"I'm Into Something Good"

Taste is subjective and all that but I really don't understand how anyone can prefer Herman's Hermits' version to The Partridge Family one. Peter Noone sounds like a whiny teenager on helium while David Cassidy croons in one of the sultriest voices EVER.

I've heard a few versions on YouTube and the only other one that's quite easy on the ears is Vikki Carr's big-band style serenade to Peter Noone. No bubblegum to it whatsoever. There's also a version from Marianne Faithfull. Don't go there. Brian Wilson's is scary as well (funnily enough, it's a duet with Carole King who co-wrote the song with Gerry Goffin). Bobby Sherman's version is cute as is Donny Osmond's but neither compel. The 1964 original by Earl-Jean McCrae is as innocent as it is boring.

David Cassidy's slower interpretation is all winks and double-entendres and enables The Partridge Family to turn this chaste teenage ditty into a sophisticated adult song. Ironic since The Partridge Family's target audience was pre-pubescent. As bubblegum as The Partridge Family were supposed to be, David's vocals were nowhere close and that's why I can listen to the songs today without cringing.