Such a perfect song. The stop-starts, the guitar solo, Steve's singing, the "ooh la-las" topped off by that "ooooh wahhh" all gel so perfectly together. The original blues version he played gave me goosebumps.
So many memories flooding back of myself and my best mate in his mum's shed. He on the drums and me on my bass playing along to this song on the radio on a hot Australian summer night while we were on school holidays. Gets me every time🥵👍🎸🥁
I went out and bought the single as soon as I heard it on the radio here in Australia and still have it. I was 17 at the time. The song inspired me to increase my guitar practice to the point that I can play the lead solo note for note, not because it was a challenge, just because it's a beautiful sounding solo. After hearing the original blues version I will now practice it and start searching for a 45 record if they are available. This song has not only changed the life of the author/singer, it has been in the heart, soul and minds of millions of those that have enjoyed listening to it. It is no doubt my favorite song of all time.
Steve Harley - huge inspiration to me. A lot of memories with his music. One of my favourite bands ever Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel back in 70s they were among the most important and original bands in the world. To me the worst part was when the founding members left. Even this conflict created classics like ''Make me smile'' the psycidelic vibe wasn't the same.
It sounds timeless. The arrangement/recording hasn't aged one bit. A classic 70s rock/pop song. One of the first big hits of 1975. It gets better with each listen!
cheers from Canterbury U.K. steve Harley played an acustic set in Herne Bay ( few months ago..late summer). magical evening .. especially the anecdotes inbetween each track. cheers for the reply
cheers from Sebastian. Have you found the TH-cam site that explains some of Steve Harley' s songs. really is worth a look. just a thought. I probably the last to find this stuff anyway. thanks for you input my friend
I was very very lucky to see Steve in Harrogate last year 2019. Absolute brilliant concert. I know it was 1975 for the single `Come up and see me` to be number 1 but it was fantastic to see him and his humour was brilliant. Love him !!!!
What no one seems to comment on - so I will - is that Steve was BEAUTIFUL in 1974. And the ridiculous voice was to counterpoint the great beauty. And when you see him later - sad, all looks must fade - now he has to work harder to make his point. Great song. Fantastic chorus.
No homo but I ain't gonna lie he did have the looks back in the days. Especially on on one of the live videos where they're all wearing suits. You should check it out.
My Border Collie Jack, also loved this song. It was the song we always played in the van. As soon as it came on the CD, he would come onto the front seat & smile! It never dates. Great song to so many people and am sure meaning many different things to everyone.
Spot on 1950/70 Golden year's back then We had the best artist We had the best films Great people Great England ❤❤ Steve had happiness life Life living for Great classic music and voice Well done Steve It was our generation 1950/70 My first date this song She had a beautiful smile Fell in love ❤ Didn't last long unfortunately only 2 years Never forget her smile ❤ Thanks Steve giving me a happiness life Ps .. Proper England back then ❤ and ladies ❤
This song follows me around and appears in my life at moments of change. I've dumped girls and jobs, walked into a pub or switched the radio on and its been playing. Didn't know that it came from change itself.
How did this song pass me by and today was the first time I've heard it? I've been a music lover since the 60's and completely missed this one first time around.
Classic Pop song of the Seventies and remains justifiably part of the music fabric of the decade, bigger at the time on the radio than in the clubs where I DJ'd. Judy Teen, Sebastian, Mr Soft & Mr Raffles often overlooked looking back but worth another listen to get the full measure of Steve H & CR essential contribution😎👍
Both versions of the song that you have shown in this video are good in their different ways. I was 16 when your song hit the charts in Australia in 1975, and it was instantly very different from most other music of the time, even though we had heard Marc Bolan, Roxy music, Bowie, Weather report, Frank Zappa, The tubes and Jethro Tull among others bands at the time. I think it probably was that classical guitar solo that sealed the song as quite different for me.
Love this song Mr Harley. Learned to do harmonies with if as i always had the habbit of following the lead singer..played this song over and over until i got it.
Well you guys had 6 hit singles + 4 hit albums, So you might not have 10 of them singles but having 6 hit singles along with 4 hit albums is a really big thumbs up
@@royferguson3909 He is indeed, Remember when he had a hit song from the hit musical-Phantom of the Opera with-Sarah Brightman in 1985 He then was going to do it on stage to open in Sept of 1986 but then Andrew Lloyd Webber changed his mind during rehersals in 1985 + part of 86 to do it more opera based than pop/rock style and got Michael Crawford instead! Iwondr what that would of been like?
