Seventies chart-topper Steve Harley reveals how Viagra raised his profile with new fans
COCKNEY rebel frontman Steve Harley has revealed how he shares a bizarre showbiz connection with The Proclaimers - after their songs were used in Viagra adverts.
The English singer saw his 70s No1 Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) used to promote the erectile dysfunction medicine before Craig and Charlie Reid’s hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).
And Steve - who will celebrate his 70th birthday with a special show in Glasgow next month - believes the saucy commercials means their music continues to stand up and be noticed.
He says: “The profile it gives you is great as a whole new generation will google to see who sang the song.
“It’s interesting because I’ve noticed at my gigs there’s a lot more 20 somethings in the audience these days.”
In the commercial a bearded man is seen dancing with his blonde partner to Steve’s 1975 chart-topper after taking Viagra Connect.
It was the first TV advert for the sex pills to be aired on UK TV in 2018 before a deconstructed version of The Proclaimers 1988 footstomper was used for the follow-up two years later.
That featured an animated video of lovebirds Tom and Jess who “see how things can fall apart and be put back together again with the help of Viagra Connect”.
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However, Brazil footie legend Pele was the first to score a major pay day when he spoke about erectile problems in a Viagra ad back in 2005.
Steve says: “When Pfizer - who make Viagra - got in touch about using it for their campaign my publisher told me it was going to be a lot of money as they wanted the song exclusively.
“When I was told exactly how much they would be paying me, I said ‘let me think about it - YES!’, Although I did suggest they might want to use another of my hit singles called Mr Soft instead.
“The advert ran for two years and then they used the Proclaimers song. So we were the first to advetise Viagra in the UK - how weird is that?”
Born in Deptford, London, in 1951, Harley - the son of milkman and jazz singing mother - survived childhood polio which left him using crutches into his teens.
The Proclaimers’ iconic anthem 500 Miles now being used to advertise Viagra
But he learned to perform as a musician by busking in tube stations and then exactly 50 years ago he formed his band Cockney Rebel notching up their first hit Judy Teen the following year.
After huge success Steve went solo, singing the title track of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera with Sarah Brightman which reached No 7 in the UK charts.
However, during rehearsals for the starring role of the West End show in 1986, he was disappointed to be replaced by Michael Crawford at the last minute.
ROD STEWART
Steve also co-wrote tracks for Sir Rod Stewart with the pair remaining firm friends.
But Steve says: “Rod actually stole my guitarist Jim Cregan first and then we became friends.
“Jim plays the rather special guitar solo on Make Me Smile and Rod had come to see me in concert and liked Jim so much he pinched him from me.
“But I’ve been mates with Rod ever since. We’re both big football fans. My team is Millwall and he’s always threatening to take me to Celtic Park.
“Rod also covered one of my songs A Friend For Life on his recent album Another Country.
PEED AGAINST WALL
“He said to me ‘You owe me a fish supper’ so we took him to a very nice restaurant for a posh fish supper and again he was asking me to come to Celtic Park.”
Steve has never been to Parkhead but did attend a Rangers match in the late 80s at Ibrox with his late father-in-law Alex Crombie.
The singer, who has been married to Glasgow-born wife Dorothy since 1981, says: “I remember leaving a pub with Alex and two of his friends when we all squeezed into in an old mini to go to Ibrox.
“We were going over cobblestones and it was agony, so we had to pull over for everyone to have a pee against a wall.
“I’m standing there with dozens of other blokes just outside the football ground and this guy turned to me and said ‘Steve Harley - what are you doing here?’.
WARM SCOTS WELCOME
“I’m holding my privates chatting away to him when he offered to put me up for the night. I explained I was with family and was being looked after but that was just such a typical warm Scottish welcome.”
And Steve maintains he had always earmarked Glasgow to host his 70th birthday celebratory concert, which takes place on March 5 - a year after it was postponed due to Covid.
The dad-of-two says: “I have such great memories of Glasgow because of Dorothy and her family and also of playing The Apollo.
“If you could sell out the Apollo they gave you a statue and I’ve got five Apollos sitting at home.
MAD GIGS
“Those were mad gigs. The stage was incredibly high and fans would rush to get front row tickets then all they could see was up my nose - they never even knew I had a drummer.
“And the balcony really did move - it is not just the stuff of legend. I would be finishing after a couple of hours and the crowd were going crazy and you could see it starting to wobble.
“I remember thinking ‘I better stop and get out of here before it comes crashing down’.”
EDDI READER
Steve recently recorded a duet called Star of Belle Isle with Scots singer Eddi Reader for his new album Uncovered.
He adds: “I went to see Eddi play a few years ago and after her gig she came flying up to me, gave me a huge hug and said my album Psychomodo was the first she ever bought.
“So I’ve asked Eddi to come and play at the Armadillo in Glasgow for my birthday where she’ll do half a dozen numbers on her own, with me and my band. It’ll be a great night.”
However, Steve admits he feared losing his Cockney Rebel image after doing a deal with pharmaceutical giants Pfizer - and even sought advice from his showbiz pal Bryan Adams.
STEVE owns three Scotland-based race horses but reveals how he once fleeced the bookies for a fortune after heavily backing a thoroughbred called Cockney Rebel.
The horse became best known for winning both the 2,000 Guineas and the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2007.
And Steve says: “It was owned by a friend of mine, an insurance man called Phil Cunningham, who asked for my permission to call it Cockney Rebel.
“I live half an hour from Newmarket where it was trained and would travel down every few weeks to watch it gallop at 6am.
“I was so impressed I was coming home and opening betting accounts online - I ended up with ten or 11 in the end - just putting a couple of hundred pounds on at a time with odds of 40,50 or 60-1 for about six months.”
He adds: “When it won the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket it took me a few weeks to count all the money, because I was opening some of these accounts at midnight after a couple of glasses of wine.
“I had forgotten all about them, but I would be finding two grand here and three grand there. In total I made around £67,000 for Cockney Rebel.”
Now Steve is hoping for similar success from his horses including Havana Gold and Zumarty which are trained by former jockey Iain Jardine at his stables in Dumfries and Galloway.
He says: “They’ll all be running soon so I’m going to fly up and see them race in April. I can’t wait.”
He says: “I met Bryan for lunch in London and he was talking about how he’d heard Come Up And See me on the radio and seen it on TV and also heard it in the movie the Full Monty.
“I asked him if he thought I was prostituting my songs. But he said ‘hell no - your song’s doing its job’.”
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He adds: “So if it was good enough for Pele and the Proclaimers then it’s good enough for me.”
* Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel play the SEC Armadillo on Saturday, March 5. Tickets available from ticketmaster.co.uk
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