Don't Give Up On Us - A Reflection
On January 4th singer and actor David Soul passed away.
(I hear you Millenials and Gen Zers – “David Who?”)
My fellow baby boomers will know he was the blond detective on Starsky and Hutch.
No, you young whipper snappers. Not Owen Wilson. He was in the 2004 remake. I’m talking about the original TV series that aired from 1975-1979.
Which conveniently coincided with my high school years.
For those who don’t know, the show was a popular detective show in the 70s. Between the action sequences and the actors who had a chemistry that made a winning combination, it was a hit in its early years. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that two gorgeous guys were the title characters.
Ah yes, Paul Michael Glaser as David Starsky. and David Soul as Ken Hutchinson.
The duo were a huge part of my teen years. My best friend Kathy was Starsky. I was Hutch. And many of our classmates caught us referring to each other by those names. We also picked up some catch phrases from the show. Who could forget the classic, “Stick it in your ear?”
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the show’s violent content brought the subject of violence on TV into the public consciousness.
Watch the show now and you’ll think, “They called THAT violence?” But in the television culture of the day it was considered shocking, I guess. I called it exciting.
Kathy and I graduated in 1979, and Starsky and Hutch was cancelled that same year. I don’t believe the two circumstances were related.
We went on with our lives, but never totally forgot the dynamic duo. Over the next 40+ years Paul Michael Glaser stayed in public view, making guest appearances on many TV shows and doing voiceover work. David Soul, however, seemed to drop off the earth, at least to American audiences.
So when word came that David Soul had passed away earlier this year, it was nostalgicly sad. We had heard so little about him over the years that compared to Glaser’s continuing career, Soul almost seemed like a has-been, a failure.
Then I heard a tribute on YouTube by UK commentator Neil Sean. It turns out David Soul had moved to the UK in 1995 and was granted UK citizenship in 2004. He appeared on many UK television shows, but seems to have focused on West End Theater. He also released a number of albums. After his move across the pond, Soul had become a UK pop icon in music, theater and television. (BTW Princess Margaret visited the set of Starsky & Hutch when she was in California back in the 70s. Who knew S & H was so big in the UK?!)
Before I close, I need to mention Soul’s singing career. His biggest hit was “Don’t Give Up On Us.” A beautiful ballad that hit no. 1 on several charts in 1977. It does have an alternate, unacknowledged title. I bought the sheet music many years ago and played the song often on the piano. My nieces loved to sing along, and when they wanted me to play it, they always asked for “Starsky & Hutch.” That’s still how they refer to it. They were very young when the song became a hit, and it speaks volume about David Soul that all these years later they remember it – albeit under the wrong name.
I found the song on YouTube after hearing of Soul’s passing. It is a beautiful song, and I’ve included a link to the song below. Also if you would like to hear Neil Sean’s tribute, see below.
It’s a sad thing to have one of your High School crushes pass away. But what is really heartbreaking is the thought that he may not have known the Lord. Soul was born David Solberg. His father was a Lutheran minister, but we don’t know that he had a personal relationship with Jesus.
I listened to a post he made on YouTube for Christmas Eve, 2021. That he had a YouTube channel was also a revelation to me of his life after Starsky & Hutch. He told a fascinating story contrasting his childhood Christmas Eves in Germany with the first Christmas he experienced alone as a young man. I listened closely to his Christmas message, but there was no mention of the Christ child. There was no mention of God. His meaning of the season was strictly secular.
That was two years ago, and a lot can happen with the passage of time. It’s my prayer that in the meantime, as he faced the end of his life, that he turned to the Lord and surrendered his life. It would give me great pleasure to hear him sing in heaven.
What about you? Will you be singing in heaven? Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” John 14:6
If you need some guidance in finding that Way, feel free to contact me. It all starts with Jesus’ love.
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Links:
Don’t Give Up On Us
Neil Sean Tribute
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