Would David Cassidy's career been different if he hadn't "actually" sung the Partridge songs

Rick's 'Working Class Dog' album preceded his stint on General Hospital by about 4 Months.

Darryl

 

Michael Jackson did pretty well for himself though millions of kids, myself included, were exposed to him largely through a weekly cartoon TV series.

No coincidence that my fav bands at age 5 were Beatles, Monkees, Jackson 5 and Partridges. Yellow Sub brought me to the Beatles at 3. The others followed over the next couple years.

 

I don't understand the OP of this thread about how it would have made a difference whether David sang or lip synced to someone else's vocals. I think that the mere fact that David Cassidy was on the Partridge Family show would pigeon-hole him as a teen idol, whether he actually sang or not. He was identified with the show and its music as the focal point and the break out star of the Partridge family.

I was a young kid and saw the PF when it was first shown on prime time network television. I didn't know anything about the behind the scenes stuff such as who wrote the songs or who was actually singing or playing the instruments. I learned all of that stuff many years later. I did know what I saw and that was that David was the star.

Scott

 

Scott is right. David was the star - that is all that matters.

 

I recall the TV biog of him, particularly scenes of him in his caravan on the Partridge Family set, getting stoned and complaining that he really wanted to be Jim Morrison. I could never see him being suited to that style of music. But even if he mimed to the Partridge's songs, he would still have been tarred by the teen idol brush that I can't see him escaping from.

As an aside, and as a comparison to where his solo career went, here's Nina Simone's version of his hit "Cherish" - I't been stuck in my head for the last few weeks:

 

Sounds like the group consensus is he would have been typecast either way.

I still feel doing the pop songs (some label bubblegum) created chains on him. For example, John Travolta became a heartthrob on Welcome Back, Kotter but still made the leap to major film star. Meanwhile the cast of The Monkees had a similar and difficult time like Cassidy after their show ended. They never got free of the music idol image either, except maybe Nesmith. They, at least, embraced it much better than Cassidy and were better for it.

Maybe the best thing David could have done was change occupations. Leave the Hollywood limelight completely. Let it become solid history, get some clear distance and then maybe go for a comeback with a clean slate.

Personally, I greatly enjoyed his music from his solo career as much as the Partridge tunes and was always on the watch for his next album. But I was clearly in the minority.

 

It's too bad he was seduced by the idea of rock "credibility" which is mostly critics' posturing bs. Say what you want about today's music, that kind of crap is mostly gone. The kids are much more open to good stuff from any genre or artist.

Sounds like David was incredibly successful but wanted something he didn't have, yet wasn't willing to sacrifice his lifestyle to get it. He could have started a band under a different name and done exactly what he wanted. I do have some sympathy for him but, at the same time, there's a lack of gratitude here combined with a lack of ambition. Not judging him for that though, human nature.

 

So what's up with this fiction that Timberlake outgrew NSYNC? You're aware that Britney Spears created this guy's solo career, right?

Any one of the former Jive Records label mates Backstreet Boys could have had Timberlake's career of relying on (Urban) producers but they just weren't afforded the gift of using the tabloids/music videos to slander more famous ex-girlfriends etc...

 

Can you see any of those Nsync guys on SNL? Timberlake has that star quality that none of the other boy banders had. Are you telling me they did not have access to good producers?

 

maybe he would've gotten davy jones' role in the monkees TV show.

 

I always laugh at the people who try to distance themselves from their popular roles. Many of the popular TV show stars resented being associated with their famous parts but meanwhile, the only reason anyone gave a damn about what they did in their later careers was BECAUSE of their famous roles. That goes for Brady Bunch, Star Trek, Batman, Man from UNCLE, you name it.

By the way, I know I'm in the extreme minority on this, but as much as I like the PF songs, I actually like the PF songs without Cassidy even better. My two favorite songs of theirs are the 2 from the pilot, which are essentially the Ron Hicklin Singers.

 

Without the Partridge Family I don't think he would have done as well.

