PROFILE: David Essex is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. He has also had an extensive career as an actor.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Essex was born in Plaistow, London on July 23rd, 1947. His father was an East End docker and his mother was a self-taught pianist who worked as a cleaner in a local pub.
- He grew up in Canning Town were he loved playing football, was a member of West Ham Juniors for awhile and dreamed of one day being a professional player.
- In his early teens, one of his holiday jobs was working at a fun fair which may have contributed to his love for mixing theatre and music later in life.
- In the mid 1960s, Essex joined a band called the Everons as the drummer and also worked in a factory during that time. He later left the band, became a singer and renamed himself David Essex during a time when British rock ‘n’ roll was riding high.
- By the late 1960s, Essex was recording with Decca Records, as well as working for other labels. Unfortunately, his first ten singles flopped, and, feeling discouraged, he switched to acting. He went through a demanding time of working in small theatre productions, while earning a living driving tucks and cleaning windows.
- Things began to progress when he met theatre writer Derek Bowman, who became his manager. They began working on refining his singing and acting techniques and he also took up dance lessons. The hard work paid off and he was cast as Jesus in the original London cast of ‘Godspell’ with Jeremy Irons as John the Baptist. It was an incredible success and Essex won the Variety Club of Great Britain’s award for Most Promising Newcomer.
- In 1971, age 24, Essex was a star of the stage and decided to set his sights on film. Having made his movie debut as an uncredited beatnik in ‘Smashing Time’ and being cast in a few other small roles, he had yet to do some noteworthy film acting. His big break came with his starring roles in “That’ll be the Day” and “Stardust.”
- Essex hired producer Jeff Wayne from the US and it helped Essex’s obtain an edge that set him apart from the 1970s teen pop sound.
- In 1974, he was voted #1 British male vocalist.
- Essex has five children, two from his 1st marriage to Maureen Neal, Verity and Danny. He has twins with his second wife to Carlotta Christy, Billy and Kit and more recently Sonny to his third wife Susan Hallam-Wright.
- He is known to soap opera fans for his role as Eddie Moon on EastEnders.
VIDEOS:
ALBUMS
- Rock On -1973
- David Essex – 1974
- All the Fun of the Fair – 1975
- On Tour – 1976
- Out on the Street – 1976
- Gold and Ivory – 1977
- Imperial Wizard – 1979
- Hot Love- 1980
- Be-Bop the Future – 1981
- Stage-Struck -1982
- The Whisper – 1983
- This One’s For You – 1984
- Centre Stage – 1986
- Touching the Ghost – 1989
- Cover Shot – 1993
- Back to Back – 1984
- A Night at the Movies – 1997
- Here We are All Together -1998
- I Still Believe – 1999
- Thank You – 2000
- Wonderful – 2001
- Theatre of Dreams – 2001
- Forever – 2002
- Sunset – 2003
- It’s Gonna Be Alright – 2004
- Beautiful Day – 2006
- Happy Ever After – 2007
- Unplugged – 2009
- Reflections – 2013
SINGLES
- “And the Tears Came Tumbling Down”
- “Can’t Nobody Love You”
- “This Little Girl of Mine”
- “Thigh High”
- “She’s Leaving Home”
- “Love Story”
- “Just For Tonight”
- “That Takes Me Back”
- “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
- “Time of Our Life”
- “The Spark That Lights the Flame”
- “Rock On”
- “Lamplight”
- “America”
- “Gonna Make You a Star”
- “Stardust”
- “Rolling Stone”
- “Hold Me Close”
- “If I Could”
- “City Lights”
- “Coming Home”
- “Oooh Love”
- “Cool Out Tonight”
- “Stay With Me Baby”
- “Oh What a Circus”
- “Brave New World”
- “Goodbye First Love”
- “Imperial Wizard”
- “20 Flights Up”
- “World”
- “Silver Dream Machine”
- “Hot Love”
- “The Race”
- “On My Bike”
- “Heart on My Sleeve”
- “Be-Bop-A-Lula”
- “Sunshine Girl”
- “The Magician”
- “Sweethearts”
- “Me and My Girl (Night-Clubbing)”
- “No Substitutes”
- “A Winter’s Tale”
- “The Smile”
- “Tahiti”
- “You’re In My Heart”
- “Fishing For the Moon”
- “Welcome”
- “Falling Angels Riding”
- “Friends”
- “Freedom”
- “Back in England for Christmas”
- “Myfanwy”
- “Look at the Sun Shining”
- “The River”
- “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”
- “Missing You (Magic)”
- “A Shoulder to Cry On”
- “Africa You Shine”
- “A Song for Old Lovers”
- “Everlasting Love”
- “True Love Ways”
- “Bella Bella”
- “Oh Suburbia”
- “You Can’t Stop Me Loving You”
- “Baby I Don’t Mind”
- “Broken Hearted”
- “De Boom Lay Boom”
- “He’s a Better Man Than Me”
- “Higher Than High”
- “Goodbye”
- “Lost Without Linda”
- “Is it So Strange?”
- “We Can reach An Understanding”
- “Two Can Share”
- “On And On”
- “We All Insane”
- “Dance Little Girl”
- “Window”
- “Miss Sweetness”
- “Coconut Ice”
- “Good Ol’ Rock And Roll”
- “Funfair”
- “St. Amie”
- “Good Loving”
- “City”
- “Yesterday in L.A.”
- “Lend Me Your Comb”
- “High Flying, Adored”
- “Streetfight”
- “Won’t Change Me Now”
- “Midnight Train”
- “Are You Still My True Love”
- “I Who Am I”
- “Silver Dream Machine”
- “Rock and Roll Me”
- “Suzuki Warlord”
- “Swim Against The Flow”
- “I Don’t Wanna Go To The Disco”
- “Secret Lover”
- “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
- “Life Support System”
- “Hold On Me”
- “Sleeping With Director”
- “She’s My World”
- “Verity”
- “Slave”
- “Hell”
- “Come On Little Darlin”
- “Zulu Warrior”
- “Wardance”
- “Song For A Painter”
- “I’ll Go No More a Rovin'”
- “Storm”
- “Back in England for Christmas”
- “Here Comes The Rain”
- “Take Me to the River”
- “The Zone”
- “Heart Beats Like a Drum”
- “Forever And A Day”
- “Living in England”
- “Indian Girl”
- “Masterpiece or Fake”
- “Father and Son”
- “A Winter’s Tale”
- “Maybe Tomorrow / You Came Into My Life”
FILMOGRAPHY:
- Smashing Time (1967)
- Assault (1971)
- All Coppers Are… (1972)
- That’ll Be the Day (1973)
- Stardust (1974)
- The Big Bus (1976)
- Silver Dream Racer (1980)
- The River (1988)
- Tribe (2011)
- EastEnders (2011)
- Traveller (2013)
- The Guvnors (2014)
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Essex
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/david-essex.html
http://www.lifetimetv.co.uk/biography/biography-david-essex
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