Wondeful to hear the back stoy to Make Me Smile. Jime Creagan is one of my favourite guitarists, very distinctive picking style. He backe Rod Stewart for a while after SH
Wonderful!! Wonderful!! A massive, massive star, that should have been up there with Bowie and Bolan.. In a parallel universe this guy made it..I have no doubt.. Great to see ya fella! Love ya!
The Bass player here, Paul Jeffreys, was always having a good time, smiling away enjoying himself; he seemed like a great guy. He, aged 36, and his fiancée, just happened to set off on their honeymoon on the ill-fated Pan Am flight 103, which was bombed by Libya [probably CIA], over Lockerbie in 1988. His body was destroyed and/or never identified. How unlucky can you be as newlyweds. Rest in peace Paul
So true. When he says back then the guys could play... Sadly nowadays the kids will never know what a real band with real talent sounds like. God I sound old!!!
surprised that there's no mention of Alan Parsons (later of Alan Parsons Project) who produced that record - I'd always assumed that that was why it was such a good polished production - I have the single and his name is on the label as the producer.
Steve acknowledged Alan Parsons critical input in an interview a few years back. It was Parsons who changed it from the original concept of slow blues, to what it became in studio. Add Jim Cregans guitar and you get the classic that it is today.
This song is from my mum's era. I only got to know of it in 1984....when it was covered by Duran Duran: It's on the b-side of 'The Reflex' single..if anyone cares :-)
One of those 125 cover versions Steve just mentioned was actually done by Duran Duran, as the b side of their mega smash hit The Reflex, in a live version with Steve Harley.
Met him, and 'them' back in the early days when their tour bus broke down and was dragged in to our garage. Some adoring fans had crammed the tank full of news paper. Only thing I ever liked was 'Sebastian' which was a live B side as I recall. Jim Cregan's guitar work on that was epic. Beyond that... well, that was it.
Steve just take one global hit for your pension Excellent classic music Well done Remember it given me my first ❤ date Totally priceless Thanks Steve Ps Imagine if the band didn't break up?? Life has a purpose Thanks Steve ❤
According to Wikipedia, 'Top2000' also had an interview which mentioned 'Sebastian'. [In] 2008, Harley spoke about ['Sebastian'] and its lyrics in a short documentary for the Netherlands programme Top 2000: "It's poetry. It means what you want it to mean. "Sebastian" is the conduit, the tubes through which I took myself on that journey to write the story. I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't have been far away from tripping when I wrote "Sebastian". LSD, certainly, created so many incidents in your life, so many images, so much madness and mayhem, as well as great tranquility if you were lucky. I can't define its meaning. It's like most poetry, it's a lovely word."[13] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_(song)
About halfway my studies, I hadn't seen yet it wasn't the thing for me, this song pulled me through one of those harrowing examination learning sessions. Stop ! Go ! Stop ! Go ! Stop ! And on it goes...
Steve was the Original Phantom, He even cut the song with Sarah, as a single. Then It was pulled, and replaced with Michael Crawford's Version when He got the Job. I love the time when He messed It up on a Live Top Of The Pops. Brilliant.
Kunnen jullie die smoel van die Matthijs niet uit die trailer slopen? Ik vind dat echt zo not done. Die eikel heeft hier werkelijk niets aan bijgedragen, laat staan dat het relevant is voor de rest van de clip.
There is something about songs like this that are just "right" .......a lot of Allan Parsons produced stuff is just like that.......I just wish it would happen again.....music is so "Paint by number" these days
Steve Harley was a great singles writer - he wrote at least three total classics (Judy Teen, Mr Soft and this) - but I think he wanted to be an album artist, like Bob Dylan or Bowie and he didn't quite have it in him. I had the 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' LP and apart from Make Me Smile it was bollocks, really.
R.I.P Steve Harley - This is such a great song.
Such a perfect song. The stop-starts, the guitar solo, Steve's singing, the "ooh la-las" topped off by that "ooooh wahhh" all gel so perfectly together. The original blues version he played gave me goosebumps.
Yeah, when he played the acoustic, almost was like Gordon Lightfoot was singing
One of the greatest songs ever in my opinion. RIP Steve and thanks for giving us this great song.
Hats off to you, Steve! One of those songs that always makes me smile!!!😊
One of the greatest pop songs ever.
Thanks Steve.
one of those songs that i never ever get bored of...no matter how many times i hear it ..thanks steve..
