revolves around the theme of love, including "soldier loneliness, true love, lost love, mother-and-child love, valentine sentimentalism and a fan's infatuation with a musician".[9] The album also showcases a range of musical styles new to the band's material, including progressive rock, folk, doo-wop, and reggae.[1]

Speaking to Melody Maker's Harvey Kubernik in early 1977, Harley commented:

"I feel on this album I achieve something as a singer, producer and songwriter. If it only sold three copies, I wouldn't worry. The achievement is more important than the success. This is entirely autobiographical: it's the only way I can write. I did a lot of it with the running order in mind. I wrote for two months before we went into the studio and the pattern was obvious when I started writing: "Seeking a Love" had to open the album. There's a lot of different music styles that are confusing some people. It's taken the maturity of an older man to come out and say things in the first person. When I first started writing the album, six of the lyrics dealt with love. So I thought I'd follow this with the rest of it. It's an album which dwells on the emotion we call love. I became very confident writing this album. I've come back stronger now 'cause I believe in myself. I like writing all about human relationships. There is also humour in this LP: "GI Valentine," and "Give Me More".[9]

Later in 2015, Harley revealed to guitar-bass.net the albums that had most influenced him. One of the album's was his own Love's a Prima Donna, and he revealed:

"This is not self-indulgence, I swear! I gave free rein to Jim Cregan during the recordings and he rewarded me with some brilliant parts, which I could harmonise with the keyboards. The more outlandish my production became, the more Jim pushed himself. Cockney Rebel started as a non-guitar band, and here we are offering up lashings of electric mayhem!"[10]

The album track "Sidetrack II" was preceded by the non-album "Sidetrack 1", which was the B-Side to the "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" single.[11] The "Here Comes the Sun" single also contains the non-album B-Side "Lay Me Down", which like "Sidetrack 1", remains exclusive to the single.

"G.I. Valentine" and other tracks on the album feature the use of the EMI voice vocoder. "(If This Is Love) Give Me More" features Harley playing electric guitar for the first time on record.[12]

"Innocent and Guilt", a seven-minute track, was later covered by German musician Guido Dossche. It first appeared on the 2004 single "Ich Bin Gotte", which itself featured Harley,[13] and the song also later appeared on Dossche's 2005 album Vulnerabel.[14] In a June 2005 interview for the unofficial fan site Harley Fanzone, Dossche commented: "The song "Innocence and Guilt" always meant a lot to me, a grown up son hidden by his mother. She won't let him go because she's afraid to lose him, she wants to keep him for herself."[15]

The album was released by EMI Records on vinyl in the UK, US, Canada and across Europe, including Germany, Sweden, Portugal, and the Netherlands.[16] Later in 1990, the album received its first CD release through EMI. In 2001, BGO Records released the album on CD as a double album set with the 1976 American compilation A Closer Look.[17]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Record Mirror	[18]
Sounds	[19]

Upon release, Geoff Barton of Sounds commented: "Love's a Prima Donna goes closer to the bone than ever before. In the past, Harley's lyrics have tended to be oblique and obscure. With this album, however, he appears to be laying his life on the line - and it's often quite a painful thing to see. The album is loosely conceptual, each sentiment comes across intensely, cutting through the listener like a keen blade. Suffice it to say that it is an incredible album, the playing and its overall structure being unparalleled, voice effects and stacatto instrumental breaks abounding. Love's a Prima Donna is often amusing, sometimes embarrassing, but also - in a twisted, tangled sort of way - infinitely enjoyable."[19] Barry Cain of Record Mirror commented: "Choirs, nursery noises, nubile Lancashire lasses, you name it - Steve Harley's got it on his new album. He uses every conceivable gimmick in the book on this, his strongest LP to date. So what if the guy can't sing a note. He doesn't seem to be taking himself quite so seriously these days... and that makes for a flexible, more relaxed sound. A great album."[20]

Rex Anderson, writing for the EMI Records Weekly News magazine Music Talk, said: "The album is Steve's look at love. He sees it as a necessary evil, as something both dirty and beautiful. Much of it is, of necessity, sexual, but it is also comic and tragic. Musically the album is a masterpiece."[21] Paul Phillips of National RockStar said: ""Here Comes The Sun" bears all the hallmarks of the accomplished lyricist desperately attempting to become the acclaimed musician/arranger - mistaking clumsiness for cleverness and arrogance for art. Unfortunately, these faults permeate the entire album. "(Love) Compared With You" and "Carry Me Again" are two tracks which work, not because they are simple songs, but because they are simply presented. What spoils the rest of the album is the desperation which attends Harley's efforts to be musical/innovative/disturbing. A pity that such a promising and outrageous talent as Harley's should be allowed to stoop to the low level which this album achieves."[22]

Jon Marlowe of the American newspaper The Miami News concluded: "This is the one that should make Harley/Cockney Rebel as big in America as they are in their native England. With Love's a Prima Donna, Harley has decided to undertake the tattered and worn idea of a concept LP - but don't fear, the kid pulls it off in grande musical style."[23] Henry McNulty of the Hartford Courant wrote: "Steve Harley and his band combine three separate trends in British rock: artiness of the Roxy-Bowie school, lyrical complexity, and a touch of heavy metal. Love's a Prima Donna is an excellent showcase for the band."[24] Cash Box commented: "Harley's efforts to break big in the U.S. rock market have not been outstanding, although he always seems to make a dent. The import version has gotten play, but the album is uneven and at times esoteric."[25]

Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic, retrospectively wrote: "This album allowed [Harley] to give full vent to his romantic thoughts via lushly crafted songs about the travails of love. Harley's ambitions occasionally overwhelm him, but the best songs rank with Harley's finest work and the album manages to overcome its occasional excesses thanks to a crisp, consistent production that keeps its genre-hopping sounding smooth. In short, it takes a few listens to assimilate, but it is an impressively crafted album that offers plenty of rewards for Harley fans and anyone who can appreciate glam rock at its most artsy."[1]

Band

• Steve Harley - vocals, electric guitar (track 9)
• Jim Cregan - lead guitar
• Duncan Mackay - keyboards
• George Ford - bass guitar
• Stuart Elliott - drums

Additional musicians

• Lindsey Elliott - percussion
• Jo Partridge - guitar (track 11), backing vocals (tracks 9, 11)
• Tony Rivers - backing vocals (various tracks), backing vocal arrangement (tracks 5–6, 10)
• John G. Perry - backing vocals (various tracks)
• Stuart Calver - backing vocals (various tracks)
• Yvonne Keeley - backing vocals (track 2)
• English Chamber Choir - choir (tracks 1, 7-8)

Production

• Steve Harley - producer
• Wilf Gibson - choir arrangements (tracks 1, 8), string section score (track 5), orchestral arrangement (track 7)
• Tony Clark - engineer
• Pat Stapley - assistant engineer
• Ken Perry - mastering

Design

• Julie Harris - outer sleeve art direction for Splash Studios
• Mick Rock - inner bag art direction
• John Harwood - front sleeve colouring