David Essex - more than just a pretty face?

October 24^th – 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…