So many memories flooding back of myself and my best mate in his mum's shed. He on the drums and me on my bass playing along to this song on the radio on a hot Australian summer night while we were on school holidays. Gets me every time🥵👍🎸🥁
I went out and bought the single as soon as I heard it on the radio here in Australia and still have it. I was 17 at the time. The song inspired me to increase my guitar practice to the point that I can play the lead solo note for note, not because it was a challenge, just because it's a beautiful sounding solo.
After hearing the original blues version I will now practice it and start searching for a 45 record if they are available. This song has not only changed the life of the author/singer, it has been in the heart, soul and minds of millions of those that have enjoyed listening to it. It is no doubt my favorite song of all time.
There will always be that one song that can lift your spirits on the dullest of days and this is it .Thankyou
Steve Harley - huge inspiration to me. A lot of memories with his music. One of my favourite bands ever Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel back in 70s they were among the most important and original bands in the world. To me the worst part was when the founding members left. Even this conflict created classics like ''Make me smile'' the psycidelic vibe wasn't the same.
Lol heard this song while listening to Spotify at the gym. Never heard it before. I’m 29. I played it non stop. Love it.
Band walks out to do better things, Steve writes one of the greatest song ever....
It sounds timeless. The arrangement/recording hasn't aged one bit. A classic 70s rock/pop song. One of the first big hits of 1975. It gets better with each listen!
....It's a masterpiece - as fresh today - is tomorrow and will always be!
One of the best songs ever written end off!!!!
I concure
cheers from Canterbury U.K.
steve Harley played an acustic set in Herne Bay ( few months ago..late summer). magical evening .. especially the anecdotes inbetween each track.
cheers for the reply
cheers from Sebastian. Have you found the TH-cam site that explains some of Steve Harley' s songs. really is worth a look.
just a thought. I probably the last to find this stuff anyway.
thanks for you input my friend
*of
@@royferguson3909 yep
Steves presentation of the vocal in this is wonderful, it really makes the song.
I was very very lucky to see Steve in Harrogate last year 2019. Absolute brilliant concert. I know it was 1975 for the single `Come up and see me` to be number 1 but it was fantastic to see him and his humour was brilliant. Love him !!!!
Such a great song and guitar solo. Well earned first place at the time.
What a great story. Made me smile!
What no one seems to comment on - so I will - is that Steve was BEAUTIFUL in 1974. And the ridiculous voice was to counterpoint the great beauty. And when you see him later - sad, all looks must fade - now he has to work harder to make his point. Great song. Fantastic chorus.
No homo but I ain't gonna lie he did have the looks back in the days. Especially on on one of the live videos where they're all wearing suits. You should check it out.
One of my favorite classic hits, it just keeps on rolling like a train
My Border Collie Jack, also loved this song. It was the song we always played in the van. As soon as it came on the CD, he would come onto the front seat & smile! It never dates. Great song to so many people and am sure meaning many different things to everyone.
Spot on
1950/70
Golden year's back then
We had the best artist
We had the best films
Great people
Great England ❤❤
Steve had happiness life
Life living for
Great classic music and voice
Well done Steve
It was our generation 1950/70
My first date this song
She had a beautiful smile
Fell in love ❤
Didn't last long unfortunately only 2 years
Never forget her smile ❤
Thanks Steve giving me a happiness life
Ps ..
Proper England back then ❤ and ladies ❤
RIP STEVE 😢
*_You've done it allll_*
This is one of those great classics you just know from the first few beats & words!
Fabulous Singer and loved this era . Was a Chelmsford Mod so this music just went with this tome in my life!
This song follows me around and appears in my life at moments of change. I've dumped girls and jobs, walked into a pub or switched the radio on and its been playing. Didn't know that it came from change itself.
I would urge anyone who even remotely likes this song to see and enjoy the version of this sond steve sings on rockwiz its just candy for ur ears
Thank you Top 2000 This made me smile
Steve.Class song!Mades ye smile forever.Happy 2012 everyone who likes smiling!
Wow u still looking as beautiful as u were in ur hey day the years are flying by
How did this song pass me by and today was the first time I've heard it? I've been a music lover since the 60's and completely missed this one first time around.
Your fucking kidding us right?
Perhaps you slept the 70s away?
...away, away...
@@Marlondurran not kidding. I was obviously entrenched in some other musical groove at the time. Thankfully TH-cam helps us all find gems like this.
@@cwade3198 fair enough so.. LoL 😂👍 take care
Great and unique from my teenage years. Couldn't care less about it's meaning.
Yeah, the deffinition of a classic pop song. It will live forever.❤✌
Classic Pop song of the Seventies and remains justifiably part of the music fabric of the decade, bigger at the time on the radio than in the clubs where I DJ'd.
