Hey, guess what? I'm still alive! Hurrah! Sorry I've not done much on here but I've been busy. You know, like really busy. You would not believe how busy I've been. I've been so busy I'm off the Busyometer scale. Yeah, you know really, really busy. I've been busy doing all sorts of stuff. Busy hating Harry Redknapp takes up a lot of my time at the moment. But I've taken time out of hating Harry Redknapp to do this. You lucky bastards.Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, David Essex. I'm young enough to remember a time when David Essex wasn't famous. He's always been there. Whether winking at the camera on Top of the Pops or hosting his own TV show or having a sitcom written for him. I quite like him. I like him so much I went to see him in his musical All the Fun of the Fair last week with members of the family. It's not the best musical you'll ever see but it's a diverting couple of hours and live entertainment's always better than staying in watching the telly, isn't it?
Looking at the programme I was reminded what a great talent his is. Essex gets the sole writing credit on all but one of the songs in the show - and it's one of those jukebox musicals where the songs are already known to you. It has to be said there were quite a few hits in there so he's clearly not just a pretty face. Take Rock On for instance; that is a great record. It still sounds fresh nearly forty years later, in fact the opening bass chords are quite scary (it has to be said that some of the songs are shoehorned in to the musical: "Do you know what, Jonny? We're gonna make you a star!" Cue the song).
But what I admire most about Essex is his film Stardust. I love that film. The thing is that he can actually act as well as write and sing all of the songs. I first saw Stardust when I recorded on to video a late night showing when I must have been about 14. The thing that struck me most at the time was the scene where he goes to bed with a pair of buxom twins. For a 14 year-old that was just the most mind-blowing thing I'd ever seen (although having read Hammer of the Gods and Motley Crue's books, bedding a pair of twins sounds like tea at Grandma's). It's still a film I love though, as I love a lot of films of that era like Slade in Flame. It's the age-old story of boy wants to be rock star, becomes rock star, gets into the 'H', gets his head together in the country, overdoses live on TV. If you've never seen it please do, especially as Paul Nicholas gets kicked out the band, Peter Duncan's in it, Dave Edmunds tries to act and Keith Moon plays himself. And the title song played over the closing credits is just magnificent. Look at this; Stardust with That'll Be the Day is less than seven of your English pounds on Amazon.
Anyway, I like David Essex (as do an awful lot of ladies of a pretty wide age range) and can do an impression of him. Yeah.
Go on, knock yourself out, it's Friday:
9 comments:
I went to interview him when he joined EastEnders last year. Obvioulsy, I only wanted to talk about the music and the films. I'm a huge fan too. Some wonderful hits that will live forever.
Oh, and welcome back.
Was there a scene in the musical where he had to drive somewhere and did so in a silver dream machine?
You're right about the ladies, the mention of his name will cause my sister-in-law to sigh and gaze meaningfully into the distance.
Jon - I've always hoped that there's no side to him; what you see is what you get.
Thumps - You're bang on - there's a wall of death sequence which involves Silver Dream Machine with a motorbike coming out into the audience. Hooray!
You're pushing at an open door here. We caught the show a couple of years back on a Saturday matinee - a great way to spend an afternoon. Yes, some of the songs were crow-bared into the set but my only gripe was with the band; as in, there wasn't one. It was all backing tapes which gave it a slightly karaoke feel. Remind me again of the sit-com that was written for him.
Good to have you back btw.
Yeah, I noticed the absence of an orchestra in the pit...or even an orchestra pit to begin with and the presence of 48 track quality sound.
The sitcom was called The River, about our hero's travails on a narrowboat. Or was he the lockeeper? Anyway, Miss Toner off of Tutti Frutti was in it as well. I think. Whatever, Guy Martin would have approved.
I retain nostalgic admiration for Essex, Rock On is indeed a great song. The thing I remember from Stardust is the great performance by Adam 'Budgie' Faith and of course 'the twins'.
A woman at the Factory has him as her desktop pin up, such is his enduring appeal.
Mint, chief!
Welcome back, Ducky. I think it's rather nice that there's still such affection for David Essex. He's managed to retain his dignity, which is more than can be said for some other old Seventies popsters.
And there was nobody so pretty as David, back in the day.
I remember my best friend's big sister telling me all about the 'twins' scene in particularly vivid detail when Stardust came out. She was fifteen and could get in to 'AA' films, but I was only twelve so had to wait. In the end I didn't see it till it was shown on TV a few years later - with my parents and brother-in-law in the room for good measure. I wanted to die...
I didn't want to die the first time I ever saw it. Quite the opposite - I've never felt so alive!
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