Still rocking

DAVID Essex claims to live quite quietly in New England with his US wife and twin sons, Kit and Billy, where he can queue at the supermarket quite happily without attracting attention. In old England it's different.

He's been a star since the musical Godspell in 1971 and, more than 30 years later, the 57-year-old is currently in demand for touring shows.

The latest, Boogie Nights 2 (an Eighties revamp of the original show) reaches Darlington's Civic Theatre next week and he's already lined up to appear with David Cassidy, The Osmonds and Bay City Roller Les McKeown at the Metroradio Arena, Newcastle, in June next year.

Not that the every-growing list of pop comebacks interests Essex.

"I didn't even know they'd called the event with David Cassidy the Once In A Lifetime Tour. I've always tried to move forward but it's ironic I'm in this show which scans the 80s decade and this other tour is about the 1970s. I've always shunned that in the past, it doesn't sit comfortably with me because I tend to write an album a year of around ten new songs and they're only for sale on the davidessex.com website."

And that's not a free plug for his many CDs available. He reveals that his last album, Sunset, would have been a top five album in the charts if he'd allowed it to be sold through high street shops.

"I've wandered into this nostalgia thing, but it won't be the way forward for me," he adds.

"For me the 60s was important because I was a teenager then and the bands then were the influences," says Essex, who bursts out laughing when asked if that means he's going to have a reunion of his first band. The then David Cook joined The Everons in 1964 as a drummer before becoming an unsuccessful pop artist with Fontana, Pye and Decca.

"I think one of the Everons is a milkman and a couple are in Australia," he jokes.

"The thing that drew me to Boogie Nights wasn't nostalgia but the part I was offered because I'd decided to write and record a new album (It's Going To Be all Right) instead of doing a 50-date tour. It was intriguing to play a Guardian Angel which takes the central character Roddy through his life in the 80s. Then there's the offer of a new life through a gameshow, which sounds a bit bonkers, but I'm glad I decided to do it because the audiences love the show."

Even better is that the 80s Essex-penned song Me And My Girl (Night Clubbing) features, as does a popular track off Sunset called Picture This Sky. "It does relate to the musical even though it was written in the 21st century," he comments.

He jokes about a career cv which includes probably one of the best pop music films ever made, That'll Be The Day in 1973, plus concerts, records, theatre, composing, and TV roles. "Most of what I do seems to be a deep dark secret. I used to have two managers whom I called Cloak and Dagger, but I've only got one now. I can't be too specific about which one is left," he jokes.

On his good looks and girl-pulling image, which still surfaces in the tabloid press, Essex says: "I've just let everything go. I'm just a natural scruff and I don't worry about face lifts and botox. I've always been embarrassed by that side of my reputation, my focus has always been the music or piece of theatre or film that I'd doing. It's never been the good look department.

"I don't get up to much really. I'm not a natural extrovert and go to showbizzy things. I live mainly in New England because it's nice and quiet so I don't really play the tabloid game. I think I've done one interview in the past four years with a national newspaper and to TV, I say mainly no thanks."

He was asked to do the very first I'm A Celebrity on ITV1 but turned it down. "What is the point of things like that or Strictly Come Dancing because it all smacks of desperation to get on the telly."

Essex doesn't regard his life as particularly stressful, despite having two teenage sons "who I need to keep a big eye on, but I appear to have been blessed with the ability to write songs. That's a gift more than anything. I prefer live audiences, always have done. I never take for granted that people relate to me almost 30 years after Rock On was a hit."

He mainly works in the UK because it still feels like home and admits that the only time he tends to tear his hair out is when he watches West Ham over the past few seasons or gets an update from Danny, his son from his first marriage.

"Living in America is not a tax thing, I'm still paying out enough money to run the police force in Streatham. I didn't leave when everyone else left when it was bonkers 98 per cent tax, but my wife's American so we live in both countries.

"I feel I'm treated in America how Lou Reed would be over here, which means I can go to Stop'N'Shop without being hassled."

* Boogie Nights 2 runs Monday-Saturday at Darlington Civic Theatre. Box Office: (01325) 496555.

* Once In A Lifetime Tour 2005 with David Cassidy and The Osmonds is on June 22. Hotline: 0870 707 8000.

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Published: 18/11/2004