Hi folks:
Haven’t seen anything quite this knowing or smoldering in quite some time, and NEVER from a putative Teen Idol!
“I said, a-HOOOO! Rock me, baby…”
Possibly the only guy I’ve ever seen look his best in a full silver lamé suit, including Elvis and Bowie, though of course Iggy rocked the silver pants-only look pretty definitively!
The things they used to let on television….and on Havre’s immortal KOJM 610 AM, for that matter!
As Elvis said, whilst rockin’ the world in his black leather, “My boy, my boy, my boy…”
Enjoy,
– Tom Kipp
P.S. I think Mr. Kappes and I may need to add at least a full chapter to our infamous 1983 monograph, “Parking at Muldunes Point: Making Out with The Partridge Family”!
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I agree with EPB, your silver lamé Cassidy piece is the perfect blog entry. I just want to know how far post-Partridge was this? ’72?
Also, which “a-OOOOOOH” came first – Cassidy or Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”?
– Jay Schuschke
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Hi Jay:
You’re both very kind!
By the by, David Cassidy’s incredible October 1972 Bob Hope Special appearance actually occurs during the very heart of The Partridge Family Era, which didn’t end until the show was cancelled in the summer of 1974, following the release of BULLETIN BOARD, the 9th and final original PF album release. A 2 LP compilation [THE WORLD OF THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY] finished things off in ’74.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_Board_(album)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Partridge_Family
David’s formal solo career began in earnest in 1972, with DC “solo” works being released concurrently right alongside PF albums from thenceforth. The touring was all done under David’s name of course, since “The Wrecking Crew” (the famous LA session musicians who backed virtually every recording by Phil Spector, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, et many al.) were also The Partridge Family backing band, as JK and I strongly emphasized in our 1983 Montana Kaimin piece!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cassidy
It would have cost each of them a fortune to forego even a few weeks of their constant and lucrative studio work, so from 1972-74 David hit the stadiums with a hired band and a prayer, mostly on weekends, after full slates of taping the show each week! It burned him out pretty hideously by the time the show wound up its run and he then retired from live performance for many years.
“Werewolves of London” doesn’t emerge ’til 1978, but the late Warren’s famous exhortation/tag was more along the lines of “Rahhh-Hoooo!”, so occupies a slightly different spot in the Pop Cult firmament. Although who knows about “The Anxiety of Influence” therein! Warren was, after all, an ultimate LA insider/outsider and had released records since the mid-Sixties.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon
Anyhow, there’re all kinds of amazing PF interconnections. For example, I’d not known about the David Cassidy link to Johnny Depp and 21 JUMP STREET until this morning!
– Tom Kipp
