![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Alex-Harvey-Musician-Sensational-Alex-Harvey-Band-1970s-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alex Harvey)<\/p>\n
Tue 3 March 2026 9:00, UK <\/p>\n
The glam theatre that struck the UK rock<\/a> charts across the early 1970s afforded Alex Harvey a sorely-needed extra stab at rock fame.<\/p>\n Nabbing Scottish progressive rock band Tear Gas as his trusty backing group, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band cut a markedly hard-nosed slice of comic vaudeville among the Top of the Pops cohort\u2019s preening glitter, all brawny hard rock attack mixed with Broadway standards and Jacques Brel chanson, conjuring a sound completely grounded on the street over their peers\u2019 escapist shimmer.<\/p>\n Yet, Harvey was in his late 30s before finally becoming a cult name. Before dropping SAHB\u2019s Framed debut in 1972, Harvey already had a distinguished musical CV stretching as far back as his teens playing Glaswegian skiffle. For the next nearly 20 years, a hungry Harvey would try his hand at blues, jazz, and performing in the pit band for the Hair<\/a> production, counting several LPs under his belt as a solo artist and one record as Alex Harvey and His Soul Band.<\/p>\n He\u2019d tried his hand at everything but rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, but glam\u2019s new platform for big personalities and arresting theatre proved too tempting for Harvey to pass up, perfectly befitting his raconteur songcraft and performance bombast.<\/p>\n Despite finally selling units and playing arenas, the music veteran still harboured a diffident relationship with the whole rock \u2018n\u2019 roll schtick and its many pitfalls.<\/p>\n \u201cThe machine scared me a bit because I don\u2019t really want to be a star,\u201d Harvey told journalist Harry Doherty in 1976. \u201cI don\u2019t relish the idea of it. You know Rory [Gallagher]\u2026 well, we talk about that often, and he\u2019s managed to keep it separate. I try. I suppose I\u2019m very extrovert on stage and everything, but at the same time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Looking around his family home and loving family, Harvey\u2019s previous lives struggling in the music business appeared to instil a sense of perspective on the trappings of fame, \u201cI like this. I like the kids and dogs and stuff\u2026 I don\u2019t like the flash, the parties. I\u2019ve been through that, and it doesn\u2019t ring true. To me, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll has always been the truth, and I don\u2019t like it when it becomes stereotyped.\u201d<\/p>\n