David Essex

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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, Essex. 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.[8] A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.

In the 1970s, Essex emerged as a performer of some note. Contrary to his own biography his first concert was at East Ham Granada in East London on Saturday 2 November 1974 and not the Odeon. His biggest hits during this decade included two UK Number One singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975). He also appeared in Stardust,

a 1974 sequel to That'll Be The Day.[9] The title song was another Top 10 hit. In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song, "Yesterday", for the musical documentary All This and World War II.

Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania. According to The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles,  he was voted the number one British male vocalist in 1974, and was a teen idol for more than a decade.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjW2rrK5vRU

"A Winter's Tale" is a song performed by David Essex on the 1983 album The Whisper. First released as a single in 1982, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart in January 1983, kept off #1 by Phil Collins's cover version of "You Can't Hurry Love".

"A Winter's Tale" was written by Mike Batt and Tim Rice in late 1982 in response to a request from Essex. It was released as a single in December 1982. It spent ten weeks in the UK chart, peaking at #2 on 15 January 1983. Later in 1983, the song was included on Essex's album The Whisper.

The song was covered by Michael Ball for his 2000 album Christmas.

The Moody Blues recorded a version of the song for their 2003 Christmas-themed album, December.

Joe McElderry performed the song at Durham Cathedral, this version features a new verse written by Tim Rice.

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Only A Winters Tale