Yowza

Urban Dictionary has five definitions for the expression "bedroom eyes". I say scrap them all and replace them with this picture. Anyone still unclear on the concept? Didn't think so ;-)

David Cassidy Favorites

Tell me, what's your favorite David Cassidy song and why do you like it so?

Mine is "Some Old Woman" from the "Dreams..." album. The song is wonderfully bluesy and his clear, warm voice has just the right mix of velvet and rawness for it. Just love the way he says "whoa" and how he makes me want to believe he's "as pure as a newborn child". The first time I heard this song, it didn't register. I heard it properly the second time and then I was hooked. Does he ever do it in concerts? Would be a nice alternate to "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone".

"Dreams..." is by far my favorite album of his. It's mixed to perfection with nothing to detract from his fabulous voice and the songs are timeless.

My close second is "If I didn't care" which was released as a single in the mid-seventies. On CD, it can be found on "Then and Now", "A Touch of Blue" and "David Cassidy & the Partridge Family: The Definitive Collection". I think he's only recorded one version, but I'm not 100% certain. Did he re-record it for "Then and Now"?

This melodious song has to be one of the most romantic songs ever written. Not an ounce of sap or cheesiness to it, just sincere, evocative lyrics.

If I didn't care, more than words can say
If I didn't care, would I feel this way?
If this isn't love, then why do I thrill?
And what makes my head go round an' round
While my heart stands still?

I think David Cassidy's version is the most timeless. The original recorded by the Ink Spots in 1939 sounds almost comical today and Connie Francis' version bears the unmistakable background vocals of the fifties. The most recent version might be the one sung by Amy Adams and Lee Pace in the 2008 film "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" - quite nice, serves the scene perfectly. One recorded performance by Frank Sinatra on YouTube supposedly dates from 1939 and is, as is pretty much every song the man has done, vocally perfect. It just doesn't thrill me ;)

Cassidy's version thrills me. First, there is that sexy intro with the piano/snare drum combo and his "ummmm". Take me now (oops, did I type that out loud?). Second, his breathy vocals. An absolute perfect match for the lyrics, they make the words almost tentative, as if he were discovering these truths while singing the song, which, to my mind, is a much more romantic interpretation than the overly confident declarations sung by the other artists. Finally, I love how he sings "you" at the very end.

Here's a portion of David Cassidy's "If I didn't care". Recent live versions from concerts abound on YT and it's interesting to hear how differently he sings it now. His voice has more power, he holds the notes longer and there's no tentativeness in his interpretation. The problem with the live versions is that the audience sings along, drowning him out. At least UK audiences always sing on key as Mr. Cassidy has noted.



And here's "Some Old Woman" because it's criminally under-appreciated.



Looking forward to hearing your choices.

Voice Change?

Released in 1990, David Cassidy's self-titled album includes the hit "Lyin' To Myself". The album was seen as a comeback to the recording scene, at least here in North America where his previous release dated to 1976 with "Gettin' it in the Street".

Is it me or is his voice different on this album? Granted, his vocals take a backseat to the drum machine as they did on "Romance", but he sounds different here. His phrasing, if this is the right term for what I mean, is different, no? For example, in the song "Labor of Love", he emphasizes and stretches out the "uh" sound in "love" whereas he used to stress the last syllable in words. In "You Remember Me", the vocals are halting and abrupt. I think his voice sounds good on "Stranger in your Heart" but again, unexpected syllables are accentuated ("giv-En", "l-uh-ver" at 1:06) and the effect isn't as pleasing to the ear. Same thing on "Boulevard of Broken Dreams": his voice tumbles down on vowels (e.g. hero that w-s, walk a-l-ne) and the effect is anything but natural.

His vocals seem to lack the instinctive expression that made them so previously warm and alluring. Was this vocal style change prompted by the harder rock on this album or something else? Voice lessons perhaps?

Would love to read from those who have the vocabulary to express what I'm sure I'm not imagining.

"I Write the Songs"

David Cassidy, as his devoted fans will be the first to tell you, recorded this Bruce Johnston-penned song before Barry Manilow did. From what I've read, DC's version got limited promotion and airplay in North America and Manilow's version, released shortly after and backed by Clive Davis, head of the Arista record label, won the public's heart.

I've never been a Barry Manilow fan (I do like "Copacabana") so this song was just another one among his sappy repertoire, but I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover David's recording a few months ago. I like it now. To my ears, David Cassidy's rendition overflows with bluesy emotion while Barry Manilow's perfect vocals are duller than a butter knife. While I agree with one YouTuber's assessment that Manilow's version is "more organized and symphonic", I have to say that's what makes the song so trite for me.

What say you?

Here's Mr. Manilow's version which Mr. Johnston apparently considers "the definitive version". High praise from a Beach Boy.




And here's David Cassidy's recording. I prefer DC's live performance that was posted by Soxman2004 on YouTube but thought the visual a bit distracting and the sound too "scratchy" for comparison. Search for it though if you haven't come across it yet: it's worth a listen!

Look what I found!

Thanks to one of Clodyne's cool links on her amazing fansite (have I mentioned it's amazing?), I found a picture of something I never thought I'd like: David with a mustache. But with those eyes and that mouth? Many, many sins can be forgiven, including facial hair.




