(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna

"(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna"
Single by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
from the album Love's a Prima Donna
B-side	"Sidetrack 1 (Group Version)"
Released	15 October 1976
Format	7"
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	4:11
Label	EMI Records
Writer(s)	Steve Harley
Producer(s)	Steve Harley
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel singles chronology
"Here Comes the Sun" (1976) "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" (1976) "(Love) Compared with You" (1976)

"(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released as the second single from the band's 1976 album Love's a Prima Donna.^[1] "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" was written and produced by Harley. It would be the band's last charting single before Steve Harley pursued a solo career.

Background

Following the UK Top 10 success of the previous single "Here Comes the Sun", "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" was chosen as the second single from Love's a Prima Donna, and peaked at #41 in the UK, lasting within the Top 50 for four weeks. The song had originally debuted at #48 in early November 1976.^[2]

Like the entire Love's a Prima Donna album, the song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios at some point during the sessions between June and September 1976.^[3] The song's title would be used for the album too.

Release

The single was released via two almost-identical editions of 7" vinyl through EMI Records in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Japan.^[4][5] The single featured the exclusive B-Side which was labelled as either "Sidetrack 1" or "Sidetrack 1 (Group Version)" on each of two versions of the single. The song was written and produced by Harley.^[6] The follow-up track "Sidetrack 2" appeared on the Love's a Prima Donna album.^[1]

All versions of the single artwork titled the song "Love is a Prima Donna", although the actual vinyl used the song's main title.^[7] The UK release featured no artwork and used a generic sleeve instead, while the Dutch artwork highlighted a photograph of the entire band, using black and light red as the only colours. The German release featured a close-up shot of Harley in front of a microphone on stage, the Japanese artwork featured the same main design as the Love's a Prima Donna album, and the Belgian release featured the band name and song title as large text with a blue background, with no photograph.^[8][9]

Following the original release on the Love's a Prima Donna album and as a single, the song has also appeared on the 1987 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel compilation Greatest Hits.^[10]

Promotion

No music video was created for the single, however the band appeared on UK music show Top of the Pops to perform the song - the broadcast episode dated 21 October 1976.^[11] Since being unofficially uploaded on YouTube in mid-2007, the performance has gained over 74,000 views.^[12] Harley also performed the song, minus the band, on ITV's Supersonic show around the same period.^[13]

The song has been performed during Cockney Rebel's live concerts on many occasions and was included on the band's 1977 live album Face to Face.^[14] In 1989, a live performance of the song was professionally filmed during the band's come back "All is Forgiven" tour. The performance was released on VHS, titled The Come Back, All is Forgiven Tour: Live.^[15]

Track listing

7" Single

1. "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" - 4:11
2. "Sidetrack 1 (Group Version)" - 2:46

7" Single (alternative release)

1. "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" - 4:11
2. "Sidetrack 1" - 2:46

Critical reception

Donald A. Guarisco of Allmusic spoke of the song in a review of Love's a Prima Donna album, stating "Love's a Prima Donna features two of Harley's finest songs; in the title track, a bracing song that features the writer waxing comical about the pitfalls of love over a briskly paced pop tune that fleshes out its pub-piano melody with flamenco guitar and a choir."^[16]

George Starostin reviewed the album for his website and spoke of the song, highlighting the song as the best track on the album and stating "Harley does correct the previous record's major mistake of not having hit single material, and comes up with his last significant verse-chorus anthem, "(I Believe) Love's A Prima Donna" - yet another smooth pop-rocker in the vein of "Make Me Smile" with a catchy-as-heck chorus and upbeat vocal harmonies showing that as a prime popmeister, this guy was still quite able when he wanted to. However, unlike The Best Years of Our Lives, where the hit single fit into the overall picture quite nicely, here this structurally impeccable "anthem-ditty" is just one of the many different pieces of the complex puzzle."^[17]

In the Billboard magazine issue of 29 January 1977, a review of the Love's a Prima Donna album was published under the 'Pop' section of the 'Billboard's Recommended LPs' section. The review had highlighted the song, along with the "(Love) Compared with You", as the best cuts.^[18]

In the EMI Records Weekly News Magazine, issue number 72, the album was reviewed by Rex Anderson, who went through each song, track-by-track, on the album. He stated "(Love) Compared With You is the first real highpoint of the album and possibly one of the best things Steve has written to date. It contrasts with all his other work in that it is romantic and dreamy. It is a love hymn with beautifully gentle acoustic guitar, piano, and strings. The "I'm in love with you" overdubbed fade is a little production masterpiece on its own. The following track, "(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna" is a brilliant contrast. The guy has been through all the different pangs of adolescent love and comes to the realisation that "love" is a prima donna." Later in the review, Anderson also noted "Tony Rivers deserves some praise for his vocal arrangements, particularly on "(Love) Compared with You" and "Love's a Prima Donna"."^[19]

Chart performance

Personnel

• Vocals, Guitar, Producer - Steve Harley
• Guitar, Backing Vocals - Jim Cregan
• Guitar - Jo Partridge
• Bass, Backing Vocals - George Ford
• Keyboards - Duncan Mackay
• Drums - Stuart Elliott

Additional personnel

• Percussion - Lindsay Elliott
• Backing Vocals - Yvonne Keeley
• Backing Vocals - John G. Perry
• Backing Vocals - Tony Rivers
• Sound Engineer - Tony Clark
• Assistant Sound Engineer - Pat Stapley
• Writers of "(I Believe) Love's A Prima Donna" - Steve Harley
• Writers of "Sidetrack 1 (Group Version)" - Steve Harley

References