Personnel: Kirby Gregory, Mark Griffiths , Jo Partridge (guitar); Alan Hawkshaw, Jeff Wayne (keyboards, Moog synthesizer); Herbie Flowers (bass guitar); Barry DeSouza (drums); Ray Cooper (percussion); Doreen Chanter, Billy Laurie, Gary Osborne, Tom Saffrey, Jimmy Thomas, Jimmy Helms, Julie Covington, Irene Chanter, Paul Vigrass (background vocals).
The teen pin-up who starred in two of the most successful British rock & roll movies, THAT'LL BE THE DAY and STARDUST, performs a set of vintage early-1970s British pop, including his two self-penned hit singles, the claustrophobic, hallucinatory "Rock On" and the '30s dance band synthesis of "Lamplight." These songs' breathless weirdness is echoed in the brooding, cinematic "Streetfight," though "On and On" sounds like Elton John, and much of the rest of the album, including "We All Insane," "Tell Him No," and Essex's version of Paul Simon's "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," is an elegant combination of glam rock and late-'60s chamber pop. Eccentric and imaginative, ROCK ON's production flourishes often display a distinct David Bowie/Lou Reed influence (its rhythm section, the bassist Herbie Flowers and the drummer Barry DeSouza, also played on Reed's BERLIN).
