By: Lucy Hall
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| Allan Love in Godspell |
The chiseled, bare-chested frontman with cascading
curls, snug flared jeans and a voice that drips with emotion, soul and fire; a
sight to behold, a living legend, a golden mythic demi-god of rock. Could I
possibly be describing Robert Plant or Roger Daltry? Not exactly, but close,
very close. I'm speaking of Allan Love. His looks, powerful voice, and
energetic stage presence was evidence that he was destined to be a pop icon.
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| Allan Love in Tommy |
Allan Love Interview:
HEAVY MAKEUP: What or who got you into performing?
Allan Love: Okay, this could be quite long. It was
1965, I was nineteen and living with my wife and two-year-old son, (together
with the rats) in a run-down, 1-bedroom tenement slum in the "Worlds
End" Chelsea, (this was before it became fashionable). The whole area was
full of salt of the earth people but the area had been earmarked for
demolition. In hindsight, I think the local council just wanted to break the
hearts of the community, who knows? Anyway, we were the last ones living there
waiting to be re-housed. The Worlds End had a very colorful community, infamous
for villains, larger than life characters and a whole bunch of very successful
but seriously dodgy, thieves. These people relished life and went about their
daily routines, mostly in the pubs, getting pissed, before going off to rob
jewelers and the wealthy people's houses. Come on, it wasn't such a bad life,
lots of spare time on your hands and plenty of money. So, here was me,
nineteen, very impressionable and thought I might join this merry band of
geezers and go thieving. How else was I supposed to make my way in the world?
That was before my then, father in law, Stan, got me to join the local boxing
gym where he was the head trainer and saved me from a rather iffy career path. This
was the start of my boxing career (or so liked to call it. LOL!) I was an
amateur and boxed for the then famous, Chelsea Boys Club. I used to sing while
I trained driving everyone mad, whilst the other guys were huffing and puffing
and generally being macho. I was the little songbird, (more like a puffin) and
going about my daily grind, warbling, until one day my personal trainer, a
stocky black guy named, Sammy, (a contender for the lightweight championship of
England) said I'd make a better singer than a boxer. Oh, did I mention, this
was after he'd picked me off the floor after three rounds of sparring with a
"know nothing" professional that knocked ten kinds of shit outa me.
LOL! This was when I decided that I was never going to be a pro boxer, more
like Popeye in shorts that were ten sizes too big for me and tattered boxing
boots. Anyway, onwards and upwards; I had some friends from the Worlds End that
told me that there was an amateur theatrics' company that was looking for boys
to be in the chorus of a musical they were performing. An Ivan Novelo piece
called "Perchance to Dream". It was a singing part, so I went
for an audition and the director asked me to join the company. He was gay, I
think he fancied me but what the hell, that's another story. So, after the show
had performed in public, I decided that I enjoyed the experience so much that
I'd needed to sing for a living. This was the start of the incredible journey.
Have I bored you yet?? LOL!
HEAVY MAKEUP: Allan Love boring...never!
Allan Love: I found a manager, the now deceased,
Derek Chicksand, a guy who knew a bit about show biz and together we created
the band, "Opal Butterfly". I think you know the history of that band
so I won't go into the saga.
HEAVY MAKEUP: You started in the psychedelic band Opal
Butterfly and the glam band Merlin before having a solo career. Did you ever
feel unsure of the direction you wanted to take your music in?
Allan Love: Yeah, I was a victim of my looks, image,
and personality. Everyone in the industry saw me as a huge star, "Allan is
like, this person or that person, we can mold him, get some writers and
producers and let's make a major star." All bullshit really, but I fell
for it. I got locked into various record companies without too much success,
because no one knew what to do with me and I was just so grateful to be there,
I didn't complain. In the early days, I didn't write much, didn't have a lot of
confidence in myself as a writer so I never really pushed. It was only in later
years that I got serious about writing and by then it was a little too
late for my personal performing career.
HEAVY MAKEUP: How did starring in the film, The
Apple affect your career?
Allan Love: Well the movie was, in its day, a huge
budget movie. The German government along with Cannon Films had put up the
money for the production and we were whisked off the Berlin for a four-month
shoot. The cast, chorus, and crew were vast, maybe 300 to 400 people, all in
5-star hotels, food, limo's everywhere, extras, maybe 1,000? I thought I was
going to be the next John Travolta. This was it, the break I was waiting for,
the time I could show the world what I had and boy, was I going to show them.
After the film had been wrapped, I decided to go to L.A. to figure out my way
forward. I arrived and was treated with huge respect as the movie was being cut
at Fox and it was the talk of the town, a huge budget movie. Cannon had all
it'd finance in the movie and no one knew what or when it was going to be
previewed. I was invited to every party in town, all the agents wanted to meet
me, I saw directors, producers, casting directors, I was in awe of the whole
procedure, but it was time to go home to England and back to reality.
HEAVY MAKEUP: You played the lead role in The Who's Tommy
at the Queen's Theatre. How were you feeling at that time? What was it like to
work with Pete Townshend?
Allan Love: Probably the highlight of my career,
Pete and the rest of The Who, became great friends. Pete was still crazy in
those days and he'd come to my dressing room every night and drink Remy Brandy,
the guy used to live on it. We would go out and get totally fucked up. Wow! We
also had a really good working relationship, a genius, probably the best rhythm
guitar player I ever met. Love the guy. We did a lot of TV shows where Pete
would play and we'd sing together great days. If there was a role, I think I
was born to play, it was Tommy. I loved every moment of my time in the show,
great cast, and great production.
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| Allan Love in The Apple |
Check out Allan's Website for Rhocky's Bar:
www.rhockysbar.com
You can read the complete Alan Love Interview and The
Apple - Cult Movie Review in HEAVY MAKEUP: A Book about Camp that
Rocks! The 80's Volume One set for release Dec. 2019 - Jan. 2020.
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