Did Tony Romeo write kick-ass songs, or what?!

And no one sang them better than David Cassidy.

Don't know how I managed to miss this version but here are The Lettermen covering "It's One of Those Nights (Yes, Love)". It's an amazing song full of evocative imagery and they render it beautifully...but it all sounds fake next to The Partridge Family's version, doesn't it? Hard to beat the warmth and sincerity in young David Cassidy's delivery.

I specify "young David Cassidy" because he redid the song almost thirty years later for his "Then & Now" album and...well, he shouldn't have. It sucks. Wish I had the terminology to express how awful it is but whoever has the album could probably chime in. If I could find it on YT, I'd share it with you. What happened to his singing during all those years? Can't say it's his voice that sounds different (that's normal with age), it's his phrasing. There's no vulnerability in his delivery. Sorry, I know I've bitched about it before but I was just listening to that "Now" track and the difference between the two never fails to hit me.

His Sexiest Song?

In celebration of Valentine's Day, Billboard compiled their list of the Top 50 songs about sex. Notice I did not say "sexiest songs". No. These songs made the list because their lyrics are about sex and they charted highly. That's all. These are not necessarily sexy songs. Billboard explains the list:

"...the 50 most popular songs about sex ever, as based on each song's performance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (from August 4, 1958 -- the inception of the Hot 100 chart -- through the Jan. 16, 2010 issue)."

"Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years."

Now, here's one song that made Billboard's list. It also made a VH-1 countdown at some point and guess who introduced it on that show? ;-)



So, to paraphrase Salt-n-Pepa, let's talk about sex in songs. What do you think is David Cassidy's sexiest song? My choice: "Rock Me Baby" - perhaps the most obvious choice, but what can I say, his voice could prompt deals with the devil. Here's a live clip of him singing it on a European music show back then (don't mention the show please - this clip has been removed from YT in the past). Only found one clip of the 1972 recorded version of the song and it's the one of him in his shiny pink suit on "Top of the Pops".

Crazy in Love with Mystery Song

Does anyone have any information on the song "Crazy Love" that appears on "Classic Songs", "Best Of David Cassidy" and "How Can I Be Sure"? The Downunder fansite credits Rusty Young as songwriter. The only Rusty Young I can find is a member of the band Poco but DC is not singing Poco's "Crazy Love". According to what I read on the Downunder site, David Cassidy does have a connection to Poco: he sang back up on one of Richie Furay's albums. Furay is a founding member of Poco. I Googled the lyrics and the only page that comes up is the lyrics page for the song on the Downunder site.

David Cassidy's "Crazy Love" - catchy enough



Poco's "Crazy Love" - a hit for them but not my style



And of course, "Crazy Love" makes me think of Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love". Catchy as all heck, it's my surefire abs workout and NME just named it "Song of the Decade". (The voters have spoken. We are to deal with it and wait for the next decade.)



That crazy catchy hook in "Crazy in Love" that my hips can't resist? Sampled. Here is the original horn hook from "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)" by the Chi-Lites, from 1971. Yup, 1971. Anybody write anything original this decade?

Classic Songs and the Top 100 Songs of the Century

You know how some songs, the first time you hear them, grab you with both a visceral, utter familiarity and a freshness that makes your spine tingle? They play out so naturally and effortlessly that you can't imagine them any other way and there's an inherent timelessness to them as if the songwriter strung together just the right notes, in just the right order, to capture an eternal melody or permanent rhythm nestled in our collective subconscious. You listen and the reaction is almost always immediate: "Wow. Of course."

I remember reacting this way the first time I heard Alanna Myles' Black Velvet and Michel Pagliaro's "Loving you ain't Easy".

Yesterday, I discovered the classic song in the video below. Or rather, I re-discovered it since I recalled having heard it before - probably the Boney M. cover because I'm a child of the late seventies. I don't think that I'd ever heard this version, the original, sung by its creator, Bobby Hebb. Below it, Marvin Gaye's smooth rendition and finally, The Four Tops'.

How do you think David Cassidy would fare with "Sunny"?

By the way, "Sunny" was #25 in BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century, which are "the most played songs on American radio and television." Check out the title at #22 ;-)

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.