David Essex’s “We All Insane”: A Wild Echo from the Glam-Rock Dawn
Let’s rewind the reel to the dazzling chaos of 1973, when the air was thick with glitter and rebellion, and David Essex’s “We All Insane” burst onto the UK Singles Chart, peaking at a respectable No. 10 in December. A track from his debut album Rock On, released that August on CBS Records, it rode the wave of his breakout hit “Rock On” (No. 5 in the US, No. 3 in the UK), though it didn’t cross the Atlantic with the same force. For those of us who lived through those heady days—tuning in on a crackling transistor or catching Essex’s tousled charm on Top of the Pops—it’s a jagged little jewel, a snapshot of a time when music felt like a reckless sprint through a funhouse mirror, all sharp edges and dazzling lights, tugging at our restless teenage souls.
The story behind “We All Insane” crackles with the energy of Essex’s meteoric rise. Fresh off his role as Jim MacLaine in That’ll Be the Day, the East London lad was morphing from actor to rock idol under the deft hand of producer Jeff Wayne. Written by Essex himself, the song spilled out during the Rock On sessions at Advision Studios—a frantic, barroom romp born from late-night jams. With Wayne’s wizardry—think rollicking piano, a conspiratorial chorus, and that kick of a bass drum—it was cut in a blaze of spontaneity, released as a single with “Streetfight” on the B-side. Essex, then just 26, was channeling his blues-band roots and theatrical flair, crafting a sound that danced between glam’s swagger and something rawer, untamed—a howl from a kid who’d smoked too many cigarettes and dreamed too big.
At its core, “We All Insane” is a breakneck plea for escape—“Every day and I’m sick of tryin’, gonna make it on my own,” Essex belts, his voice a rough-edged blade, slicing through the din. It’s a young man’s rebellion against the noise in his head, the sister nagging, the world pressing in—a declaration that sanity’s overrated when you’re chasing rock dreams. “We all insane,” he chants, and it’s less a lament than a badge, a rallying cry for anyone who’s ever felt the walls closing in and kicked them down anyway. For us, graying now, it’s the sound of ’73—of sticky pub floors, the clatter of pint glasses, the thrill of a night that might end anywhere, with the radio blasting as we stumbled home under a sodium-lit sky.
This was David Essex before the ballads softened his edges—before “Gonna Make You a Star” crowned him a UK chart king in ’74. Rock On was his calling card, a million-seller that fused dub echoes with glam’s sheen, and “We All Insane” was its wild child—later a footnote to his teen-idol reign, but a spark that lit up the era. For us who remember, it’s a whiff of Brut aftershave, a flash of platform boots stomping in time, a moment when we were all a little mad—and gloriously so. So, dig out that old 45, let it spin, and feel the rush again—Essex’s still shouting, and we’re still listening.