Black or White (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel song)

"Black or White"
Single by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
from the album Timeless Flight
B-side	"Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live)"
Released	14 November 1975
Format	7"
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	5:43
Label	EMI Records
Writer(s)	Steve Harley
Producer(s)	Steve Harley
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel singles chronology
"Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)" (1975) "Black or White" (1975) "White, White Dove" (1976)

"Black or White" is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1975 as the lead single from the band's 1976 album Timeless Flight.^[1] "Black or White" was written and produced solely by Harley. On occasions, the song has been titled "Black or White (And Step on It)".^[2]

Background

Despite the previous single "Mr. Raffles (Man It Was Mean)" managing to reach the Top 15 in the UK chart, "Black or White" failed to make an appearance in the UK Top 50 Chart, which in turn gave the UK's music press the chance to predict Harley's commercial eclipse.^[3] However, "Black or White" did reach #2 on the BMRB's UK Breakers chart on 22 November 1975 (which would be equal to #52 on the UK Singles Chart, at a time when the national singles chart only ran to the Top 50).^[4]

In the Record Mirror & Disc issue of 7 February 1976, an article based on the Timeless Flight album, noted that the "Black or White" had been a "controversial single that came out before Christmas and failed to penetrate the charts. Some people have said that it's a load of self - indulgent rubbish, a minority love it." In the article, Harley was quoted: ""I knew it was either going to be massive - top three - or a complete stiff. It turned out to be a stiff."^[5]

In the Observer Magazine of 11 April 1976, an article on Harley spoke of the song's influence, stating "For in his songs the influences come and go, talking of Michelangelo (to echo T. S. Eliot). Eliot is his big hero. He volunteers the information that he nicked the form of his song "Black or White" from "The Hollow Men"."^[6]

The song, like the entire Timeless Flight album, was remixed and cut at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London.^[7] The track features a backing choir.^[8]

Release

The single was released via 7" vinyl through EMI Records in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Japan.^[9] The single featured the B-Side "Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live)" - a live version of the album track from the 1975 album The Best Years of Our Lives. The B-Side was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London on 14 April 1975. The track was written by Harley but no producer for the live version was credited.

The UK release came with a generic company sleeve, however all other releases in Europe and Japan each had different artwork. The Belgian and Dutch release used the same band photo but with a different design, whilst the German and Japanese releases had separate close-up photographs of Harley. The single had two covers in Italy - one featuring a close-up shot of Harley playing guitar and singing on stage, whilst the other used a crest-like drawing - featuring a girl figure and two Union Jack flags, whilst incorrectly noting the song was a "Top-Hit in England".^[9] A UK promotional demo copy/DJ copy of the single was also released.^[10][11] The Japanese release of the single, unlike the other countries, was promotional only, and the single was issued as a 7" white label.^[12]

Following the original release, the song has appeared on various Steve Harley compilations, including the 1980 EMI vinyl compilation The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel,^[13] and the two 1996 Dutch EMI compilations The Best of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel^[14] and Premium Gold Collection.^[15]

Promotion

A music video was created for the song with Mick Rock directing, who also took the photographs and designed the album sleeve for Timeless Flight.^[16] In a January 2004 interview with Graham Edmondson, Harley recalled "We did a great video of "Black or White" at Abbey Road with Mick Rock."^[17] It was filmed in Studio 3 at Abbey Road, and Yvonne Keeley, Harley's girlfriend and backing vocalist of the time, made the hoodie that Harley wore in the video.

In the UK, the song was performed live on the ITV music programme Supersonic, although the broadcast was wiped, and therefore unseen ever since. The performance's existence has since been questioned.

The band also performed the song on the Dutch TV show Top Pop.^[18] In a Dutch article based on Harley in Joepie on 16 May 1976, the article spoke of the song and the band's performance on the Top Pop show. "Chances are that Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel group will never occur in the Netherlands. While shooting for Top Pop (where their single Black or White - also flopped!), he was anything but cooperative, and gave the director a lot of headaches. Steve Harley is underdone as a tough guy, but this time it was really from the scuppers."^[19]

An A4 promotional advert was issued in the British magazine Melody Maker, of 29 November 1975, to promote the single, which highlighted a photograph of Harley.^[20]

On 24 November 2012, Harley performed live at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. The band, with the orchestra and chamber choir, made up about 50 performers together, and the band's first two albums were performed in their entirety. "Black or White" was one of three additional tracks on the night, and appears on the CD and DVD release Birmingham (Live with Orchestra & Choir).^[21][22]

Track listing

7" Single

1. "Black or White" - 5:43
2. "Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live)" - 5:03

7" Single (UK promo)

1. "Black or White" - 5:43
2. "Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live)" - 5:03

7" Single (Japanese white label promo)

