The title is Buddy Holly, the star is David Essex, and the mood is pure Edward Heath. Claude Whatham’s 1973 coming-of-age film might be set in the 1950s but it’s really an artefact of Britain’s long post-60s comedown, bleak, pessimistic and extremely brown. Remarkably, this tale of a wannabe rock star shrugging and screwing his way through a drizzly holiday camp made Essex a teen idol, and it has a slew of ’50s and ’60s stars supporting him: Keith Moon, Billy Fury and, as his sleazy mentor, no less a figure than Ringo Starr.
In this week’s Pop Screen, Graham and Mark discuss the oft-underrated acting talents of the one-time Richard Starkey, as well as all the other issues the film brings up: the surprisingly durable stage and screen career of David Essex, the round of musical chairs that led to this being directed by the rock-sceptic Whatham, and the film’s connections to the life of John Lennon. About the only thing we don’t cover is the sequel, Stardust, because…
…that’s our Patreon exclusive for next month, so if you want to be listening to that next week you know where to go. To stay informed about other forthcoming episodes, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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