Thursday, November 02, 2006
It occurred to me, reading Enemy Of The People's comment, that a few people might not know who David Essex is. So, before I get into the David Essex gig, a quick potted history of the man. This is from memory.
David Essex started off his showbusiness career in the early 60's as a drummer in various pop groups. (For a time he was in a group with the actor Lewis Collins - who played bass - later of "The Professionals". At one time Lewis Collins was considered a fair bet to be the actor to replace Roger Moore as Bond, but it never happened as Moore hung on too long. Shame. I think Lewis Collins would have been an interesting Bond.) David Essex was not a success as a drummer and made a swap to acting and musical theatre.
By the early 70's David Essex was appearing as the lead in the successful London stage production of "Godspell". Producer David Puttnam spotted him and cast him as the lead in the feature films "That'll Be The Day" and "Stardust", charting the rise and fall of (fictional) rock star Jim MacClaine. (They are great films, by the way. Especially "Stardust", which boasts one of the most chilling final sequences of a movie that I have ever seen. I urge you to check them out, if you can.)
David Essex's pop career took off at this point. "Rock On", from the soundtrack of "That'll Be The Day", hit number 1 in the UK in August 1973 and he enjoyed a string of hits in the UK. I think that some of them were pop gold. "Gonna Make You A Star", "Hold Me Close", "Lamplight", "Stardust", etc. He became somewhat of a teen idol during that pre-punk era.
(Lorraine would say that this was because he was kind of gorgeous. I wouldn't disagree with that. Here's a picture of him in his pomp.
Twinkly eyed, is how I would describe him.)
During the late 70's he moved back to musical theatre and created the role of Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice's musical "Evita". After the 80's he didn't really trouble the charts much, but continued to work in movies, musicals and theatre. He also had a dedicated fanbase and continued to record and tour.
Which is about where we are today.
I will finish this tomorrow. It has suddenly got late. I need my beauty sleep.
David Essex started off his showbusiness career in the early 60's as a drummer in various pop groups. (For a time he was in a group with the actor Lewis Collins - who played bass - later of "The Professionals". At one time Lewis Collins was considered a fair bet to be the actor to replace Roger Moore as Bond, but it never happened as Moore hung on too long. Shame. I think Lewis Collins would have been an interesting Bond.) David Essex was not a success as a drummer and made a swap to acting and musical theatre.
By the early 70's David Essex was appearing as the lead in the successful London stage production of "Godspell". Producer David Puttnam spotted him and cast him as the lead in the feature films "That'll Be The Day" and "Stardust", charting the rise and fall of (fictional) rock star Jim MacClaine. (They are great films, by the way. Especially "Stardust", which boasts one of the most chilling final sequences of a movie that I have ever seen. I urge you to check them out, if you can.)
David Essex's pop career took off at this point. "Rock On", from the soundtrack of "That'll Be The Day", hit number 1 in the UK in August 1973 and he enjoyed a string of hits in the UK. I think that some of them were pop gold. "Gonna Make You A Star", "Hold Me Close", "Lamplight", "Stardust", etc. He became somewhat of a teen idol during that pre-punk era.
(Lorraine would say that this was because he was kind of gorgeous. I wouldn't disagree with that. Here's a picture of him in his pomp.
Twinkly eyed, is how I would describe him.)
During the late 70's he moved back to musical theatre and created the role of Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice's musical "Evita". After the 80's he didn't really trouble the charts much, but continued to work in movies, musicals and theatre. He also had a dedicated fanbase and continued to record and tour.
Which is about where we are today.
I will finish this tomorrow. It has suddenly got late. I need my beauty sleep.
# posted by Pynchon @ 10:39 pm 
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Thanks for the explanation. I was left wondering as I read yesterday's post. I've never, ever, heard of David Essex.
Yes, I remember seeing "That'll Be The Day" and "Stardust" when I were a lad (on video of course).
Fine films both.
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Fine films both.
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