Your thoughts on David Essex's Rock On

great song.
just a reminder That'll Be The Day and Stardust are a fantastic pair of rock and roll movies that are mostly unknown in the US. Major crime. Perfect movies: Ringo, Moon, Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Billy Fury!

 

Lamplight was one of those songs which became a real ear worm at the time. I listened to it yesterday(while searching for info on Rock On) after not hearing it for, maybe, 25 years and had forgotten how catchy it was. I remember having in my head for a long time back then.


Any Gabriel fans have any comments about the similarity to Don't Give Up or is it just that Tony Levin managed to create a similar sound for his bass and Gabriel always liked minimalism?

 

I hope you don't mind me posting a link? Very interesting blog, thank you.
http://rs7273.wordpress.com/2012/01...re-clear-a-rumination-on-david-essex-rock-on/

 

One of my fave 70's songs- his other hits were great as well..'Gonna Make You A Star' & 'Hold Me Close'.

 

Yes, a it's a great track. The rest of the Rock On album is pretty good, but not quite as adventurous as the title track. Streetfight is very good, i'm suprised it didn't merit a single release. The sound quality on the album is top notch too. An ondes martinot player is credited, but I've never figured out which track(s) it appears on. This was pretty much the first LP I got, and at age 10 I'd no idea what an ondes martenot or a Moog were.

After Rock On DE went more mainstream, but the track Stardust still stands out, if only for the sound of struck gong being immersed in water.

As glea pointed out above, the two films he was involved with are good. I'd imagined they were bubblegum vehicles for DE, but they're more substantial.

 

Never heard this track before - I was a nipper when it was released. Great vibe and a very cool bassline, Herbie Flowers is da man.

Can you imagine anyone from X-Factor or One Direction trying to cover this, let alone think of writing something remotely as good?!

 

Love it.

 

Looking back on it now, I admire the creativity and the stark simplicity. It really stood out. It's nice when artists think outside of the box. I'm not a David Essex fan per se, but I do have that album and also enjoyed Garland Jeffreys version (hidden track) on his latest album as well.

 

It's not its intention. I couldn't imagine this song with a hard rock tempo at all. The lyrics don't suit that style of music.

The song is ahead of its time. If you played this song for someone today, who has never heard it before, I doubt they could place the year it originally came out. Like someone earlier in this thread said, it doesn't sound like 1973 at all.

 

I don't mind at all. That's what it's there for-to share. Thank you for taking the time out to read it.

 

Great description

In case no one else did, I'll add to that, minimal, Plastic Ono Band-like production.

 

Sort of...

'73 was the year I graduated High School. That period (my High School days '69 - '73) started out with the break-up of The Beatles. That led to a lot of "experimental" sounds making the top-40. Top-40 was still diverse back then like it was throughout the 60's so my list of songs that were like "Rock On" will come from different musical camps. Additionally I'm from Cleveland where a lot of new music broke (we had David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen before anyone else). My short list is a few songs that were like nothing else on the radio. "Rock On" would top this list. There are probably some more that I forgot. Just grab some charts from WIXY-1260 or WMMS from that time period and maybe some more will come to mind.

"Double Barrel" Dave & Ansel Collins
"Why Can't We All Live Together" Timmy Thomas
"Rock n Roll part 2" Gary Glitter
"Mr. Penguin" Lunar Funk

 

Great song. Never seem to get tired of hearing it.

Also like his cover of "For Emily Wherever I May Find Her".

Have the quad album.

 

Great song, like the movie, it should have propelled him into superstardom. there is one thing you need however, A follow up. If you cant
do one or two singles to follow up Rock on, or Paperback writer or I cant get no Satisfaction, you are doomed, you can only ride the wave of
hype and be a huge star if you can follow up with at least, at minimum one more song of equal quality or at least perception of the public.

 

Prince's "Sign 'O' the Times" sounds like at least a distant cousin. "Rock On" is a great tune.

 

He followed Rock On with Lamplight, another great song, and many others. He was a big star in the UK but, for whatever reason, it sounds like America didn't take to him in numbers.

 

The production makes it. Otherwise, I don't think it's an outstanding song.

 

always hated it, im sorry

 

He had a string of hits in the UK - inc 10 top 10 singles & 2 number 1s (the 2 mentioned in my previous post)

 

I just want to second this. The single best two movies abou rock n roll ever made! They both deserve a luxury DVD release, currently you can get them both on one bare bones DVD. Essential viewing.

 

I just want to second this. The single best two movies abou rock n roll ever made! They both deserve a luxury DVD release, currently you can get them both on one bare bones DVD. Essential viewing.

 

Seconded! The two single best movies abour rock n roll ever made!

 

sorry for multiple posts, nor sure what happened there

 

You have to consider too that in the late 70s Glam rockers couldn't get arrested in the UK (apart from Gary Glitter later on, but that's another story ), with the punk thing in full swing. So Essex hit the stage with Evita. I don't think he ever recovered fully from that.
Rock On was Essex at his peak.

 

The films received a lot of publicity at the time and were major pop events. Strange that the films have become "forgotten" (legal tangles?).