David Essex's first notable acting role was the lead in the stage musical, Godspell[3] in 1971 at the age of 23. Two years later, he starred in the film That'll Be The Day (1973) and recorded a major hit single, "Rock On" (which he wrote himself), in the same year. A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the British Top 10.
In the 1970s, Essex emerged as one of the UK's top performers. His biggest hits during this decade included two Number One singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974), a satirical look at his success; and "Hold Me Close" (1975), a cheerful singalong. He also appeared in Stardust, a 1974 sequel to That'll Be The Day; the title song was another Top 10 hit. In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song, “Yesterday”, for the musical documentary All This and World War II.
Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X 'he was voted the number one British male vocalist in 1974, and was a teen idol for more than a decade'. <--- all that from Wiki's site [here]
My opinion is he's good and his music is beautiful. One of the things I remember most about him was his sound mixing techniques. He or somebody in the studio took full advantage of the stereo effects and created music that filled the whole space. Back when most radio was AM-Mono that was something that amazed you to no end.
Rock on was the hit but Lamplight and Streetfight are better. I wish I could find Streetfight for you but looks like I gotta drive 90 minutes to order it then go back again and buy it. It'll be 7th or 8th copy I bought but I really miss hearing it.
Please enjoy Mister David Essex as I did when I first heard him,,,
( Top of the pops )
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