what Frank is listening to #80 – DAVID ESSEX – Gold & Ivory (CBS) – 1977
I like David Essex. A dirty little secret? No !
Essex is one of the few contemporary artists I recollect liking in he 70s and his albums were remarkably easy to find in op shops in the 80s. I assume that is because they were bought by kids who out grew them quickly, which is a pity as most of his 70s albums have redeeming features and "Rock On"(1973), "David Essex" (1974) and "All the Fun of the Fair"(1975) are great. It was some of the best stuff coming out of England in the 70s prior to punk. There I've said it.
Essex was born David Albert Cook in 1947 in Essex, England. It seems some form of the performing arts was always going to be part of him – his mother was a pianist (and an Irish traveller – ie: gypsy), he recorded his first single in 1963, appeared in British films, was the lead in the English production of Godspell (much better that Jesus Christ Superstar, though my opinions on this issue are well known), starred in a couple of the best English films of the 70s – That'll be the Day, Stardust), had TV shows, had a top 10 in the US – "Rock On" #5, had 23 top 30s in the UK).
Mid-70s England was awash with Essex-mania. He was that popular.
Despite his teen idol status Essex had loftier ambitions … he wrote most of his albums and displays quite a bit of cynicism (though sometimes obvious), darkness, and alienated detachment. There is also a lot of melancholia, sentimentality, and loss in his songs. Also, many of the songs seem to refer thematically to the fall of the British Empire, or "Empire lost" possibly taking a leaf out of the Ray Davies songbook, given that the 70s in England was not the place to be writing odes to palm trees and sunshine type songs – strikes, unemployment, bombings, urban decay being the norm. But, musically, there is quite a bit of pop in there – so is it "lightly dark" music? Essex's voice is never really extended and it's almost as if he is singing "in character" … as if his own persona was a character like some sort of alienated Ziggy Stardust teen idol.
Maybe this is the real David Essex?
The 70s Essex albums have many strengths and only some minor liabilities. Essex writes well enough in the aforementioned lightly dark style and is not above pinching some choice phrases (he can see for "miles and miles" on new Horizon, "Once upon a time she dress so fine" on "Lend Me your Comb"). Essex also can be quite quirky – I gather he didn't like his teen idol status and was always trying to avoid pigeonholing. This is to his advantage as it mixes the albums up and keeps them interesting. Crucial to Essex's sound is Jeff Wayne (of "War of the Worlds" fame – incidentally he is an American). There are echoes of glam, singer songwriter, pop and old fashioned rock 'n' roll but all are subsumed under Jeff Wayne's lush and multi layered musical soundscapes. In the fashion of US white doo wop bands (maybe not accidentally given that Wayne was from New York) the mood and narrative of the song is important and it doesn't matter if the theme is teen tragedy, teen disenfranchisement, lost love, drab modern living … everything becomes a mini rock opera.
Essex's first three albums have at times always been on high rotation at my place. I play one then I play the next – the sound is fairly consistent across all three as it is on this LP. Those first three were produced by Jeff Wayne but this album is produced by Essex himself, for Jeff Wayne productions, whatever that means. I suspect Jeff Wayne was too busy on "War of the Worlds" which came out in 1978. It doesn't matter as there is no great discernable difference in sound. Essex was always the consummate showman and I'm sure he learnt well from his mentors even when he was adopting bits and pieces of other successful acts.
This formula suited Essex well in the 70s and I haven't heard much of his post-80s stuff but what I have heard is not too flash. Certainly the formula can still deliver the goods but is probably wearing thin by this album. The best songs have been done, Jeff Wayne had really done the same instrumentation over three albums already, and it is 1977 – the dawn of UK punk.
Best Tracks
- New Horizon
- Lend Me Your Comb
- Back Street Crawler –
- Cool Out Tonight – #23UK.
- Britannia
- Gold & Ivory
And …
l'll keep this as I have the other three and there are some good songs on it.
Chart Action
The album went to #29 in the UK
Sounds
Cool Out Tonight
Gold & Ivory
attached
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(originally posted: 26/08/2009)
