It's hard to think of artists today who could maintain the hardcore following that packed the Brighton Centre to see The Osmonds, David Essex, David Cassidy and Showaddywaddy.

The mostly-female crowd screamed at the sight of their teenage crushes, waved their arms to the music and even threw their knickers onto the stage.

It was all too much for Cassidy, who spent much of his time thanking fans for their support.

"You made the Eighties bearable for me," he told us.

If Cassidy was the weakest of the performers, he was also the most youthful looking and it was easy to see why his fans still love him 30 years on as they swayed along to Daydreamer. He came alive during I Think I Love You, his hit with The Partridge Family, but otherwise took himself too seriously. "All played live, no tapes," he informed us. Yes David, it's called a concert.

Showaddywaddy stuck to their hits, including Three Steps to Heaven and, of course, Under the Moon of Love. At times a little doddery - Summertime Blues was performed at a snail's pace - they still got the crowd going with their footwork and even managed an acrobatic lift in Hey Rock and Roll.

Essex and The Osmonds were the strongest performers of the night.

Essex's hits Rock On, Silver Dream Machine and Gonna Make You a Star received the appropriate response, while his new song All the Fun of the Fair was also well received.

The Osmonds - made up of Jimmy, Jay and Wayne - kept to the classics, many not their own.

Baby-faced, baby-voiced but not-solittle Jimmy indulged us with an airing of Long Haired Lover from Liverpool and proved he could still hit incredibly high notes with a BeeGees medley and his version of ABC. Even their dance routines looked polished and perfected - except the moonwalking. "Do you all feel like teenagers?" Jimmy asked the audience. For one night only at least, the middle-aged women adorned with glow-in-thedark accessories did.