By Gary
I am looking at the 70’s and I guess I had better address a family that could get a little complicated. They all made hit records in the 70’s and probably sold millions of records. So let’s start with Mom. She is a singer, dancer, academy award winning actress and star of one of the most watched TV shows from 1970 to 1974…
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David and Shaun Cassidy
So now for the music part. Shirley Jones and her step-son David Cassidy would team up to do a TV Show called “The Partridge Family”, which would become enormously popular and would rocket David Cassidy to Teen Idol Status!
David Cassidy and Shirley Jones
Videos:
Partridge Family Concert /
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Summer Days /
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Am I losing You /
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Music: Shirley Jones & David Cassidy
Let’s look at David Cassidy. I saw him at the Royal Alex Theatre in Toronto, starring in Blood Brothers, I think in the late 90’s.
Music of David Cassidy:
Cherish & I woke up in Love this Morning /
Son of actors Evelyn Ward and Jack Cassidy, David Cassidy has had one of the most variety-filled careers in the entertainment industry.
He first got his start on the television series Partridge Family, where he portrayed the singing teen heartthrob Keith Partidge. The show featured a family traveling the country and playing music in a rock band, which even included his real-life stepmother/on-screen mother Shirley Jones.
The role carried over into his real life, where he was regarded in a similar manner by an enthusiastic teen audience. He suddenly found himself making hit singles of his own and garnering Grammy nominations for his efforts; his fan club even became the largest in the history of the music industry.
The massive global merchandising helped him sell millions of records, but by the mid-’70s he was practically driven from the spotlight by a teen market hungry for new talent.
He turned to acting for a while, making notable television and stage appearances for many years. His roles even brought him to Broadway and London’s West End, where he regained credibility as a dramatic and musical theater actor.
He milked this into the ’90s, when nostalgia and VH1 helped him gain a bigger public spotlight than he had seen in years. He rode that right into a position at the MGM Grand Hotel in 1996, when he opened the 75 million dollar show EFX under much speculation of his drawing power.
He re-vamped several aspects of the production and fine tuned it until it became one of the biggest attractions in Las Vegas, and his nightly performances became a huge money maker for both Cassidy and the hotel.
Many awards were thrown towards the show, and this gave him the clout to see his Rat Pack Is Back stage show brought to life at the Sahara Hotel & Casino in 1999.
Two other shows, ‘At the Copa’ and ‘David Inc.’, opened the next year at the Rio Hotel, but Cassidy had his sights set on returning to the touring circuit with his newfound popularity.
He started a world tour in 2001 and even secured a new record deal to release his high-concept stage/music ideas to home audiences.
Ok, now let’s look at Shaun Cassidy.
Music of Shaun Cassidy:
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Video:
A major teen idol of the late ’70s, actor/singer Shaun Cassidy rocketed to fame both on the pop charts and on television, much as his half-brother David Cassidy had done earlier in the decade. The son of actors Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones, he was born in Hollywood on September 27, 1959, and formed his first band at the age of 11.
After signing with Mike Curb’s division of Warner Bros. in 1975, Cassidy issued his 1976 debut single, ‘Morning Girl,’ which became a major European hit and made the singer the subject of considerable fan adulation and teen magazine scrutiny.
The follow-up, a cover of Eric Carmen’s ‘That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ was also a success abroad, especially in Australia.Cassidy’s first American release followed in early 1977: a cover of the Crystals’ 1963 classic ‘Da Do Ron Ron,’ it immediately hit number one, and overnight he became a heartthrob in his native land as well as internationally.
Cassidy’s fame increased with the 1977 premiere of The Hardy Boys Mysteries, a weekly TV series based on the popular teen detective novels, and his self-titled debut LP went platinum. ‘That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll’ was also reissued for American audiences, and went gold. The 1977 follow-up, Born Late, was another success, spawning the Top Ten hit ‘Hey Deanie.’
Cassidy’s fame proved short-lived, however; 1978’s ‘Under Wraps’ struggled to crack the Top 40, and 1979’s ‘Room Service’ failed to even chart. With 1980’s ‘Wasp’, he recruited producer Todd Rundgren in an attempt to make a serious rock album, performing material from the likes of David Bowie, Pete Townshend, and David Byrne; however, the LP stiffed, and Cassidy’s recording career was essentially finished.
Television became his primary focus, and he starred in the 1980 series ‘Breaking Away;, followed several years later by a stint on the soap opera ‘General Hospital’.
After starring with David Cassidy and Petula Clark in Broadway’s ‘Blood Brothers’ in 1993, he returned to television as the creator and producer of the 1995 program ‘American Gothic’.
Russ & Gary's "The Best Years of Music" 