In 1977, a year after the release of his debut album, he shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the tearful ballad “Don't Give Up on Us.” Many years later, Owen Wilson as Hutch parodied the song in a none-too-affectionate way 2004 feature film comedy version of the series, which also starred Ben Stiller as Starsky and Snoop Dogg as Huggy Bear.
Mr. Soul, who often said that he prioritized music over acting, released five albums in his career and scored four Top 10 hits in Britain in the 1970s, including “Don't Give Up on Us,” which climbed to number 1; “Silver Lady,” which also went to No. 1, although it only reached No. 52 in the United States; and “Going In With My Eyes Open” – #2 in the UK and #54 on the American charts.
He became such a singer sensation that Robert Palmer of The New York Times, in a review of one of his 1977 concerts at Radio City Music Hall, described: “camera-wielding teenage girls storming the stage, the flickering of hundreds of exploding flash cubes, and…” a constant squeaking.”
Mr. Soul was born David Richard Solberg on August 28, 1943, the son of Richard Solberg, a political science and history professor and theologian, and June (Nelson) Solberg, a teacher.
During David's youth, the family lived in Cold War-era Berlin and South Dakota. He aspired to become a diplomat or minister before turning to a career in show business. In his late teens, he learned that his girlfriend Mim was pregnant; They married under pressure from their parents.
Later, when he was 22, he found his wife, another man, a friend of his, and left her and their young son Christopher to pursue his dreams of fame in New York.