The DeFranco Family--Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat (1973)

     In the history of modern rock/pop there have been three golden eras of teen idols: The early 60's where the sub genre began through the male idols that came up in the wake of the pillars of rock and roll declining. Those would include (but not exclusive to) Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell and others would fit in this group. The 70's, which began with the triumvirate of The Osmonds, Partridge Family, Bobby Sherman,  and The Jackson 5 and finished with Shawn Cassidy and Leif Garrett. The 90's finished out this group starting with The New Kids On the Block and ending with Hanson, The Backstreet Boys, N'ync, and a plethora of sub par boy bands. There has certainly been others outside these periods, such as The Monkees in the late 60's, and New Edition in the 80's. However, the three mentioned at the beginning were truly special if you dig that kind of thing.  
     The DeFranco Family falls in the period in the middle of the 70's, which was good for them since the fervor over the Cassidy/Osmond axis had died down quite a bit. The teen idol machine was looking or someone new and they found it in the Italian family from Ontario. The five siblings, Benny, Marisa, Nino, Merlina and Tony, were known as the DeFranco Quintet and a tape of one of their performances got to Sharon Lee, who at the time was editor of the magazine, Teen Beat. She arranged for them to fly to California to record a three song demo which lead to them being signed by 20th Century Records.
     "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat" was the first song out of the gate which reached #3 in 1973. It's easy to think today of the group as a one hit wonder, but they also had two other top 40 hits, "Abra-ca-dabra" (#32 in 1973)  and "Save The Last Dance For Me" (#18 in 1974). The hits stopped coming by the middle of 74, but they stayed together as a group until 1978.

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Shawn Cassidy--That's Rock and Roll (1977)

     Shawn Cassidy is known, much like his half-brother David (they shared the same Dad, Jack Cassidy, while Shirley Jones was his Mother) as 70's teen idols. However, that was the about the only similarity. Shawn had what would be considered a "normal" teen idol trajectory: the music came first, then other doors opened. David's early career would have been more akin to Davy Jones, in that the music was created FOR television as well as radio.
     Also, as much as Shawn loved music, the acting bug bit early. (he used to beg his mom to get a spot part on 'The Partridge Family', but she refused citing that he needed to focus on his studies), Since he never had to burden being typecast ala Keith Partridge, when he won the gig to play in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, people saw it a novelty, but the transition was a smooth one. In fact, the show outlasted his life on the music charts.
       This opened up more opportunities to act and in 1980-81 he was cast in the show, "Breaking Away". For most of the 80's and into the 90's, he followed the path of his parents, spending most of his time on the stage. Since the mid-90's however, he has concentrated on writing and producing for television for shows like, "American Gothic", "Invasion", and "Blue Bloods".
     "That's Rock and Roll" was his second hit in the late summer of 1977, and the first of two written by ex-Raspberries front man Eric Carman (the other one was Cassidy's next hit, "Hey Deanie").

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David Cassidy--Cherish (1971)

     For the last 20 years, David Cassidy has done a lot. Recording, some TV, but just like his dad, Jack Cassidy, stage acting is where he has made his name.....

      If your under the age of 40.

      If you are over 40  no matter how hard you may try, he will be Keith Partridge. The star-maker machinery of television did such a good job of marketing, that it's virtually impossible to separate the two. If you think it's hard for you to do that...just think how hard it was for him to escape it. In fact, he couldn't, and never seemed to make peace with it as until he embraced that character, and went in another direction artistically.

     But looking at it with more of a critical eye, it's easy to see that as good as his singles were (solo and with The Partridge Family), he had a charisma on the screen that went far beyond his singing talent. In fact, when he was hired on in 1970, no one knew he could even sing. Before they went into the recording studio, he talked music director Wes Farrell into letting him try out for lead singer spot.

     "Cherish" was a hit for The Association in 1966, and was Cassidy's first solo single. In the previous year, The Partridge Family had 4 hit singles, and three hit albums. David's first outing reached #9 and was his only top 20 hit. It's always interesting to think what would have happened if he had not been typecast. On one hand, he might have been the rock singer he thought he wanted to be, but it's pretty certain that he wouldn't have had the success, which eventually led him down the road to find his true calling.

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Donny Osmond--Puppy Love (1972)

     Teen idols normally have a short shelf life. Almost since the beginnings of rock and roll, PR people have figured out that marketing an artist to young teens can boost record sales. However, young teens grow up, and along with it their tastes in music mature as well. The artists that CAN make it beyond those first few years, are the ones who find a way to mature with the audience.

      In the early 70's, there were four teen idols (male department) that vied for the covers of teen magazines. David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, Michael Jackson, and Donny Osmond. Of those four, Sherman left the biz altogether when he sensed it was over. Cassidy had a rough go of it for years because he tried to fight the "teen idol" tag and it almost ate him alive. Jackson and Osmond both made the transition to adult star (although admittedly Jackson did more than transition....he transformed his genre).

      Osmond did it by finding his audience early and never leaving their side. His most popular songs in the early 70's were the ballads, and those same teens (and their parents) were the same who watched Donny and Marie, and have continued to keep up with Osmond through the years. Another thing that might have helped him (and Jackson) were the fact that they had siblings (older ones too) that provided a system of peers who understood and encouraged.

      Let's not forget that Donny had the goods as well. You might not like his music, but you cannot deny his multiple talents. If you ever doubted that, watching him win, "Dancing with the Stars" in his early 50's and smiling that Osmond 100 watt smile the whole way should have been a reminder. He has been star on vinyl, on television, and on the stage as well, and continues to cultivate much of the same audience that has followed him since the early 70's.

      1971 was his breakout year and by far his most popular in terms of record sales. Puppy Love was his next to last top 10 (the "Twelfth of Never" was the last one in 1972), but had two others in 72' that were hits as well. Paul Anka wrote the song for Annette Funicello who he was dating at the time.....

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Happy Birthday to David Cassidy

I've been doing this blog almost every day for 4 months now without ever resorting to ask the question, "what would my readers want to see?". Oldies music is such a broad subject, that I figured that whatever I wrote about...it would be read. This morning there are two birthdays that caught my eye. One was Tiny Tim, the folk singer who's, "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" was a hit in the late 60's.....and then I see the other and quickly cave to what I know will be a much more popular blog....shame on me.

The debate among middle school girls in the early 70's was, "David Cassidy or Donny Osmond". I never fully understood (until much later) why Michael Jackson wasn't in the debate, but was always amused how little talent entered into the equation. Of course, from the early 60's till now, talent had little to do in the "teen idol" star maker machinery. The story of David Cassidy was one of who wanted to go the path of a rock musician, but followed the door (Television) that was open to him. Unfortunately, the "machinery" behind the door almost ate him alive, but as opposed to many teen idols, he re-invented himself and has enjoyed a long and fruitful career as an actor/singer.

As we look back 40 years we see that the actual music of The Partridge Family and David Cassidy has held up incredibly well. Much like the Monkees, they were made for TV, but the music written was top notch pop. What separated them from the other TV groups was the fact that Cassidy was a true charismatic figure who not only looked good on the screen, but had a great voice. In interviews I've seen over the years, he has come to peace over who he was, and who he is now which is always great to see....so those of us on the Bus which him a great 61st birthday. And....we'll have that blog about Tiny Tim soon....I promise....:--)

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