Glam rock star Alvin Stardust, who lived up to his surname, has died aged 72 after a short illness.

For the Record Press author’s generation, he was the archetypal Glam Rocker, sporting a rockabilly quiff, sideburns, black leather cat suit and black leather gloves. At the time he was the epitome of cool. Alvin Stardust joined fellow Glam Rockers Slade, The Sweet, Wizzard, Mud and Gary Glitter in late 1973 with his debut single “My Coo Ca Choo” ( which reached No2 ) and went on to dominate the UK music charts in 1974 with four consecutive Top 10 hits, including a No1, “Jealous Mind”. However for me his best song was his third hit single, “Red Dress”.

“Alvin Stardust” was the master of reinvention and the pseudonym. He was born Bernard Jewry in the East End of London in 1942. He grew up in Mansfield, a town local to my home city of Nottingham, and started playing guitar as a schoolboy. He met one of his biggest influences, Buddy Holly, at a concert in Doncaster and played backstage with the singer and his band the Crickets. His first chart success and career came in 1961 under the adopted name of Shane Fenton, with his backing band the Fentones.

However his real success came in the kitsch 1970s, when in 1973 he signed with Magnet Records, under the auspices of record producer Peter Shelley, who went on to have his own chart success singing “Gee Baby” and “Love Me Love My Dog”, after the songs were understandably rejected by Alvin Stardust.

The key was the name change to the Glam Rock-esque “Alvin Stardust”, although that was not the original name. He reminisced in 2010: “It started off as Elvin Starr, because they wanted a kind of rocky, country name. But a woman who was doing promotion for us said it wasn’t ‘glam-rocky’ enough, so it became Stardust and then Alvin.” Alvin Stardust’s success continued beyond the Glam Rock era with hits in the 1980s, notably “Pretend”, appropriately “I Feel Like Buddy Holly” and “I Won’t Run Away”, which all reached the Top10 in the UK.

Alvin Stardust had been due to release his first studio album in 30 years on the 3rd November, entitled “Alvin”. He recently announced that it was finished and would represent “a new and exciting departure” of which he was “immensely proud”. So let this be his posthumous sign off and swansong, but for the Record Press author, I will always remember him for his Glam Rock hit singles; so here is aTop 5 Best Alvin Stardust Songs –

Top 5 Best Alvin Stardust Songs

1) Red Dress  ( No7 1974 )

2) Jealous Mind  ( No1 1974 )

3) My Coo Ca Choo  ( No2 1973 )

4) Good Love Can Never Die  ( No11 1975 )

5) You You You ( No6 1974 )

Which are your favourite Alvin Stardust songs? Let us know in the Reply Box below.

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