1. "Black or White" - 5:43
2. "Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live)" - 5:03

Critical reception

Dave Thompson of Allmusic spoke of the song in a review of the Timeless Flight album, stating "Unfortunately, Timeless Flight neglects the strong pop hooks that made The Best Years of Our Lives so appealing. Much of Timeless Flight finds Harley getting bogged down in deliberately impenetrable wordplay ("Black or White (And Step on It)") and..."^[2]

Thompson had also highlighted "Black or White" as an album standout by labeling it an AMG Pick Track.^[2]

In the High Pop: The Irish Times Column 1970-1976, by Stewart Parker, the author mentioned the song when reviewing the Timeless Flight album, stating "Stuart Elliott verses kick off the second side, in 'Black or White (and Step on It)', which contains perhaps the most tuneless singing on the album."^[23]

In Record Mirror at the time of release, the magazine predicted that the song was a certain number one single and better than Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

In a UK magazine during 1976, Jonathan Barnett reviewed the Timeless Flight album, stating "At points the LP is over-produced, a little too busy in the background, and side two (apart from the inexplicable single flop, "Black or White") is nowhere near as emotionally energetic as side one."^[24]

Another UK magazine reviewed the album and spoke of the song, stating "Side two's highlights are Nothing is Sacred, jam-packed with lyrics but all of them fascinating, and Black or White, which I still rate as a great track despite the derisory snorts that have assailed it from all quarters of the business ever since it was released as a single."^[25]

In the UK magazine Street Life of February 1976, a review of the album stated "Both guitarist Jim Cregan and keyboards man Duncan Mackay are musicians of considerable maturity and sophistication. Professionals with consummate flair and good taste, and the loose-limbed structure of the eight songs here gives them ample opportunity to display as much; there's no denying Harley isn’t generous in this respect. For instance, swoon to the widescreen piano arpeggios introducing "Black or White" and the song’s orchestral arrangements, both courtesy of Mackay." In regards to the album's lyrical messages, the song was mentioned again, stating "...You can savour Harley's pontifications concerning The Spiritual State of Man in "Black and White" and, again, "All Men are Hungry". At your leisure."^[26]

In a Dutch article based on Harley from Joepie on 19 November 1975, the article mentioned the single before it was released, stating "Soon a new single "Black or White". A worthy successor for their number one hit Make Me Smile."^[27]

In the American The Miami News newspaper of 28 May 1976, a review of the Timesless Flight album spoke of the song in contrast to the album's theme, with music critic author John Marlowe stating "...What it is, though, is a fine record that shows Harley obsessed with cabaret and color this time out as evidence the title - "Red is a Mean, Mean Color", "White White Dove", and "Black or White"."^[28]

In October 2003, Martin Aston reviewed the album in Q Magazine, and stated "Timeless Flight bears plenty of Harley's melodic hallmarks, but some complex tripwires keep popping up: Black or White is a rare showing of Rebel soulfulness but the tempo is lethargic..."^[29]

George Starostin reviewed the Timeless Flight album for his website and spoke of the song, stating "Harley's sentimental side steps out like never before in the almost annoyingly tender seven-minute hymn 'Understand', so that his crooning will either bring you on your knees or bore the shit out of you. But the sentimental Steve Harley doesn't scare me nearly as much as the Messiahnistic Harley of 'All Men Are Hungry' and 'Black Or White'. No, no, both tracks are absolutely not about the continuous strife between the two races. (Leave that stuff to Michael Jackson, who's somehow managed to embody that strife within himself, in a perfectly literal sense). But whatever they are about, both songs are delivered way too seriously to be in any way reminiscent of the early, cynical version of Steve Harley. I mean, how do you like this: "Until we gather Life and all our Dreams/Until we cool the heat/Until we share our cup of Meat/Until the Trail of Waste is put to stud/Until we drift away/Towards the picture in the frame/Our celebration comes a Game to Play/Just Black or White/And step on it/Black or White". Me, I don't like this at all. Which begs the question[sic] - why oh why do so many singer-songwriters feel that it is necessary for them to get 'seriouser' as time goes by?"^[30]

Personnel

• Vocals, Guitar, Producer, Writer - Steve Harley
• Guitar, Backing Vocals - Jim Cregan
• Bass, Backing Vocals - George Ford
• Keyboards, Strings Arranger - Duncan Mackay
• Drums - Stuart Elliott

Additional personnel

• Engineer – John Kurlander, John Leckie
• Remix Engineer – Tony Clark
• Choir - Barry St. John, Ford, Cregan, Joy Yates, Larry Steel, Leroy Wiggins, Liza Strike, Madeline Bell, Peter Clarke, Yvonne Keeley
• Mastering (Master Cutter) – Chris Blair

References