 

Loved David Cassidy. He was a great singer with a golden voice like butter and fabulous looks. He was under-appreciated as a singer and actor and got typecast by being the "teen heartthrob" ....he was so much more than that.

 

David Cassidy must have often been envious of George Michael - another star who drastically changed his image and musical persona, but far more successfully, at least in the commercial sense.

 

Well in the UK David Cassidy was absolutely massive. He also had the biggest fan club in history.

 

Sometimes I go crazy because I misread thread titles as in “ Would David Crosbys’ Carreer”

 

With his career have been different? I would think so. I think he would have still had been a teen idol musician but he would not have been nearly as successful as he was because of the show. He had Melody makers writing hit songs for him and I don't know if he could have rode his own or come up with his own hits at least as many as he received from that show. After the show he'll add the fame go to his head got into drugs and his life and career suffered for it. He came back and did solo albums but they weren't nearly as successful as when he was associated with the show. He later moved on to Broadway and did acting on stage for a while but that only gave him limited success. he finally wound up in Las Vegas at the end of his career before his illness overcame him. All in all he had a very successful career by my standards. Too bad he couldn't transition out of kids television like Rick Springfield did. I think he should have associated more with rock artists and musicians and try to strike out and reinvent himself he may have been successful like that but unfortunately he tried to go It alone and his musical rock career ran out of steam. Donny Osmond suffer the same type of career failure. He never got into drugs but due to his lack of association with musicians and other artists his career also hit a dead end.

 

Some good point here, but I just want to point out that Rick Sp[ringfield did not start in "kids' television". He started his career as the lead singer of the highly successful Australian band The Zoot, and also had a number of successful solo records - well before "Jesse's Girl". . The acting thing came much later.

 

Oh sorry I didn't know about his humble beginnings. I do know this if he was successful with his first musical venture he would not have transitioned into television the way he did. I'm pretty sure he was on a kid's television show. I remember seeing him animated and playing as a cartoon like the Beatles and Jackson 5 and Osmond's did. I think he was even in a live-action kids program to if that wasn't the same program. When that didn't work out I'm sure he tried his hand at a solo career and then later or maybe at the same time got into serious acting on television. I think he did character roles in a lot of different television series as well as landing on some soap opera I can't remember which one. Then he left and his musical career started to pick up. So he transitioned well from television to a successful musical career unlike David Cassidy. that was my point whether he started off in a rock band or not I don't know you have me at a disadvantage.

 

^^ Not sure what you mean by "humble beginnings", but I'll let it pass.

 

First open thread could find on David Cassidy,,,,,I gotta say his version wings song, tomorrow from wild life album, done in 76 and a number one in England in 76...maximum slayed and gave a whole new interpretation to the song. He definitely had the vocal talent to go on solo with a band if he could work out the song writing issues. His cover version of that song gave me a whole new respect for him as a vocalist as I remember him and some of his music in the seventies.

 

Always loved his take on this McCartney song. “Home is Where the Heart is” is a great album.

 

Yes. It was on very, very briefly (going from memory, not Google). I used to pick up 16, etc., for the scant articles on actual musicians (as opposed to pinups), and Rick Springfield was his own industry around '73-'75. To my knowledge, his music was unknown, at least to the 16 audience. But then he turned up on Saturday morning TV. I just assumed it had a link to those teen magazines.

 

Maybe the strategy Donnie Osmond used to pull off Soldier of Love ( released without his name attached) could have worked to give him the satisfaction that the music would be successful without the stigma.

 

Maybe he should have done what...that McCartney II dude did...go on vacation in disguise after partridge family show ended....then come back with a different inspiration, style and look....lose lots of weight, grow a real mustache and eventually become so intriguing that a few later fans of his earlier career would be convinced he’d pulled off a switcheroo.....lol. You know I haven’t forgotten your kook fascination ...I mean it’s the best possible way to renew a career ...to disappear and revive a later career with a whole different style and...plant clues to hype your new career ..or he could have contacted Tavistock institute ....Hey, Beatles disguised themselves as ..another band on pepper, lol, so it couldn’t have been Macca I with them later.