Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

The Last Goodbye (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel song)

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B-side
  
"Understand (Live)"

Format
  
7", CD

Length
  
3:54

Released
  
6 February 2006

Genre
  
Pop, Rock

Label
  
Gott Discs Pinnacle Records (distribution only)

"The Last Goodbye" is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released as the only single from their 2005 album The Quality of Mercy. Written by Harley and Cockney Rebel ex-guitarist Jim Cregan, the single was released in early 2006. It was produced solely by Harley.

Contents

Background

Chosen as the only single from the album, "The Last Goodbye" was released in February 2006. It was Harley's first single since 2001's "A Friend for Life". "The Last Goodbye" peaked at #186 on the UK Top 200 Singles Chart during mid-February, lasting on the chart for the single week. It also reached #21 on the UK Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50.

The song, like the entire The Quality of Mercy album, was recorded at Gemini Recording Studios in Ipswich, and was mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering.

Release

The single was released by Gott Discs on 7" vinyl and CD in the UK only. Pinnacle Records handled the single's distribution. Both versions of the single featured the B-Side "Understand (Live)" - a seven-minute live recording of the album track from the band's 1976 album Timeless Flight. This particular version was recorded at Blackheath Concert Hall in London during 2001. The B-Side was also produced solely by Harley. The single's sleeve featured a close-up photograph of Harley, taken by Mick Rock.

Promotion

No music video was filmed to promote the single.

During the band's UK tour following the album's release, "The Last Goodbye" was featured within the set-list. Some unofficial video footage of the band performing the song live has since surfaced on YouTube. In his diary entry for 14 November 2005 on his official website, Harley spoke of performing the song at a concert in Holland: "Last night I sang "The Last Goodbye" entirely alone, largo, slow and dignified to open the show, until Robbie entered for a solo."

Track listing

7" Single
  1. "The Last Goodbye" - 3:54
  2. "Understand (Live)" - 7:03
CD Single
  1. "The Last Goodbye" - 3:54
  2. "Understand (Live)" - 7:03

Critical reception

In a review of The Quality of Mercy album from Birmingham 101 Gig Guide, the author mentioned the song, stating: "Harley's in fine voice, and this album is easily the best thing he's done in years. Co-penned by ex-Rebel Jim Cregan, the opening track "The Last Goodbye" shows his ability to pen classic, radio friendly quality pop hasn't dimmed with the years, a fact ably reiterated by the chorus friendly tumbling folksy "Saturday Night at the Fair" and the 60s sounding "No Rain on This Parade"."

The Norwegian site VG reviewed the album upon release, with author Stein Østbø writing: "It has been ten years since the last album, and now he's back on the Norwegian label. Harley sounds much more traditional in 2006 than thirty years ago - that a lot of the classic Harley-character is cut away, is perhaps the disc's weak point - but he still writes beautiful, melodic songs in a safe pop-rock landscape, including the initial "The Last Goodbye" and "No Rain On This Parade", as well as the heavy and angry "The Last Feast"."

Rune Westengen, of the Norwegian site RB, reviewed the album upon its release, and described the song as a "more rocking, Costello-like track."

In the November 2005 issue of Q Magazine, writer John Aizelwood reviewed the album and highlighted the song as one of three "Download" pick tracks.

In the same month's Classic Rock magazine, Carol Clerk commented in her review of the album: "Baring his soul in public for the first time, Steve Harley has produced what might just be his best album to date. "The Quality of Mercy" is brimful of songs that are intensely personal and sometimes harrowing but, musically, very approachable. Here, Harley surveys his reality as a middle-aged father hoping his 25-year marriage will survive the empty-nest crisis. Still, the bright up-tempos of "The Last Goodbye" and the lovely, gentle melodies that carry "Journey's End (A Father's Promise)" and "A Friend for Life" offset the deep anxieties at the heart of the lyrics."

Birmingham Mail reviewed the one of the band's concerts in mid-2008 at the Birmingham Town Hall, where they noted that the show opened with "the wonderful The Last Goodbye".

The Last Goodbye

  • Steve Harley - vocals, guitar, producer
  • Robbie Gladwell - electric guitar
  • Barry Wickens - acoustic guitar
  • James Lascelles - keyboards
  • Lincoln Anderson - bass
  • Adam Houghton - drums
  • Pat Grueber - recording engineer
  • Matt Butler - remix engineer
  • Denis Blackham - mastering
  • Understand (Live)

  • Steve Harley - vocals, producer
  • Robbie Gladwell - electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Barry Wickens - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • James Lascelles - piano
  • Lincoln Anderson - bass
  • Adam Houghton - drums
  • Vikki Beebee - percussion, backing vocals
  • Other

  • Asgard - representation
  • Mick Rock - cover photo
  • Mark Scarfe at Aarlsen - original sleeve design
  • CLE Print - reprographics
  • References

    The Last Goodbye (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel song) Wikipedia