"Someone's Coming" is a song by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

singer-songwriter

Steve Harley Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice; 27 February 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes. E ...

, which was released in 1979 as the second and final single from his 1978 debut solo album ''

Hobo with a Grin ''Hobo with a Grin'' is the debut solo album by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released by EMI in 1978. The album was produced by Harley, except for " Roll the Dice", which was produced by Michael J. Jackson. Jackson also acte ...

''. It was written by Harley and Jo Partridge, and produced by Harley.

Background

The release of Harley's debut solo album, ''Hobo with a Grin'', and the lead single " Roll the Dice", in July 1978 was met with commercial failure. After a period of living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, Harley returned to England in late 1978. Around this time, plans were made for "Someone's Coming" to be released as the album's second single. It was originally slated for release on 10 November 1978, however the date was then pushed back to 23 February 1979. For its release as a single, a remixed version of the song was created. Like its parent album and "Roll the Dice", "Someone's Coming" was a commercial failure, failing to make an appearance in the UK Top 75. Like much of the ''Hobo with a Grin'' album, the song was recorded Abbey Road Studios in London. Any remixing or additional recording was done in Los Angeles, while the song and the album was mixed at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. The song features contributions from ex-Cockney Rebel members Duncan Mackay, George Ford and Stuart Elliott, while the backing vocals were provided by

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song " Tainted Love" and has w ...

and

Yvonne Keeley Yvonne Keeley (born Yvonne Paaij, 6 September 1952) is a Dutch pop music singer. She is the sister of Patricia Paay. She began her career as a session singer in the music industry in London. She was the girlfriend of Steve Harley of Steve Har ...

. Speaking to ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...

'' in September 1978, Harley told Len Righi that the song was one of the oldest on ''Hobo with a Grin'' and had originally been written for

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...

. He also revealed that his close friend

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted into ...

had performed on the song, along with another track from the album, "Amerika the Brave", during Bolan's final studio session before his death in September 1977. He contributed backing vocals and acoustic guitar on the song, but was uncredited. Harley commented:

Release

"Someone's Coming" was released by EMI Records on 7" vinyl in the UK only. A promotional demo/DJ copy of the single was also issued by EMI. The single was released in a generic company sleeve. The B-Side, "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)", was written and produced by Harley. Taken from the ''Hobo with a Grin'' album, the song was recorded at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles. The song was later re-recorded for Harley's 1996 album ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, hen ...

''. Following its release as a single, and on the ''Hobo with a Grin'' album, "Someone's Coming" has since appeared on the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel 1988 Castle Communications compilation ''The Collection'' as part of the label's "The Collector Series".

Critical reception

On its release as a single,

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT R ...

of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music journalism, music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine tha ...

'' described "Someone's Coming" as "a watery ballad, with mournful steel guitar and flabby strings." He questioned the song's chart potential, commenting, "Harley is definitely one of the main benefactors of the new pop and without losing any respect (he never really had any) he could continue with his old perfidious, insidious pop and have a few hits. But... elderly popsters just want to grow serious, bare themselves and reveal the stretchmarks." In a review of ''Hobo with a Grin'', Rosalind Russell of '' Disc'' commented, "...the definition Harley had with Cockney Rebel has melted, he's gone fuzzy round the edges. He's also become surprisingly soppy. I can appreciate the idea behind "Someone's Coming" for instance, but the emotion drenched drama is too strong to stomach." Russell also noted the song "suffers from an oddly old fashioned arrangement", which she felt was "years out of date". Chris Gibbons of the ''

Buckinghamshire Examiner The ''Buckinghamshire Examiner'' more usually known as the ''Bucks Examiner'' was a weekly newspaper, published on Wednesdays and distributed in the towns of Amersham, Chesham, and the surrounding villages in the Chiltern area of Buckinghams ...

'' noted, "There is little of the bite or feeling that Cockney Rebel had - nd"Someone's Coming", the one track where they all get together again, is even a limp track." Len Righi of ''

'' spoke of the song, stating: "One of the best things about the song is Jo Partridge's guitar work."

Track listing

7-inch single #"Someone's Coming" – 4:36 #"Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" – 4:34

Personnel

Someone's Coming *

– vocals * Jo Partridge – electric guitar *

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Duncan Mackay – electric piano * George Ford – bass * Stuart Elliott – drums * Lindsay Elliott – congas * James Isaacson – tambourine *

– backing vocals * Jimmy Horowitz – strings arrangement Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf) * Steve Harley – vocals * Jo Partridge – acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Greg Porée – electric guitar * Duncan Mackay – electric piano, synthesizer *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

– piano *

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

– bass *

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– drums *

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...

Bobby Kimball Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...

, Tom Kelley – backing vocals Production * Steve Harley – producer * Michael J. Jackson – additional production, mixing * James Isaacson – engineer, remixing, additional recording * Tony Clark – engineer on "Someone's Coming" *

Haydn Bendall Haydn Bendall (born 13 April 1951, Essex, England) is an English record producer, audio engineer and mixer. He was Chief Engineer at Abbey Road Studios for ten years and was awarded the Audio Pro Industry Excellence Award for Best Studio Engine ...

– assistant engineer – engineer on "Someone's Coming"

References

{{Steve Harley 1979 singles Steve Harley songs EMI Records singles Songs written by Steve Harley 1978 songs