Alvin Stardust

The name, the sound, and the image were brand new, but when Alvin Stardust first appeared on the British scene in November, 1973, glowering in a tight leather cat suit and professing his love for his little coo-ca-choo, more than one observer took one look at him and said, "I know that face." And they did. More than a decade previous, during 1961-1962, this same figure was going under the name of Shane Fenton and scoring hits with two of the most memorable hits of the pre-Beatles '60s: "I'm a Moody Guy" and "Cindy's Birthday." Since that time, he had sunk into obscurity, haunting the nightclub circuit with an increasingly tired oldies set, until a meeting with songwriter/producer Pete Shelley suddenly brought him back up to date. Although neither Fenton nor Shelley would ever duplicate the sheer hypnotic magnificence of "My Coo Ca Choo," the record which slammed the Alvin Stardust persona into the public eye, they still proved to be one of the most reliable and constantly enjoyable hit making teams of the mid-'70s, while Stardust's refusal to retreat back into the shadows has seen him establish himself among Britain's most loved entertainers. Shelley wrote "My Coo Ca Choo" long before he decided who would perform it; all he knew was he wanted someone "who could sing rock & roll, but who looked pretty mean." At the time, after all, the entire country seemed to be consumed by glam rock, with all the perceived superficiality which that portended. Shelley wanted someone who would be seen as the complete opposite of all that. He found it in Shane Fenton. Redolent as it was of a much earlier era, Fenton's own name, of course, could not be revived. Alvin Stardust, however, sounded utterly up-to-date and, though there were certainly some teething problems in the weeks before...