Judy Teen, Sebastian, Mr Soft & Mr Raffles often overlooked looking back but worth another listen to get the full measure of Steve H & CR essential contribution😎👍
Both versions of the song that you have shown in this video are good in their different ways. I was 16 when your song hit the charts in Australia in 1975, and it was instantly very different from most other music of the time, even though we had heard Marc Bolan, Roxy music, Bowie, Weather report, Frank Zappa, The tubes and Jethro Tull among others bands at the time. I think it probably was that classical guitar solo that sealed the song as quite different for me.
RIP Steve ...
one of the greatest of POP ERA my absolute admiration Steve ... a spanish teenager of 70s
One of the greatest songs ever written.
When I was a kid, this song came on the radio in my dads car after a bob dylan tape had finished, for years I thought it was a Bob Dylan song
Snap!!
I thought it was a Steve song?
MrGenedancingmachine ... Steve absolutely loves Dylan !
Bumber Clot ... it is.
When I was a kid, I too thought it was Bob Dylan singing 😂
Thanks Steve, wish you and the Top 2000 Team a great 2020 !
Many thanks for these.
Love this song Mr Harley. Learned to do harmonies with if as i always had the habbit of following the lead singer..played this song over and over until i got it.
Well you guys had 6 hit singles + 4 hit albums, So you might not have 10 of them singles but having 6 hit singles along with 4 hit albums is a really big thumbs up
he is a modest man
@@royferguson3909 He is indeed, Remember when he had a hit song from the hit musical-Phantom of the Opera with-Sarah Brightman in 1985
He then was going to do it on stage to open in Sept of 1986 but then Andrew Lloyd Webber changed his mind during rehersals in 1985 + part of 86 to do it more opera based than pop/rock style and got Michael Crawford instead!
Iwondr what that would of been like?
Wow - looking very good there Stevie. Time has treated you very well and you’ve obviously looked after yourself. Great song!
This interview is from 2004. He’s 69 now, March 2020. But still looking good.
This is my new favorite song .
A superb song which the fabulous Jim Cregan still plays with his band Cregan & Co. The audience love it.
Wondeful to hear the back stoy to Make Me Smile. Jime Creagan is one of my favourite guitarists, very distinctive picking style. He backe Rod Stewart for a while after SH
One of my most favourite songs ever - 1975 the year I got married, and I was on top of the world - but bloody difficult to dance to lol.
Ur song Steve will always make me smile ☺ absolutely gorgeous song
Such a smooth song 😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤❤
Top man. Grass ain't always greener on the other side.
Timeless song! 👍🏾
Wonderful!! Wonderful!! A massive, massive star, that should have been up there with Bowie and Bolan.. In a parallel universe this guy made it..I have no doubt.. Great to see ya fella! Love ya!
one of my favourite songs of all time, seen him play it live..
Seen him play it live twice about 30 years apart.
If Carlsberg made “ Pauses” for songs this song would be the best !
The Bass player here, Paul Jeffreys, was always having a good time, smiling away enjoying himself; he seemed like a great guy. He, aged 36, and his fiancée, just happened to set off on their honeymoon on the ill-fated Pan Am flight 103, which was bombed by Libya [probably CIA], over Lockerbie in 1988. His body was destroyed and/or never identified.
How unlucky can you be as newlyweds. Rest in peace Paul
Paul didn't play on Come Up And See Me. That's George Ford on the recording and in the video
So true. When he says back then the guys could play... Sadly nowadays the kids will never know what a real band with real talent sounds like. God I sound old!!!
You just stopped looking for good contemporary music. It's what most people do when they reach a certain age and nostalgia kicks in.
@@PjotrStroganov No, he means popular music. I agree there is and has always been great music, but contemporary top 40 sucks.
surprised that there's no mention of Alan Parsons (later of Alan Parsons Project) who produced that record - I'd always assumed that that was why it was such a good polished production - I have the single and his name is on the label as the producer.
Steve acknowledged Alan Parsons critical input in an interview a few years back. It was Parsons who changed it from the original concept of slow blues, to what it became in studio. Add Jim Cregans guitar and you get the classic that it is today.
Sex Pistols could have done a fantastic - and different - rendition of this. Johhny Rotten singing, Come up and see me! Lol
Duran Duran version isn't bad
In every other program he mentioned Alan Parsons!
What a fantastic song. Heard him sing it live on a tv show I think in the 80s, just don’t know what the show was called, it was brilliant.
