Express & Star

David Essex talks ahead of Legends Live tour in Birmingham

They were legends back in the day, enjoying a string of chart hits and becoming idols to millions. And the passage of time hasn’t diminished the appeal of such pop stars as David Essex, Suzi Quatro and Bay City Rollers, who will line-up alongside Smokie at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena tonight for Legends Live.

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David Essex joins a host of stars tonight in Birmingham

The four bands will recreate yesteryear by playing their greatest hits for fans who want to stroll down memory lane.

David Essex was one of the biggest of the 1970s and he achieved 19 Top 40 singles in the UK, including two number ones, as well as 16 Top 40 albums. Essex became an international star, enjoying huge success with the hit single Rock On before moving into acting.

He’d grown up in Essex and his father was an East End docker while his mother was a self-taught pianist and Irish Traveller. He loved football and refused to take his Eleven-plus exam in the hope that he could attend a school that had a great reputation for the beautiful game. As a child, Essex’s biggest ambition was to play for West Ham United but fate intervened and he became interested in music.

That led to his first record, And the Tears Came Tumbling Down, in 1965, and he made a number of attempts to crack the charts towards the end of the decade. He also took on acting roles before breaking through in the stage musical, Godspell in 1971. He was 23.

Within two years, he’d recorded his international hit single, the self-penned Rock On, which sold more than a million copies and earned him a Grammy nomination.

Essex was about more than just music and his pop idol looks made him the biggest pin-up of the day. His female fans created hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania and Essex remained a teen idol for more than a decade.

“I have enjoyed the success, of course, and I have enjoyed the fact that I have been able to go places, ride motorbikes and do the things I enjoy, but I have never taken myself too seriously as a pop star or anything else. If I hear myself on a radio in a shop, I am more likely to turn my collar up and pretend I am someone else.”

Essex will be joined at the gig by Queen of Rock Suzi Quatro..

She enjoyed hits with 48 Crash, Too Big, Devil Gate Drive, Daytona Demon, The Wild One, She’s in Love With You, Mama’s Boy, If You Can’t Give Me Love, Rock Hard and a million seller in the USA, Stumblin In’.

The Bay City Rollers followed in the footsteps of The Beatles as they became huge teen stars. The Scottish pop rock band were called the “tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh”, and the first of many acts heralded as the ‘biggest group since the Beatles’.

Finally, Bradford rockers Smokie found success at home and abroad. They have had a number of line-up changes and are still actively touring.