Alex Harvey (musician)
Alexander James “Alex” Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 Trower fame.[5] Les Harvey was electrocuted in a freak
February 1982) was a Scottish blues/rock musician. Al- accident while performing with the band in 1972.
though Harvey’s career spanned almost three decades he
In 1972, Harvey formed the Sensational Alex Har-
is best remembered as the frontman of The Sensational vey Band (often shortened to SAHB) with guitarist Zal
Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as
Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen, and cousins Hugh and Ted
an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in McKenna on keyboards and drums respectively, all pre-
the 1970s. vious members of progressive rock act Tear Gas. SAHB
produced a succession of highly regarded albums and
tours throughout the 1970s. The band never achieved ac-
claim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain,
1 Biography but it had a cult following in certain US cities, espe-
cially Cleveland, where the group first played at the Agora
Harvey was born in the Kinning Park district of Glasgow, Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from
a working-class neighbourhood, where he grew up.[1] WMMS, songs like “Next” and “The Faith Healer” be-
By his own account, he worked in a number of jobs, came very popular. Cleveland remained a city where the
from carpentry to waiting tables at a restaurant to carv- Sensational Alex Harvey Band had a devoted following.
ing tombstones,[2] before finding success in music. He [6]
However, they were unable to replicate that popularity
first began performing in skiffle groups in 1954.[1] On Fri- in most other US cities. [7]
day, 20 May 1960, at the Town Hall in Alloa, Alex Har-
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had Top 40 hits in
vey and his Big Beat Band opened for Johnny Gentle and
Britain with the single "Delilah", a cover version of the
His Group, “His Group” being the Beatles (John, Paul,
Tom Jones hit, which reached number seven in 1975,
George, Stuart Sutcliffe and Tommy Moore), on this the
and also with “The Boston Tea Party” in June 1976. Af-
opening night – and biggest audience – of the Beatles’
ter Harvey left the group later that year, the other mem-
seven-date tour of Scotland with Gentle.[3]
bers continued as “SAHB… without Alex”. Harvey re-
His musical roots were in Dixieland jazz and skiffle mu- joined the group for 1978’s Rock Drill, but they disbanded
sic, which enjoyed considerable popularity in Britain dur- shortly afterwards.
ing the late 1950s. From 1958 until 1965, he was the
On 4 February 1982, a day short of his 47th birthday,
leader of Alex Harvey’s Big Soul Band, playing blues and
Harvey suffered a massive heart attack while waiting to
rock and roll songs and spending considerable time tour-
take a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to England after
ing in the United Kingdom and Germany.[2] He also won
performing a Belgian gig with his new band, the Electric
a competition that sought “Scotland’s answer to Tommy
Cowboys. He suffered a fatal second attack in an am-
Steele". Harvey became strongly identified with British
bulance on the way to hospital. He left his second wife,
rhythm and blues music, although he was equally able to
Trudy, and two sons (Alex, by his first wife, Mary Mar-
play rock songs.
tin, and Tyro).[8] In 2002, a biography of Harvey by John
After leaving the Big Soul Band, he briefly tried for a solo Neil Munro was published: The Sensational Alex Harvey.
career but with little success.[2] By 1967, he found a pos- The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were voted the fifth
itive direction for his career, when he became a member greatest Scottish band of all time in a 2005 survey.[9] Af-
of the pit band in the London stage production of the mu- ter Alex’s death, they released two live albums, Live in
sical Hair. This band recorded the live album Hair Rave Glasgow 1993 (1994) and Zalvation (2006), which fea-
Up, which contained Harvey originals and other songs ture many classic SAHB songs. On 4 February 2012, a
not from the stage show. In 1970, Harvey formed Rock rowan tree was planted in memory of Alex on the grounds
Workshop with Ray Russell; their first, self-titled album of the People’s Palace museum in Glasgow. The tree was
contained an early version of “Hole in Her Stocking”,[4] planted by Alex Harvey Junior and the remaining mem-
later to appear on Framed. Harvey remained with Hair bers of the band.[10] A limited edition book entitled Alex
for five years. Harvey: Last of the Teenage Idols, photographed by Janet
Harvey was also instrumental in the formation of the Macoska and edited by Martin[11] Kielty was released for the
band Stone the Crows by introducing his younger brother, 30th anniversary of his death.
Leslie “Les” Harvey, to singer Maggie Bell. Also in Two novels by Christopher Brookmyre, The Sacred Art of
Stone the Crows was bassist James Dewar, later of Robin
1
2 3 REFERENCES
Stealing and A Snowball in Hell, reference SAHB’s work. 2.3 Compilations/other records
On March 18th 2016 Universal Music released an all en-
• Band on the Wagon (1969)
compassing 14 disc box set of Harvey’s work, entitled
The Last Of The Teenage Idols. This multi-disc set was • Alex Harvey and His Soul Band, 20 unreleased
the most comprehensive compilation of Harvey’s music tracks, CD only (1999)
to date, including many rare and out of print titles, and
was released to great acclaim. • Hot City: The 1974 Unreleased Album (2008)[12] (an
earlier version of The Impossible Dream, unreleased
at the time)
2 Discography • ... Delilah, (Spectrum 1994)
• Considering the Situation (Universal 2003)
2.1 Studio albums
• Hot City (2009)
• Alex Harvey and His Soul Band (1964)
• Big Hits and Close Shaves (1977)
• The Blues (1964)
• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Old Gold 1997)
• Roman Wall Blues (1969)
• Teenage A Go Go (Alchemy Entertainment 2003)
• The Joker is Wild (1972) • All Sensations (Vertigo 1992)
• Framed (1972) • The Best of the Sensational (UK chart peak:
#148)[13]
• Next (1973)
• The Impossible Dream (1974) The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Collection [ CD Cas-
tle Communications 1986 ]
• Tomorrow Belongs to Me (1975)
• The Penthouse Tapes (1976) • Last of the Teenage Idols a 14-CD / 217-track box
set including 21 previously unreleased songs, 59
• SAHB Stories (1976) songs on cd for the 1st time and a number of rare
recordings plus a hardback book of photographs
• Rock Drill (1978) (2016)
• The Mafia Stole My Guitar (1979)
• Soldier on the Wall (1982) 3 References
[1] “Rock Star” 2
2.2 Live albums
[2] Denselow, 8
• Hair Rave Up (1969)
[3] Lewisohn, Mark, The Beatles: All These Years; Tune In,
• Alex Harvey Talks About Everything (1974) p. 309-310,
[4] “Rock Workshop album description”. Angel Air Records.
