William Shakespeare, rock star!

What if I told you that in the 1970’s, William Shakespeare had two international pop music hits?

Yeah, I’m getting that glassy stare from you.  I understand.  I’m used to it.

Well, it’s true.

Sort of.

I’ll explain.

In the 1960’s, singer John Cave was the lead vocalist for an Australian rock band called the Amazons. They had one hit Down Under, a song called “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby,” which was heavy on harmonica and not much else. Here’s a YouTube clip of the song.  Listen to Cave’s vocals on the track.

Spin forward to about 1974, when the Australian hitmaking duo of Harry Vanda and George Young – they were members of the Easybeats, you’ve heard “Friday On My Mind” on the oldies stations – were churning out hits for other artists as the house songwriters for the Albert Productions record label. Vanda and Young had written a song, “Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You,” but the lead vocalist they hired for the song couldn’t hit the high notes.

Cave, who happened to be in the studio at the time, was asked to record the song. He hit the high notes perfectly.

This gave Vanda and Young an idea.

See, in the mid-1970’s, “glitter rock” was all the rage. Artists like Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust, bands like Slade and Mud and the Rubettes dominated pop charts throughout the British Commonwealth. And Vanda and Young wanted a piece of that glitter rock pie. As for Cave… what’s in a name? That which we call a pop star would sound just as sweet…

With that, Cave received a glam-rock makeover. And when “Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You” was released as a pop single, it contained Cave’s voice – as performer William Shakespeare.

The newly-christened Shakespeare went on tour, and performed on various Australian television shows – including this one, a variety series hosted by a pre-“Crocodile Dundee” Paul Hogan.

“Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You” raced to the top of the Australian pop charts, and William Shakespeare’s hit blasted out of car radios throughout the country. And once you have one big hit, you have to follow it up, and Vanda and Young penned another chart-topper for Shakespeare, the song “My Little Angel.”

But just as quickly as Shakespeare rose to the top of the charts, he fell faster than Mercutio. In 1975, Shakespeare was arrested and charged with having sexual relations with a 15-year-old member of his fan club. The scandal kept his follow-up songs “Just The Way You Are” and “Last Night” off the radio, and the glitter-rock fad – to which Shakespeare was entwined – was already waning to the rise of punk and disco.

Despite a few public appearances, performing as both William Shakespeare and under another name, Billy Shake, John Cave never had another hit. And the money he earned in that short period of dime dried up faster than the last line of a sonnet – unlike his namesake, the pop star never wrote his own hits, so the royalties earned from those songs went to the songwriters Vanda and Young. Cave battled alcohol and depression for the next two decades, and by 2001, he was homeless and destitute.

A helping hand came in the form of Support Act Ltd., a charitable organization dedicated to assisting Australian musicians who have fallen on hard times.  Support Act helped Cave get a small apartment and paid some of his bills.  On October 5, 2010, Cave passed away at the age of 61.  Albert Productions, the label that produced Shakespeare’s biggest recordings, paid for his funeral.

And before anybody gives me any guff about finding a pop singer with the same name as a historical figure, like that’s ever happened before…

Surely you’ve heard of Paul Revere and the Raiders… haven’t you?