Please Please Me

In one of the Partridge Family or David Cassidy biographies, The Partridge Family's producer, Bob Claver, mentions that David never refused to do anything for any of his scenes. Shirley Jones would. She'd tell the writers if she thought the script wasn't realistic, for example. But David never did. That remark struck me. Afraid to rock the boat, David?

Naked Lunchbox, that infamous profile on David Cassidy that Robin Green penned for Rolling Stone magazine in 1972, gives us two bracketing images of David as a people-pleaser.

The first is David, post-concert, wiped, battering off the flu with antibiotics (thanks for contributing to the evolution of super bugs there, David), slumped in a cab with his entourage as they check out discos in The Big Apple. His pleas to go straight to the hotel are met with chides to try one more place and he ends up muttering his consent.

The last is David, pre-concert this time, arriving in Maine, where "...hundreds of fans stood in snow, waving banners expectantly. "Look at all those fans," David moaned. "Standing out there in the cold, waiting for me. I feel rotten. I look terrible. After a weekend of killing myself, I have to show up and smile. I can't handle it. I ain't going. I'm staying right here."

David sat with his arms folded across his chest, staring out the window. The men in the van filed past him, out to a waiting bus. Ron, Henry and Stele were ready to go. "Well," said David, softening, "I suppose I should put on my coat.""

I interpreted that to mean he couldn't handle showing up and disappointing his fans with a sub-par David.

In those early days, his career was a runaway train but he wasn't the conductor. He had no artistic control over his material and had signed away his likeness to the company that produced The Partridge Family. David Cassidy became a money making machine for all business parties involved and they had no qualms pushing him to the limit to maximize their own profit. They all knew "teen idols don't last" so they took while the getting was good.

David put the brakes on the runaway train and just jumped off in 1974, quitting the Partridge Family and his concert touring. Still today, interviewers ask him why he quit everything as he did back then. There are several reasons - exhaustion, loss of identity and normalcy chief among them - but as a fan too young to experience his teen idol reign, I can't help but wonder if he couldn't have re-negotiated his contract to better suit him.

His initial contract was invalid because he was underage when he signed it and his manager re-negotiated it for better financial compensation. As the David Cassidy money making machine was well underway that second year, didn't he realize that the pace would lead to a burn-out? Couldn't he have re-negotiated aspects of his contract a second time? Spaced out his concerts to give himself a break? Restrict use of his likeness and coverage in teen magazines, the main fuel for the madness? Wrestled for more artistic control on those solo efforts? Perhaps he tried or did ("Rock Me Baby" was a rocking departure from "Cherish", after all), I don't know. I haven't read his autobiography yet (only excerpts found on the web) - perhaps he shares more about his contract in it?

I'm not a psychologist nor do I play one on TV, but I get the impression that while he worked his tail off during that crazy period, saw the big picture and wanted a long term career in the business, he mainly worked to please those around him. That was his subconscious drive. When you have a fear of abandonment (as most anyone whose father left him at a young age would), you develop a strong need to please others because you fear rejection. Nose to the grindstone, you play by the rules to gain approval from those you admire who, ironically, are often those who rejected you initially. While working like a dog to gain this elusive approval, you lose yourself and your goals. The resentment builds and builds until you can't see any other solution but to say "I quit".

I'm convinced David would have lived a similar scenario even if he hadn't been in show business.