You gotta love the descriptions these sites give to the pinup poses. For this one below, they put "trying to look sexy". Are you effing kidding me? The man defines sexy. And to paraphrase Tom Hanks in that baseball movie, there's no trying in sexy. Check out the question on the left. I certainly don't remember such brazen language in my Tiger Beats (late 70s)! Those fan mag editors sure knew how to torture young girls.




You'll find more of David on pages 32 to 36 here. By the way, Adam Rich was a pinup? Wasn't he like six or something? Who knew. Oh, and if anyone can tell me who ALAN ORDON JORDON is/was, I'd be much obliged. Google kept telling me I was looking for Alan Gordon Jordan. Nope, I don't think I was, thank you very much. Here's Mr. Jordon flaunting his right to go shirtless.



Enjoy!

Ruby: Second to Last Episode

Ok, was there anything to dislike in this episode? Besides the improbability that a guest's life-threatening allergy wouldn't be communicated to the cook? Not much. I'd practically have to retype the whole script to share all the good lines.

"It has a Starbucks." - Jordan explaining why Dandelion State Park isn't so wild.
"Yeah. I hear they run around without pants." - Ben on the wild squirrels to be found in Dandelion State Park. Perfect delivery from both actors. Incidentally, Jordan's "nerd loops" and "cool straps" had me in stitches in a previous show. Very good timing. Does Austin Butler remind anyone else of Leif Garrett, looks-wise?

Could Shirley Jones have been any better?
"My friends call me Shirley."
"Your school must be under a mushroom. Mushroom. MushROOM. MUSHROOOOM."
"I would never hurt myself. I'm my favorite person."

And David Cassidy's character is getting to be likable. David Gallagher thinks of himself first (as he should, being such a "superstar" and all :)), but he also thought of other people's feelings in this episode. A welcome change. He reminded me of Ted Baxter from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Was DC channeling his father for whom the character of Ted Baxter was created?

Patrick Cassidy shined once again: "I doubt it. She's as healthy as horse." "Every mouthful is like a hug." There's now chemistry between Katie Amanda Keane and Patrick Cassidy and Audie had a warmer presence in this episode.

Ruby's awkwardness was real and I must tip my hat to the writers: trust issues with Rachael Ray? Who would have thought? Question for the writers: is the ability to incorporate unexpected words such as defiled and dilation in a family show script a resume must-have these days or just a scriptwriters' in-joke?

Of course, the whole plot wraps up neatly with a "hug-makes-everything-better" at the end. So what. It's a sitcom and hugs do make a lot of things better, especially in a family. It would have been nice if DC had sung the "C'mon get happy" line instead of just blurting it out as he did at the end. It kind of fell flat this way (no pun intended). That's my only quibble with the second-to-last-ever Ruby.

I watched the episode a second time with a non-DC fan (to be clear: not a DC hater, just not a fan). His opinion? The show was amateurish with stilted acting and a very annoying laugh track. It never would have been produced had it not been for the Cassidy name, according to him. I really don't think it's that bad (there is so much worse) and it's not because I have a blind spot when it comes to David Cassidy because I certainly don't.

And your take is? Did this episode make you go, "Yes! They're hitting their stride." or "Bah, more of the same. Whatever."?

I love YouTube.

I love how easily I can discover musical gems and talent and learn about performers and their careers. Every time I read a thoughtful comment about an artist's talent, something that expresses more than "that was awesome, man, thx 4 uploading it!11!", it reminds me of how I wish I had had a proper music education. I envy those who can read music, sing on key, play an instrument, write lyrics or songs.

All I know is what I like, what moves me, what stays with me, what I want to hear in replay mode all day. I do my best to express the reasons but I lack the technical knowledge of what makes great talent great and as such, my vocabulary is limited. I can tell a verse from a chorus in a song, identify a hook and recognize a great lick but is that an A, C or E note? No effing clue. Mind you, once, when I was young (yeah, that'd be in the previous century), I was crossing a busy downtown street with my friend, a singer and jazz music fan, and realizing a car was fast approaching (okay, we were jaywalking), let out and held for a few seconds some type of cry that my friend proclaimed a "perfect C!" My proudest music moment. That friend is now a vocal coach and professional singer, so I hold her opinion dear.

That very friend used to come over to my house and discuss big band music with my father. She was fourteen. We were in our second year of high school. Big band and jazz. This is what the girl listened to at fourteen. You know what I listened to at fourteen? What all my other friends were listening to. My father called it "noise" but now it's called "classic rock".

My mom sold my father's stacks of LPs (long playing vinyl records for any youngin's reading this) at a garage sale when she sold the house. I can still picture the lucky buyer's face, all bug-eyed and drooling, as he was looking through the jazz and easy listening titles: multiples of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Herb Alpert, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, Doris Day, Engelbert Humperdinck, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby...sold the whole lot for about five bucks. I cry thinking about it now. That's also when I parted with my "The World of the Partridge Family" double album and DC's "Rock Me Baby". A different buyer for my little collection though.

So, it's thanks to David Cassidy that I find myself on YouTube these days clicking from one related video to another searching for velvet voices and sweet melodies. My father used to say that a song wasn't a song if it didn't have a melody. One day, I had enough courage to ask him what a melody was. Something you can whistle, he said.

Thanks for the melodies, Dad.