"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" | |||||||
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Artwork for Scandinavian vinyl release
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Single by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel | |||||||
from the album The Best Years of Our Lives | |||||||
B-side | "Another Journey" | ||||||
Released | 31 January 1975 | ||||||
Format | 7" vinyl | ||||||
Recorded | 1974 | ||||||
Genre | Glam rock | ||||||
Length | 4:01 | ||||||
Label | EMI | ||||||
Writer(s) | Steve Harley | ||||||
Producer(s) |
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Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel singles chronology | |||||||
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"Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)" | |
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B-side label of "The Reflex" UK vinyl release
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B-side to "The Reflex" by Duran Duran | |
Released | 16 April 1984 |
A-side | "The Reflex" |
Recorded | 16 November 1982Hammersmith Odeon, London | at the
Genre | Rock |
Length | 4:54 |
Label | EMI |
Writer(s) | Steve Harley |
"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" | ||||
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Single by Erasure | ||||
from the album Other People's Songs | ||||
B-side | "Oh L'amour" "Walking in the Rain" "When Will I See You Again" "Can't Help Falling in Love" |
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Released | 7 April 2003 | |||
Format | CD, DVD | |||
Recorded | 2002 | |||
Genre | Synthpop | |||
Length | 3:58 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Writer(s) | Steve Harley | |||
Producer(s) |
Gareth Jones, Erasure |
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Erasure singles chronology | ||||
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"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released as the lead single from the band's 1975 album The Best Years of Our Lives. It was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. In February 1975, the song reached the number-one spot on the UK chart and received a UK Silver certification. It spent nine weeks in the Top 50, and as of 2015, has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
More than 120 cover versions of the song have been recorded by other artists, most notably by Duran Duran and Erasure, although Harley has stated his favourite cover version is by The Wedding Present.
The song was the first single to be released under the name "Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel", as opposed to simply "Cockney Rebel". In July 1974, the original Cockney Rebel disbanded, and Harley then assembled a new line-up later in the year. "Make Me Smile" described Harley's feelings on the band's split. For many years, it was believed that Harley purposely chose to disband the original line-up and embark on a new career path. However, years later, Harley began to reveal the truth behind the band's split.
Between May and July 1974, Cockney Rebel embarked on a major British tour to promote their second studio album The Psychomodo. As the tour progressed, the band began facing growing tensions, which ultimately led to their split at the end of the tour in late July. On 18 July, the band received a 'Gold Award' for outstanding new act of 1974, and a week later they had split up over their disagreements. Jean-Paul Crocker, Milton Reame-James and Paul Jeffreys had approached Harley, insisting they could also write material for the group. Harley, the band's sole songwriter, felt this was unfair as he had been the one to originally hire the musicians for his group, and explained the deal to them at the time.
After the band split, only the original line-up's drummer, Stuart Elliott, would join the new line-up. In a television interview recorded in 2002, Harley described how the lyrics were vindictively directed at the former band members who, he felt, had abandoned him.