You know you're getting old when... you find out that the immaculately-flicked-hair-n-tight-trousers popstrel David Van Day of Dollar is 62 years old!
Mr Van Day, together with his on-off girlfriend Thereza Bazar, first came to fame as part of the cheesiest of cheesy "manufactured bands" of the 1970s Guys'n'Dolls, whose biggest and most enduring number was this one - which actually began life as an advertising jingle for McVitie's biscuits:
Having left the group [due to a clash of hairstyles, or something], the couple formed the pop duo known as Dollar - and went on to have a successful career that spanned over a decade! It all began with this faboo number [and look out for the trousers; as if you could miss 'em...]:
After a flush of hits the band's [shooting?] star was somewhat on the wane - but by lucky happenstance, none other than "former Buggle" Trevor Horn [who had only recently quit as a member of Yes] agreed to produce some new material for them and [among a number of hits in the "era of cool"; the early 80s] this was the result:
Of course, once everyone else in the pop world - notably at this stage ABC, but later Grace Jones, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys - noticed what a brilliant producer Mr Horn really was and clambered to get him on board, the toothsome duo was soon dropped. Thereza and David's on-off relationship also ended at this time, and for a while they stayed apart. Then came a bit of a reunion, and another very clever choice of song to cover [courtesy of Erasure], and the pair had their last, triumphal stab at the upper echelons of the charts with this guaranteed gay club floor-filler:
The "Dollar story" has never hit such heights since. Mr Van Day has progressed from selling burgers out of a van by day and performing with a cobbled-together version of another former hit outfit Buck's Fizz by night, to appearing on numerous reality TV shows [a couple of which featured his and Thereza's attempts to stage a comeback; one of which featured Mr Van Day in a jungle - needless to say, I never watched any of 'em], to taking his own creaking and Miss-Bazar-free version of Dollar on a tour of increasingly small venues.
However, without Dollar in our lives at the turn of the 70s-to-80s, that particular era in music would have been a lot, lot less glittery - and for that enduring legacy we thank them!
Many happy returns, Mr David Van Day (born 28th November 1956)
They were great fun and there is nothing wrong with that if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, dear! Jx
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