White, White Dove

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"White, White Dove"
Single by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
from the album Timeless Flight
B-side"Throw Your Soul Down Here"
Released13 February 1976
GenreRock
Length
  • 5:37 (album version)
  • 4:15 (edited version)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Steve Harley
Producer(s)Steve Harley
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel singles chronology
"Black or White"
(1975) 		"White, White Dove"
(1976) 		"Here Comes the Sun"
(1976)

"White, White Dove" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1976 as the second and final single from their fourth studio album Timeless Flight.[1] The song was written and produced by Harley.

Background[edit]

As the second single to be released from Timeless Flight, "White, White Dove" followed the commercial failure of "Black or White", which failed to enter the UK Singles Chart when released in November 1975. "White, White Dove" was released shortly after Timeless Flight, but despite the album's top 20 success in the UK, "White, White Dove" also failed to reach the UK top 50. It did however reach number six in the UK Star Breakers Chart on 13 March 1976.[2]

"White, White Dove" was recorded at Trident Studios in London, and remixed and cut at Abbey Road Studios, London.[3] The song features Lindsay Elliott, the younger brother of the band's drummer Stuart Elliott, on congas.

Release[edit]

"White, White Dove" was released by EMI Records as a 7-inch single in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Australia.[4][5] Some versions of the single featured an edit of "White, White Dove", which cut the album version down by over a minute.[6]

The single's B-side, "Throw Your Soul Down Here", was written and produced by Harley.[7] It was exclusive to the single and remained so until it was included as a bonus track on the 1991 EMI CD release of Timeless Flight.[8] The song was recorded at AIR Studios, London, after the Timeless Flight sessions. It features Herbie Flowers on double bass and B. A. Robertson on piano.

Promotion[edit]

To promote the song's release as a single, the band performed the song live on the UK ITV music programme Supersonic. The performance has surfaced on YouTube in recent years.[9]

Critical reception[edit]

On its release as a single, Ray Fox-Cumming of Record Mirror & Disc predicted the song would be a hit. He commented, "I was not convinced that this was the best track to be single number two from Timeless Flight, but now, edited down, it does make sense. It's still not one of Harley's strongest songs, but the funky guitar patterns, well-paced vocal and sterling production all help to make it man enough for the job of chart-breaching."[10] Caroline Coon of Melody Maker was positive of the song in her review, but felt it had "less chart potential" than "Black or White". She wrote, "This is a subtly different mix from the album track. Slightly edgier, just emphasising the anger which gapes like an infinite black pit under the funky, wildly ecstatic percussion and popping bass lines. Not only is this sound supremely confident, swimming straight up the current Seventies feel, pitched right on the pulse of what is relevant in music today, but Harley's whole tone is thrusting forward in the direction to where sound will be in the Eighties."[11]

Roxana Read of the Neath Guardian commented, "Bearing olive branches, peace and contentment, Harley is back with 'White, White Dove'. Perhaps this one will get no further than 'Black or White'. Certainly not a 'Judy Teen'. Excellent, though."[12] Jim Green of Trouser Press noted the B-side, "Throw Your Soul Down Here", to be "a moody entreaty".[13] In a review of Timeless Flight, Stewart Parker, for his "High Pop" column in The Irish Times criticised the song for being "aimless and tuneless".[14] Graham Scott of The Evening Times (Little Falls, New York), considered the song to be musically similar to the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". He added, "What it's all about I'm not sure, but the music's certainly good."[15] In a 2003 review of Timeless Flight, Martin Aston of Q felt the song's "borderline-poppy chorus is scuppered by skittish, borderline-jazz rock flourishes".[16]

Track listing[edit]

7-inch single

  1. "White, White Dove" – 5:37
  2. "Throw Your Soul Down Here" – 4:04

7-inch single (Australian release)

  1. "White, White Dove" (Edited Version) – 4:15
  2. "Throw Your Soul Down Here" – 4:04

Personnel[edit]

White, White Dove

Throw Your Soul Down Here

Production

  • Steve Harley – producer
  • Peter Kelsey – engineer on "White, White Dove"
  • Tony Clark – engineer and remix engineer on "White, White Dove"
  • Chris Blair – mastering on "White, White Dove"

Charts[edit]

Chart (1976) Peak
position
UK Star Breakers Chart[2] 6

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Timeless Flight at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Star Breakers". Record Mirror & Disc. 13 March 1976. p. 2.
  3. ^ "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Timeless Flight (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Timeless Flight". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel - White, White Dove / Throw Your Soul Down Here - EMI - UK - EMI 2409". 45cat. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - White, White Dove (Edited Version)".
  7. ^ "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - White, White Dove (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Timeless Flight (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 14 April 1975. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  9. ^ YouTube. "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - White White Dove (1976)". YouTube. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  10. ^ Fox-Cumming, Ray (14 February 1976). "Singles". Record Mirror & Disc. p. 23.
  11. ^ Coon, Caroline (7 February 1976). "New Singles: Harley's wild dove". Melody Maker. p. 3.
  12. ^ Read, Roxana (12 February 1976). "Pop Round". Neath Guardian. p. 4.
  13. ^ Green, Jim (June–July 1976). "Green Circles". Trouser Press. No. 14. p. 37. ISSN 0164-1883.
  14. ^ Parker, Stewart (2008). High Pop: The Irish Times Column, 1970-1976 - Stewart Parker - Google Books. ISBN 9781904652571. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Welcome to nginx". news.google.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Timeless Flight Review". Harleyfanzone.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
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