David Essex, OBE (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) 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.
Essex was born in Plaistow, London. His father, Albert, was an East End docker and his mother, Olive (née Kemp), was a self-taught pianist and an Irish Traveller, descended from Romany Gypsies. His grandfather, Thomas Kemp, was nicknamed "Philimore", which was the anglicised version of "Philly Mor" – being Irish for "Big Philly". Essex was two years old when his parents moved out of the overcrowded home the family was sharing with relatives, to Canning Town where he grew up.
Essex attended Star Lane Primary School. He loved playing football and did not answer any of the questions in the Eleven plus exam for entry into a grammar school, so that he could ensure he attended Shipman County Secondary School where he knew they played the game. He was also a member of West Ham United Juniors for a while and dreamed of one day being a professional player. He then also became interested in music and played drums with a local band, before becoming a singer. In his teens he moved to Marks Gate near Chadwell Heath and Romford in Essex.
He made his first record entitled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down" for the Fontana label in 1965. He then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years and released a further 7 singles in the 1960s. He also recorded two songs, 'A Rose' and 'Leon and John and Billy and Me' which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates. His first notable acting role aside from small appearances in the films Assault and All Coppers Are... was the lead in the stage musical, Godspell in 1971 at the age of 23. Two years later, he starred in the film That'll Be the Day (1973) and recorded his international hit single, the self-penned "Rock On", in the same year. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1974. It was nominated for a Grammy and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
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Rock On – 1973 – UK No. 7, US No. 32
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David Essex – 1974 – UK No. 2
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All the Fun of the Fair – 1975 – UK No. 3
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On Tour – 1976 – UK No. 51
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Out on the Street – 1976 – UK No. 31
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Gold and Ivory – 1977 – UK No. 29
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Imperial Wizard – 1979 – UK No. 12
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Hot Love – 1980 – UK No. 75
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Be-Bop the Future – 1981
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Stage-Struck – 1982 – UK No. 31
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The Whisper – 1983 – UK No. 67
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This One's For You – 1984
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Centre Stage – 1986 – UK No. 82
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Touching the Ghost – 1989
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Cover Shot – 1993 – UK No. 3
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Back to Back – 1994 – UK No. 33
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A Night at the Movies – 1997 – UK No. 14
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Here We are All Together – 1998 – UK No. 88
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I Still Believe – 1999
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Thank You – 2000
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Wonderful – 2001
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Theatre of Dreams – 2001
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Forever – 2002
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Sunset – 2003
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It's Gonna Be Alright – 2004
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Beautiful Day – 2006
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Happy Ever After – 2007
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Unplugged (EP) – 2009
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Reflections – 2013 – UK No. 89
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The David Essex Album – 1979 – UK No. 29
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The Very Best of David Essex – 1982 – UK No. 37
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His Greatest Hits – 1991 – UK No. 13
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Missing You: 16 Classic Love Songs – 1995 – UK No. 26
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Living in England – 1995
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Greatest Hits/The Very Best of David Essex – 1998 – UK No. 31
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Spotlight on David Essex – 1993
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Greatest Hits – 2006
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All the Fun of the Fair – Greatest Hits – 2008 – UK No. 23
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Godspell (West End cast) – 1971
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That'll Be the Day (soundtrack) – 1973
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Stardust (soundtrack) – 1974
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All This and World War II (soundtrack) – 1976
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Evita (West End cast) – 1978
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Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds (studio cast) – 1978 – UK No. 39
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Alpha Omega: A Musical Revelation (studio cast) – 1979
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Silver Dream Racer (soundtrack) – 1980
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Mutiny (studio cast) – 1983 – UK No. 39
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Mutiny!(West End cast) – 1986
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Beauty & the Beast: Music from the Original Musical Ice Ballet – 1995
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All the Fun of the Fair (tour cast) – 2008
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All the Fun of the Fair (West End cast) – 2010
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Traveller (soundtrack) – 2013
- A. ^ composed primarily or fully by Essex.
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