in 1972. Harley started his musical career playing in bars and clubs in 1971, mainly at folk venues on open-mike nights. He sang at Les Cousins, Bunjies and The Troubadour on nights featuring John Martyn, Ralph McTell, Martin Carthy and Julie Felix, who were all popular musicians within the London folk movement of the time. In 1971, he auditioned for the folk band Odin as rhythm guitarist and co-singer, which was where he met Jean-Paul Crocker, who would become the first Cockney Rebel violinist. Harley began busking around London in 1972, including on the Underground and in Portobello Road, whilst also writing songs. After the folk scene proved not to be his preference, he formed the band Cockney Rebel in late 1972 as a vehicle for his own work. Cockney Rebel 1972–77 The original Cockney Rebel consisted of Harley, Crocker, drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys and guitarist Nick Jones. Jones was soon replaced by Pete Newnham; however, Harley felt the band did not need electric guitar, particularly with the arrival of keyboardist Milton Reame-James. They settled on the combination of Crocker's electric violin and Reame-James' Fender Rhodes piano. During 1972, representatives of Cockney Rebel began to send demo tapes to various labels. Mickie Most discovered the band at a London nightclub known as The Speakeasy Club and offered them their first contract with his RAK Publishing. In turn this influenced the A&R personnel at EMI Records, who then offered the band a three-album deal. With producer Neil Harrison, Cockney Rebel recorded their debut album, The Human Menagerie, during June and July 1973. Their debut single "Sebastian" became a hit across Europe, but failed to chart in the UK. When released in November 1973, The Human Menagerie suffered a similar fate. Despite the lack of commercial success, the album was critically well-received and soon gained cult status. The Human Menageries lack of success led EMI to feel that the band had yet to record a potential hit single. In response, Harley went away to re-work the unrecorded song "Judy Teen", with the objective of making it single material. "Judy Teen" was released in March 1974 and peaked at No. 5 in the UK. During February and March 1974, the band recorded their second album The Psychomodo, which was produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. Released in June, the album peaked at No. 8 in the UK. From May until July