I like you, just not in that way

I love reading comments on Partridge Family and David Cassidy videos on YouTube. Some are from adult men (quick to state that they are straight) who now admit to liking The Partridge Family and David Cassidy back in the day - one called David Cassidy singles his "guiltiest pleasure". What was it about David Cassidy that made it so that boys couldn't like him overtly? Is it because girls were so gaga over him that if you were a boy who liked David Cassidy it meant you found him sexually attractive also?

He was the prettiest thing we'd ever seen, as Graham Norton said, years later, when he had David on his UK TV show. And his every pore did ooze hotness. And the man had girls fainting left, right and center during his concerts. Is it because he didn't look manly enough for boys to admire him? Boys can only admire strong, beefy guys, I suppose. Do young boys even have "idols"?

“Male identity is constructed around every man’s pride in his independence. As a result, the masculine paradigm can never quite accept fandom in general” (402) -Caught in a Trap? Beyond Pop Theory’s ‘Butch’ Construction of Male Elvis Fans Mark Duffett Popular Music, Vol. 20, No. 3 Gender and Sexuality. (Oct., 2001), pp.395-408.

A young girl's adulation of an idol is forever tied to her emerging sexuality. Boys can't admit to liking, much less idolizing, the same male stars as girls do because it would cast a doubt on their sexual orientation. That's pretty much it, isn't it?

Teen idols get no respect

What is it about teen idols that makes critics dismiss them so? Is it because it appeals to the 8 to 15 year old female crowd? And it was primarily, in David Cassidy's case, a female audience in the early seventies. Would they be less dismissive if the fans were male? The message seems to be: if girls like it, it's rubbish.

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.

I Think I Love Lipton!?

How lame is it that I'm giddy to hear "I Think I Love You" in that new Lipton Sparkling Green Tea television commercial? Listening to those "ba, ba, ba, ba, baba, bababa..." background vocals come on and then David singing "ITILY", I was amazed at how fresh the song sounded. Will a new generation get hooked on that classic chorus and go on to discover the innocent fun of The Partridge Family and the hotness of David Cassidy?

In any case, the song is fresher and better for you than this new sparkling drink could ever hope to be. The health nut in me compels me to tell you that Lipton Sparkling Green Tea is far from "the perfect drink for your healthy lifestyle". With high fructose corn syrup as its second ingredient, the drink is bad enough but they've also added artificial sugar and colours to the mix. Are there enough antioxidants in each bottle to counter that crap? Shame on Lipton for marketing this stuff as a healthy alternative to a soft drink.

Uh, and shame on me for hoping that people will buy it regardless? I just want PF's timeless anthem on the air long enough to seep into the public's consciousness once again. Buy the drink people, just don't drink it. ;)

Thank you Tony Romeo for this pop masterpiece and rest in peace.

The butt of a joke

Did you see the recent Family Guy episode that mentions David Cassidy? My husband was cracking up watching the show and called me over to see the clip figuring I'd get a kick out of it. Called "Three Kings", the episode is the parody of three Stephen King movies. In the Shawshank Redemption parody, the warden is so upset that a prisoner has escaped that he "could throw a rock at that David Cassidy poster on the wall" (paraphrasing). The poster in question has David in a back pose looking over his shoulder (should such a poster exist, I need it ;)). The warden throws the rock where it lands right on David's butt and leaves a hole in the poster. The warden gets closer, puts his finger in the hole, then his fist, only to realize that the poster is covering a huge hole in the wall which was obviously the prisoner's escape route.

I groaned seeing this. On one hand, they're implying that David is gay. On the other hand, they chose David for the poster. They could have used any number of well known "teen idols". Seems "David Cassidy" is still shorthand for pretty poster boy. As I told hubby, everyone over the age of thirty-five knows who David Cassidy is. He was THAT famous. And his heyday was almost forty years ago, so no chance of offending a huge fan base, right?

How will David Cassidy react to this clip? (Apparently, he's a fan of the show.) "Hey, as long as they mention me, it means I'm not forgotten!"? How many viewers will go, "Hmm, oh, yeah, hahaha, David Cassidy. Whatever happened to him?" and then go check him out on YouTube?

Any publicity is good publicity, right?

Sex on the Beach

I used to think it was the name of a drink. Silly me.

Groovy's back

Spotted this purple paisley shirt in H&M's window the other day. Reaction? "Totally groovy shirt! Keith Partridge would have looked amazing in this."

Just finished watching all four seasons of the Partridge Family and it's amazing how little the fashion offends. Three quarters of the cast's wardrobe could be worn today. They say that the seventies is the decade that taste forgot but really, that moniker should be reserved for the eighties, don't you think? A fashion car wreck, with exaggerated silhouettes, exploding technicolour and neon palettes and fabrics that looked like something the cat regurgitated, the eighties were far from flattering, clothing wise. Sure polyester abounded in the seventies but so did jeans, suede jackets, leather boots and snug pants that highlighted certain men's assets ;) (Mind you, can you imagine men wearing those form-fitting pants today?! Every year, women's fashion gets more and more revealing but men's clothing remains pretty demure. Sure, you see young men's underwear peeking out from waistbands all over the place these days but the pants are much too baggy to even hint at any shape underneath.)

All this to say that Keith Partridge looked mighty fine in those tight pants. And it would be considered indecent today to post a picture of his front view. ;)