What an honest bloke, this songs my pension. Good on him for writing a classic. Don McClean said similar things about American Pie.👍
This song is from my mum's era. I only got to know of it in 1984....when it was covered by Duran Duran: It's on the b-side of 'The Reflex' single..if anyone cares :-)
One of those 125 cover versions Steve just mentioned was actually done by Duran Duran, as the b side of their mega smash hit The Reflex, in a live version with Steve Harley.
Met him, and 'them' back in the early days when their tour bus broke down and was dragged in to our garage. Some adoring fans had crammed the tank full of news paper. Only thing I ever liked was 'Sebastian' which was a live B side as I recall. Jim Cregan's guitar work on that was epic. Beyond that... well, that was it.
Every songwriter dreams of creating a standard, this was Steve Harley's.
Steve just take one global hit for your pension
Excellent classic music
Well done
Remember it given me my first ❤ date
Totally priceless
Thanks Steve
Ps
Imagine if the band didn't break up??
Life has a purpose
Thanks Steve ❤
I already loved this song, but I LOVE it even more knowing that it's not just some ditty about a girl.
Yes lol, same feeling here.
Made me smile ♥️
I'm in love with him ❤
Duran Duran did a pretty decent live version of this back in the early 80's.
I remember it. Great version!
I love that version.
This is Perfection!
Great to see Steve Harley looking so well.
Best song i ever heard and also fun to play on a real band.
I'd love to hear the story behind "Sebastian".....
According to Wikipedia, 'Top2000' also had an interview which mentioned 'Sebastian'.
[In] 2008, Harley spoke about ['Sebastian'] and its lyrics in a short documentary for the Netherlands programme Top 2000:
"It's poetry. It means what you want it to mean. "Sebastian" is the conduit, the tubes through which I took myself on that journey to write the story. I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't have been far away from tripping when I wrote "Sebastian". LSD, certainly, created so many incidents in your life, so many images, so much madness and mayhem, as well as great tranquility if you were lucky. I can't define its meaning. It's like most poetry, it's a lovely word."[13]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_(song)
This interview.
"Documentary from OOTV Holland 2008"
th-cam.com/video/j11VzFDpCSg/w-d-xo.html
Thanks to @@Ratelzwatel --- that short Holland OOTV 2008 documentary about "Sebastian" is a 😊 Must-See
Dude aged well. Split up with a girlfriend in the early eighties, had this tape from her car.
You’ve done it all 💚🎧
My favourite song of all time
Brilliant love the music
love it dont know why though just has that hook for me,,,,cheers steve
About halfway my studies, I hadn't seen yet it wasn't the thing for me, this song pulled me through one of those harrowing examination learning sessions.
Stop ! Go ! Stop ! Go ! Stop ! And on it goes...
Great to hear him play alright all night by the tom robinson band at the intro on his show 😁 come up and see me never ages , great music great band
Loved it , and I am comparativly young ?
Great to see you Steve
First time ever heard it, must be popular in europe.
Steve was the Original Phantom, He even cut the song with Sarah, as a single. Then It was pulled, and replaced with Michael Crawford's Version when He got the Job. I love the time when He messed It up on a Live Top Of The Pops. Brilliant.
Three acoustic solos and three cool songs
Year of the Cat - Al Stewart '76ish
Come up and see me - this guy
Almost with You -The Church '82
70s was the best decade for music EVER - even the acts who started in the 60s wrote their best music in the 70s
Steve Harley 🙏🏻
Kunnen jullie die smoel van die Matthijs niet uit die trailer slopen? Ik vind dat echt zo not done. Die eikel heeft hier werkelijk niets aan bijgedragen, laat staan dat het relevant is voor de rest van de clip.
There is something about songs like this that are just "right" .......a lot of Allan Parsons produced stuff is just like that.......I just wish it would happen again.....music is so "Paint by number" these days
i remember this for "Countdown" on Channel 2...
Steve Harley was a great singles writer - he wrote at least three total classics (Judy Teen, Mr Soft and this) - but I think he wanted to be an album artist, like Bob Dylan or Bowie and he didn't quite have it in him. I had the 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' LP and apart from Make Me Smile it was bollocks, really.
Pretty much agree
Steve should release the slow version for sure
Legends 🙏👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Great song.
Great Bassplay on that Precision!
cracking toon!
Ooooh la la
Mr Steve Harley🎶🎶🎶🎶💯❤️💪🫡
Awesome. One is enough!
I'm aware of this song by way of Duran Duran. Both are good...