• Live (1975)
13 March 2006. Archived from the original on 15 January
• Alex Harvey Presents: The Loch Ness Monster 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
(1977) [5] Logan, Nick &Woffinden, Bob (eds.) “The New Musical
Express Book of Rock”, W.H. Allen &Co. Ltd (Star),
• BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1991) 1973, p. 450. ISBN 0-352-39715-2.
• Live in Glasgow 1993 (1994) [6] Jane Scott. “Alex Harvey Dies on Boat.” Cleveland Plain
Dealer, February 12, 1982, p. T-23.
• Live on the Test (1995)
[7] Anastasia Pantsios. “Rock Beat.” Cleveland Plain Dealer,
• The Gospel According to Alex Harvey (1998) July 25, 1980, p. T-34.
• British Tour '76 (2004) [8] “Alex Harvey”. Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 2 Jan-
uary 2012.
• Zalvation (2006)
[9] “Entertainment | Belle named 'best Scottish band'". BBC
• Live at the BBC (2009) News. 12 January 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
3
[10] “Alex Harvey – A Tribute – People’s Palace – Glasgow”.
Events.glasgowlife.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
[11] “Alex Harvey : Last of the Teenage Idols”. Alexharvey-
book.com. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
[12] “Hot City: The 1974 Unreleased Album – Alex Harvey”.
allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
[13] “CHART LOG UK: NEW ENTRIES UPDATE : Chart
Date: 06.08.2011”. Zobbel.de. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
4 External links
• Official site
• Alex Harvey (musician) discography at Discogs
• Alex Harvey at AllMusic
• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at AllMusic
4 5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
5.1 Text
• Alex Harvey (musician) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Harvey_(musician)?oldid=760637217 Contributors: Deb, Quercus-
robur, Ihcoyc, SoLando, Diberri, Bradeos Graphon, The Undertones, O'Dea, Spinal83, Sc147, C1k3, Adambro, Stesmo, Giraffedata,
BladeSteve, Tony Sidaway, Pauli133, JarlaxleArtemis, GregorB, Scaz, Jdcooper, Erebus555, CalJW, AllyD, Design, Diogenes00, Russ-
Bot, Egham1, Guy Hatton, Patrick Neylan, Number 57, Rfsmit, Birnkammer fabian, robot, Amalthea, A bit iffy, SmackBot, Ro-
jomoke, Ohnoitsjamie, Hmains, Bluebot, Jellyman, Darth Panda, Ritchie333, Wen D House, Derek R Bullamore, Smerus, Salamurai,
Marcus Brute, Evlekis, Bretonbanquet, Ohconfucius, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, John, BillFlis, Beetstra, E-Kartoffel, ChazYork, Iridescent,
Frankenab, David VI, Alimat, Ric36, Kevin McE, Cydebot, Pontus Lindengren, Thijs!bot, Rrose Selavy, Z10x, John Ritchie, IanHistor,
Obin gam, MER-C, Crazy-ivan, Rothorpe, Les4555, VoABot II, Jmorrison230582, Waacstats, Norman3412, Shotgunjoe, Libralove, 9ulk,
Egghead06, Guthrum, DSRH, Jeff G., A4bot, Rei-bot, Thunderbuck ram, - tSR - Nth Man, Cosprings, Phe-bot, EndlessWires, Lightmouse,
Sfcrawford, HairyWombat, Rodhullandemu, Boing! said Zebedee, Evermore2, DeathSkullz, John Splendid, Excirial, Alexbot, Arjayay,
Dannyrotten, Reesmf, Fred the Oyster, Mifter, Officially Mr X, Amy Dolman, Addbot, Tcncv, CarsracBot, Chzz, Debresser, Tassedethe,
Lightbot, Zorrobot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, Rockyrococco, Carrso, Mathonius, XPEHOPE3, FrescoBot, Jukka Tarvonen,
Billtkd, JPGR69, David Quantick, ComradeSimBob, DASHBot, EmausBot, Nezdek, Dr Aaij, Jim Michael, Wikipelli, Ernest Quinch, Un-
real7, HandsomeFella, MacStep, ClueBot NG, Alphasinus, Lashuto, AlterBerg, Levdr1lp, DonnaHalper, ElliotRosewater, ChrisGualtieri,
Shayne lovelace, Telegraph Totter, Mrwallace05, PinstripeHourglass, Jakechipolis, RB90, Padraig Singal, Bluesfog, KasparBot, GreenC
bot, Brian mcneill1972 and Anonymous: 114
5.2 Images
• File:Alex-Harvey.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Alex-Harvey.jpg License: Fair use Contributors:
http://dkandroughmix-forgottensongs.blogspot.co.nz/2010/01/sensational-alex-harvey-band-anthem-7.html Original artist: ?
5.3 Content license
• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
