I Got Misty-Eyed.

Really. Gotta love this former teen idol's attitude.

"Jones unabashedly embraces his career as a Monkee. "John Lennon once said he didn't want to end up singing his old hits in Las Vegas. Well, I do," says Jones"

The article is hardly recent (1992!), but if Mr. Jones has kept the same frame of mind since: Chapeau, monsieur! Chapeau! Photo from his official website.

Let's Hope it's not a La Perla

I wonder what he does with them? Displays them at home in a custom-built curio cabinet?

Credit to John Schultz for photograph found here.

What's Going On?

David Cassidy's recent concert reviews - from journalists and fans - are hardly congratulatory this week and the exchange between "River of Music" and "Derek" at this blog reminded me of Janice Turner's insightful article about fandom that appeared in Times Online when a certain superstar passed away last summer. She had this to say about David Cassidy:

"The most troubled person I ever met was David Cassidy, the teen idol of Jackson’s era, unhinged long ago by his fans. For five years girls slept outside his house, followed him everywhere, ripped his clothing, forced him into isolation, made his life empty and lonely. And then, abruptly, when he was no longer the pretty boy du jour they deserted him. Now, two divorces later, he loathes meeting old fans, because they will say, with no regard for his feelings, how old he looks — though they are mostly portly matrons themselves — or get drunk and take a grab at him. To them, he isn’t a man, just an odd manifestation of their teenage years: they own him and they let him know it."

Read the rest of "The fans killed their idol. They always do" here.

I don't believe fans who respond to claims of "very off" performances by Cassidy with "we accept him as he is, an imperfect human being." No, they are still adulating him as someone they'll "love" no matter what he does. He has said in the past that he never felt worthy of all that adulation during those teen idol years (and in his own words, "Really, who is? No one is.") yet they persist in seeing him as a god on stage instead of an actual human being who might need actual help.

Love is an abused word in fandom. Fans unabashedly proclaim love for their idol but it's simply lust and greed masquerading as love: "We want more, more, MORE of you!" That "you" is a mythical being in their heart and a stranger in their life. Loving a celebrity is a bit absurd. Love his looks, talents or wares? Oh, yes! But claim to love HIM? You don't know him. You think you know him. It doesn't really matter because it's a one-way street. He'll never love you the same way. To quote Janice Turner again:

"Fandom is so grossly unequal, so self-abasing. Even when you are closest to your Special One you are humiliated by his — at best — polite indifference to your pathetic, onanistic, unreturned love."

David Cassidy fans, if you think you love him, care for his well-being. His performances are declining in quality, upsetting fans and turning off critics. What's going on?

Ok, so, just how big was it?!

(Settle down, people. Note the verb tense in the title: "was" not "is". ;-))

You're all familiar with David Cassidy's bio, aren't you? Among his long list of accomplishments, this rarely-skipped boast about the height of his fame always makes me smile: "membership in his fan club exceeded those of Elvis Presley and The Beatles". Honest to goodness, first time I read that, I thought: by how many? One? One hundred?

Seriously, it's a vacuous claim. Sounds impressive but no context is given. Are the three fan clubs compared in the early seventies? If so, well, Elvis was no longer at HIS peak and The Beatles had broken up. If the three clubs are compared at everyone's peak of fame, is the marketing factor taken into account? The David Cassidy fan club - with Laufer publications at the helm - was probably better publicized than either one of the other two (sort of like taking into account inflation when comparing movie box office revenues).

I have a vague recollection of seeing the statement quantified once - with 200,000 fans - but I've never been able to find that number again. Was it online or in a TV bio? Don't recall. Speaking of source, the boast would have come to light when David Cassidy's wife overheard it on the TV game show "Hollywood Squares". Apparently the audience was surprised at the answer to "Who had the biggest fan club? Elvis Presley, The Beatles or David Cassidy?". Unfortunately, I don't recall where that tidbit of info comes from either (his books?).

Anyone out there have hard numbers for us? (Is that giggling I hear? Sheesh. You're just a bunch of twelve year olds, aren't you?)

Inquiring minds want to know.

How do your family and friends feel about your interest in DC? How much or how little do you share with them? How much or how little do they care?

Is Mr. Cassidy still making some people resentful long past his teen idol days?

Do tell.

"I'm no Diva" - David Cassidy Apologizes?

The National Enquirer - probably the only publication to have reported "David's Sunday Disaster" - printed David Cassidy's "apology" in their latest issue. You can view it on the C'mon Get Happy Site - Scott posted it on November 12 at 11h45 pm. Tried to upload the article image here but it's not as legible.

Note to David Cassidy and his management: this is not an apology; this is an excuse along the lines of "poor me, can't you see it's not my fault if I acted like a jackass?". Shame on David Cassidy's management to enable him to disrespect his fans this way. First, he blamed the fans and now he blames the event's organizers. So many other ways this could have played and turned out well. Copyright issues with pictures? Fine, don't sign those. Sign the other memorabilia that fans from far and wide brought you to sign, thirty-five years after your fame's peak. Can't shake hands or pose with fans because you've got the flu? Not a problem. We understand. You're a trooper for showing up in that condition, thank you for minimizing the contagion risks but most of all, thank you for making our dream of meeting you a reality.

By the way, Mr. Cassidy, explaining the refusal to sign Partridge Family photos with "That was then; this is now" at an autograph and memorabilia show IS diva (sic) behavior.

David-bashing? I don't think so

Some David Cassidy fans seem to think that if we criticize him or his work, we are bashing him. I thought I'd address this in a separate blog entry rather than in a comment buried in a thread.

I truly believe that you can be an objective fan. We are not twelve years old anymore and have developed some critical thinking along the way. Some of his stuff is great; some of it is bad. Sometimes he's gracious with fans; other times, he's an ass. I would think that David Cassidy, of all people, would appreciate some objectivity from fans seeing as he complained of the fanaticism in his heyday. Try and find some critical coverage on his performances or work back then. Apart from that Rolling Stone article - and even that focused more on the phenomenon that he was, rather than his actual talent - there really isn't much. He wasn't a god then (just looked like one...) and isn't a god now. Objectively critiquing his work and public behavior is not David-bashing. It's appreciating him as a real person, with talents, faults and qualities.

Not properly rehearsing "Mae" before a performance? You can call that lazy. You can also call it self-sabotage. There are not many other rational explanations for that fact seeing as he knew this was a top song request from fans for months prior to that tour. Seriously, what's up with that? To use an analogy the twelve year old in us will understand, that's like skipping class, not doing any homework all semester and studying the material for the first time the night before the final exam.