Amidst various researches today I came upon this mindboggling YouTube clip, which of course reminded me of my ol’ pal S. Swag, who introduced me to his beloved Cowsills just over 34 years ago, by playing their immortal cover of “Sunshine of Your Love” (from the 1969 IN CONCERT album!) on the family phonograph in their Grant Avenue living room—
In many respects (incongruity and unlikelihood, sheer WTF surrealism, and most of all via the then-11-yr-old Susan Cowsill’s priceless impertinence toward Hugh Hefner, followed by her incredible singing & dancing) I think this three-song televised appearance tops even Our Partridge Family’s debut of “Bandala” at Richard Pryor and Lou Gossett’s Detroit “Soul Club” during PF episode #18, and I only wish the Bernard Slade/Wes Ferrell brain trust had found a way to work such an encounter into their show.
It all took place more than four months prior to the PF’s 9/25/1970 ABC-TV debut, during a May 12th PLAYBOY AFTER DARK episode that also featured Bill Cosby & The Grass Roots, and apparently came about because guitarist Bob Cowsill had recently married one of Hef’s regulars on the show, Nanci Roberts!
For whatever reason it had never occurred to me that Barbara Cowsill was such good singer, since she always seemed to de-emphasize her presence as much as possible within the group. But Shirley Jones herself couldn’t have rendered “Who Will Buy?” (from OLIVER!) with any more poignant finesse than Ma Cowsill, in lovely tandem wit’ l’il Susan.
And the song “II x II”, the eponymous cornerstone of their then-new Apocalyptic Christian Concept Album (!) is quite the showcase for bassist Barry, who was to die tragically during Hurricane Katrina 35 years later.
By the by, I’m also always delighted to see Barbi Benton by Hef’s side, since she was the most prominent of his slew of girlfriends (at least prior to pay cable of the Post-Millenial Era!) and a delightful media presence (HEE HAW, HOLLYWOOD SQUARES) throughout my formative Seventies, not to mention an excellent reminder that there was a lengthy stretch of time during which Her Hef was neither senile nor addicted to interchangeable blondes with fake boobs!
My first (pre-Internet) exposure to PLAYBOY AFTER DARK came via a fantastic bootleg VHS compilation I picked up at Record Revolution in Coventry, during one of my many Nineties visits in Cleveland!
I remember discussing and playing Partridge Family songs on a number of my weekly radio shows over KNOG 90.1 FM, during that winter of my senior year at Havre High in early-1981!
– Tom Kipp
