October 24th – David Essex, I always thought, was
a bit of a mish-mash of styles and lithographs of what’s been done before. Not
saying the guy hasn’t got talent, I mean, anybody whose been going since the
70’s with 40 singles and 16 albums making the charts, well, he’s got longevity
if nothing else. One thing very much in his favour is that, as I’ve worked on a
couple of shows with him in one role or another, he comes across as a decent
fella who sees the entertainment industry and his part in it as a job, just
like any other, and that’s very refreshing in this day and age of divas,
wankers and no-talent toss-pots. As to his musical output, I can’t say I’m a
fan, bit too catch-all for me and I didn’t take to his girlie-girlie
incarnation when he first started out, you know, when he resembled Cliff on 65 Special and Eddie Cochrane on American Bandstand and Elvis on…well, just
about every other music/pop programme of the time. Like most of the singers
I’ve met and known (that’s singers as
opposed to front men) Mr, Essex was just the vehicle for the song smith. Not
that he didn’t acquit himself well, he did with his sometime, Anthony Newley Mockney additions to his songs, all
coupled with his boyish charm. It was that boyish charm which was the turn off
for me as I saw him as purely a girl’s singer (some guys too, I know, but
principally aimed at the girl-teen-puberty market) and I considered Rock On was very James Dean-Gene Vincent
and Hold Me Close was very Herman’s
Hermits. Thing is, you have to hand it to Mr. Essex, he’s managed to turn his
hand to most branches of the ents industry and be fully or moderately
successful in them all. Plays, soaps, musicals and, for the point of this chat,
films.
I first sort of noticed his talent for movies when I went to
see the film, Stardust, which
premiered on this day in 1974 and was the follow-on piece from the film, with
David Essex and Adam Faith in the lead roles again, called, That’ll Be the Day, released in ‘73’. Together
with a host of pop/rock performers playing various sundry characters or
themselves (Marty Wilde, Keith Moon, Dave Edmunds, Paul Nicholas, Nick Lowe and
Karl Howman amongst them) the double-end story did hold water, with a leak or
two here and there, but, on the whole worked well. I’m guessing you all know
the story of That’ll Be the Day? Nope?
OK, quick recap then. Two fairground lads (Mr. Essex and Mr. Faith) find they
have a talent for making Mr. Essex famous. They climb the dizzy heights of rock
stardom, taking in the hang-ups that Mr. Essex has about his mum with them, and
by using and abusing those nearest and dearest to him, Mr. Essex (all aided and
abetted by his manager (Mr. Faith) who’s ruthless streak and love/jealousy
feelings for Mr. Essex seem to be the driving force of their success) seems to
alienate just about everyone mainly because Mr. Faith makes it clear there
really is no level to which he will not stoop in order to preserve and build
upon their success.
The follow-up, Stardust,
followed the two main protagonists through to a fitting end in a castle in Spain (no plot
spoiler).
Now that’s all as an aside to the main crux which is that I
found both films housed one of the better portrayals of how careers are forged
and fucked up in the industry of that time. Managers were hustlers bordering on
the ne’er do well side of gangsterism, performers gradually gained more power,
then more and more narcissism and then, oh, so stealthily, began to believe
their own press cuttings, girls (any girls) were a throwaway commodity as were
feelings and involvement with them, and finally, life at the bottom for manager
and performer was just as shit as life at the top. What made both movies was
the intelligent script with some delightful, sometime sparkling dialogue, such
as:
Charlotte Cornwell as Sally Potter (S.P.) in conversation
with Adam Faith as Mike (M.) –
S.P:
Are you a Stray Cat?
M.:
No, I’m a roadie.
S.P: Roadie
sounds like some sort of vagrant. What is that exactly?
M.:
It’s like an army batman, only without
the uniform. I make sure there’s enough beer, chips and rubbers to go round. I
supply the birds, the pills and the pot. And anything else that might be
required to satisfy their lust...carnal, or otherwise
Nice. And
then there’s David Essex as Jim Maclaine (J.M.) being interviewed on the TV (TV
Int) –
J.M.: I remember you from New York .
TV Int: It was
nice of you to remember.
J.M.: I forgot to forget.
Nicer still,
succinct and accurate.
If nothing
else counts for much in his career, Mr. Essex made the part of Jim Maclaine his
own and so we have much to be thankful for…and as for Adam Faith; there’s
someone else who’d got acting chops reaching far and beyond his past pop
career…bay-bee…
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