Long before taking on the role of Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson in the television series Starsky & Hutch in 1975, David Soul was opening for The Byrds, Frank Zappa, and the Lovin’ Spoonful among others during the 1960s.
While he pursued acting, Soul, who died on January 4, 2024, at 80, was still dedicated to his other love, music. He learned to play guitar while living in Mexico City with his family. When he returned to the U.S. in the mid-1960s, he began performing at Bob Dylan‘s former coffeehouse haunt, the 10 O’Clock Scholar, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Even in Soul’s earlier days of acting, he continued circling back to music. “My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music,” he said during one of his appearances on The Merv Griffin Show in 1967, a shtick that had him singing with a mask over his face as the “Covered Man.”
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“My music was the most important thing to me,” said Soul. “I started to write my own music and sing and play in all kinds of places. I even wore a ski mask on TV so that people would listen to my music rather than look at me.”
Though his worldwide No. 1 hit “Don’t Give Up on Us” from 1976 was written by British composer and regular collaborator and producer Tony Macaulay, Soul also wrote many of his songs. His eponymous 1976 debut featured four originals he wrote or co-wrote, along with covers like Leonard Cohen‘s “Bird on a Wire.”
[RELATED: David Soul, ‘Starsky & Hutch’ Star and Recording Artist, Dies at 80]
Soul released four more albums through Leave a Light On… in 1997, along with seven compilations, from Moods in 1979 through Gold in 2020. He also delivered more singles throughout the decades.
Here’s a look at a small portion of Soul’s songwriting journey and four songs he wrote throughout his nearly 50-year music career.
1. “The Wall” (1976)
Written by David Soul and Gardner McKay
The opener of his 1976 debut, David Soul, “The Wall” is a tender acoustic ballad, co-written with the late actor Gardner McKay (Adventures in Paradise). The short song follows the story of a man who has little to give but still finds something to offer friends in need.
On the album, Soul wrote three more tracks, including two with McKay—”Topanga” and “Black Bean Soup,” a duet with his partner at the time, actress Lynne Marta—plus the closing “Kristofer David,” which he penned on his own.
He had nothing to give
So from the wall
He lived behind
He found the bricks
That were the greenest with moss
And cut them out
With a mason’s bit
And gave the most beautiful
To his friends
2. “I Wish I Was…” (1977)
Written by David Soul and Rick Edelstein
For his second album, Playing to an Audience of One, produced by Tony Macaulay, Soul contributed three more tracks, including the folk-driven “Rider,” the closing “Mary’s Fancy,” and “I Wish I Was.” The latter song was co-written with his Starsky & Hutch director Rick Edelstein.
I wish I was the sunlight
Gently reaching out in space
And I wish you were the chilly morn’
So I could warm your face
And I wish I was a spider
‘Cause I’ve got a web to weave
And I wish you were a captured fly
So that you’d never leave
But I’m just a man
And you are just a girl
Though we walk hand in hand
With too much of this world
3. “How Can You Tell That You Got It (If You Don’t Ever Give It Away)” (1981)
Written by David Soul
Soul added a Jimmy Buffett-style spin on his fifth album, The Best Days of My Life, with the Caribbean-spun “How Can You Tell That You Got It (If You Don’t Ever Give It Away).” The album also features Soul’s cover of the Graham Nash Songs for Beginners track “Simple Man.”
You know there ain’t no doubt about it
What a crazy thing to say
How can you tell you got it
If you don’t ever give it away
Photo: RB/Redferns
