This was very unexpected. Harley had a short battle with cancer and his passing at 73 came quickly. Those familiar with him at all would have known him from his work with his UK group Cockney Rebel and solo career afterward.
He was an excellent songwriter and his singing style placed more emphasis on emotive delivery over technical skill. Given a choice, I usually prefer an untrained, expressive voice.
His early material with CR was a bit glam-tinged and theatrical, but all of it was intelligent, clever and always interesting to the ear. Anyone who might have a hankering for that type of music is urged to at least try out one of his many compilations.
For now, I will leave this--it is arguably his most well-known tune:
Yeah, really sad news. Those first three Cockney Rebel albums are total classics (The Human Menagerie/The Psychomodo/The Best Years of Our Lives) & I still listen to them all the time. I knew he was fighting cancer, as he had to cancel this years concerts, he apologized to his fans & said he was fighting a nasty cancer, but I thought he was on the mend. He was 73, the same age as me.
When I first discovered him back in the mid-70's (no thanks to Canadian radio, those idiots--I still have yet to hear any of his songs on any station), I was tickled by the fact that they initially boasted no lead guitarist, but had rather a violin scraping out the rhythms. It was great, unique stuff.
Alan Parsons had the good sense to poach half the group for his Project, while the other half came from Pilot.
Back when Andrew Lloyd Webber was getting Phantom off the ground, he chose Harley to do the first recording of the title tune with Sarah Brightman. I'm not sure that Harley's voice was the best fit for the long-term role, but that video is gold--cheesy as hell, but I love it. I think I recall reading somewhere that Harley lobbied hard for the job, but it was not to be.
Back when Andrew Lloyd Webber was getting Phantom off the ground, he chose Harley to do the first recording of the title tune with Sarah Brightman. I'm not sure that Harley's voice was the best fit for the long-term role, but that video is gold--cheesy as hell, but I love it. I think I recall reading somewhere that Harley lobbied hard for the job, but it was not to be.
I understand that Crawford was clearly the far more bankable, workmanlike choice for the role (especially in terms of longevity)--it's a no-brainer. But Harley would probably have brought a more unpredictable, darker interpretation--and I think that would have been a good thing. My dream pick would have been Tim Curry, but there you go.
When Crawford was initially announced in the role, there was a lot of bewilderment in the press. Frank Spencer as The Phantom! What?!! Clearly ignoring his previous experience of being in the starring roles of Billy and Barnum over several years. Harley was under the impression he was offered the role and had begun taking singing lessons, so he wasn't too amused when he heard about Crawford. Andrew disputes that somewhat, though he had a similar experience a few years later regarding Patti Lupone playing Norma Desmond on Broadway in Sunset.
Colm Wilkinson first played the role in the workshop performance of Phantom at Sydmonton, where Lloyd Webber first tried out many of his shows. He would have probably have been offered it only for him to have already taken the role of Jean Valjean in Les Mis the same year. He went on to play the role in the early 90s in Toronto and I prefer his more sinister portrayal to Crawford's. The cast recording of that run was released on CD at the time.
Incidentally, that music video of the single that was released in 1986 was directed by Ken Russell.
When Crawford was initially announced in the role, there was a lot of bewilderment in the press. Frank Spencer as The Phantom! What?!! Clearly ignoring his previous experience of being in the starring roles of Billy and Barnum over several years. Harley was under the impression he was offered the role and had begun taking singing lessons, so he wasn't too amused when he heard about Crawford. Andrew disputes that somewhat, though he had a similar experience a few years later regarding Patti Lupone playing Norma Desmond on Broadway in Sunset.
Colm Wilkinson first played the role in the workshop performance of Phantom at Sydmonton, where Lloyd Webber first tried out many of his shows. He would have probably have been offered it only for him to have already taken the role of Jean Valjean in Les Mis the same year. He went on to play the role in the early 90s in Toronto and I prefer his more sinister portrayal to Crawford's. The cast recording of that run was released on CD at the time.
Incidentally, that music video of the single that was released in 1986 was directed by Ken Russell.
Wow. Very interesting.
I do love Patti Lupone in Sunset Boulevard. I think this would be my equal favourite ALW musical with Phantom. The voice cast on the original album is amazing.
I’m glad that Colm missed out on the part originally. I do have the cast recording featuring his take on the role. For someone who grew up loving Michael Crawford’s Phantom....it was jarring.
Back in 1991 me and the Missus trekked over to Toronto to see Colm's version and it was very good indeed. A couple of years later they did a Canada tour and when they stopped in my town we were able to see it twice more. For the second of those 2 shows, the understudy took the lead-- a Canadian guy named Paul Gatchell--and he was amazing. Great singer. great stage presence. It was the last show of their stop here and it was played very loose and less-disciplined than normal. We were in the second row and we could see the cast constantly cracking each other up all through the performance--it was so funny to see.
