I Think I Like You Too

What's happened to good old-fashioned romance in popular culture? Wooing is dead and buried, isn't it? When's the last time you saw a proper turn-your-heart-into-a-helium-balloon romantic movie, comedy or otherwise? Been over ten years, hasn't it? What about songs that describe falling head over heels?

“I Think I Love You” is the classic falling-in-love anthem that catapulted our David Cassidy to stardom. I was listening to it on YT recently (one video of it has gotten over 1.6 millions hits, btw) and as usual, YT helpfully recommended videos based on my selection. One of them was “I Think I Like You” by The Black Box Revelation. At first glance, I thought it was a cover of our beloved ITILY but since it had gotten close to a million views, I figured it had to be a different song. Well, would you look at that, it’s a different TITLE, so yeah, DeeDee, I guess it’s a different song (reading glasses? who, me?).

What a lovely surprise. Thank you Black Box Revelation. I loooove the song’s beat and energy but had to admit that there, in all its glory, was today’s cynicism. As sentimental declarations go, “I Think I Like You” hardly packs the same knee-weakening wallop as “I Think I Love You”, does it? Whatever. I think I like the song. Nah, I’ll go on an emotional limb and declare that I know I like the song.

I liked it so much I had to listen to more of their stuff. Second listen was “Never Alone/Always Together”. The vocals reminded me of Jagger and the rhythm of Smoother’s East Side (I thought everyone knew this song but the video's views say otherwise - do not fear, I've embedded it here). Third up was “High on a Wire”. I like this one too. Looking forward to discovering more of Black Box Revelation.

Anyway, all this fearful sentiment sharing made me wonder about current love songs. What odes to amour would I discover in Billboard’s Top 100? (I’m so very not au courant). I went on Billboard’s site and scanned the titles in search of romantic declarations. Selena Gomez’s “Love You Like a Love Song” had a very promising title and I was intrigued by Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Into You”. Unfortunately, the songs couldn’t float my rubber ducky in the middle of the Dead Sea but William Levy could. Never mind the Dead Sea, he'd do it in the desert. Who’s Mr. Levy, you ask? In the words of one blogger, he’s a “Cuban actor/model/panty creamer and walking orgasm”. Like dessert, I've saved him for last.












Mind this pic, he’s more than a pretty face. You can see his physique in Ms Lopez’s video. Oh and more pics on You Know You Care, site of the apt description. Go. Now.

Not a Teen Idol, Sorry

Well, the powers that be at that big ol' American talent show changed their minds. Contestants sang Billboard #1 hits and not teen idol material, as I had reported last week. Guess the threat of dodging "Puppy Love" and "ITILY" became too real for someone.

Anyhoo, if you want to know how young Mr. Urban did, you can watch his performance here. He looks and sounds a lot better than I initially thought but I can't detect a tenth of DC's sex appeal in him. And perhaps if he had been dressed differently, his sliding around stage wouldn't have looked so incongruous? As it was, it baffled, but not so much that I'm tempted to watch his performance again to analyze it. If people are still comparing Urban to Cassidy after last night's performance, well, it's their little delusion to cradle. As the title of another #1 hit said so well, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing."

A Treat and Damn Google Alerts

Here's a pic I'm sure will be new to many here. Now, wasn't that a treat?

And direct from the "Google Alerts make me discover crap and everybody has free speech" camp, here's some guy's list of music to be eradicated from your ipod. Poor chap knows very little of DC's music if he thinks he belongs in the same camp as Milli Vanilli. Wish I knew what criteria he used to make this list because while I'm not a fan per se of many of these artists, a few have some very catchy tunes. What's the harm in that? Here are a couple I'd add unabashedly add to my ipod. Didn't appreciate Hanson's first hit when it came out - now I think it's pop gold. Thanks to their perfect soundtrack, Wang Chung is forever inextricably linked to the 1985 movie "To Live and Die in L.A." Before that, they had some catchy dance tunes too. Seriously, who can resist "Dance Hall Days"?

Urban Legend

Through Google Alerts, I've learned that more than a few people see a resemblance between one of the current American Idol contestants and a young David Cassidy. Apparently, this young man looks like DC and sounds like him in the Partridge Family. Now, I don't follow that glitzy talent show but I've seen a couple of pictures of the young man in question and all I can say is "Huh?" Yeah, yeah, I see the feathered hair. But it's not the same cut, people. It's feathered towards his face. Total opposite of Cassidy's style which was feathered AWAY from his face ;-) Subtle difference but oh what a difference. Not to mention his dissimilar features. AI dude has chiseled cheekbones. Cassidy had a baby face. Look at the eyes, the nose, the smile. Not taking anything away from the young man's good looks but come on people, compare objectively. There is no resemblance. If you want to compare his looks to any past teen idol, look at Bobby Sherman. Similar hairstyle and piercing blue eyes.

As for the young contender's voice, here's a clip of him massacring a Rolling Stones classic (starts at 1:27). If that performance has piqued your interest in his vocal talent, well, you're on your own to hunt YT for more. I am so not there. You're welcome to report back if his voice matches our man's. To make amends for exposing you to this sacrilege, I've included Streetheart's cover of the song which, imho, surpasses the original.








(Helpful pic of Bobby Sherman to fill those memory blanks. )

Yeesh! And you think I'm harsh?

I've got nothing on Australian fans. This is what one had to say about an "ageing diva" (oh yeah, she's ancient at 46) who performed recently in Brisbane:

"She couldn't entertain a dead rat, to be honest."

Read about the superstar's dismal comeback attempt in the land Down Under here.

"Raindrops"

R&B singer Dee Clark scored a huge hit with his song "Raindrops" in 1961. David Cassidy, not so much. You can hear DC's version of "Raindrops" on his 1992 album "Didn't You Used to Be...". Anyone know what could have prompted Cassidy to cover this particular song? Anyone care to guess? Anyone even care?

How Did I Not Know This?

Betty & The Werewolves is a London-based band that wrote a song about David Cassidy cleverly called "David Cassidy". Listen to it here. Read lyrics on this page.

"David Cassidy
Your magic's worked its trick on me
And I can't seem
To not believe"

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. The single is available from "Damaged Goods Records". Hmm. Maybe that sums it up better. Never mind.

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 ;-)

Money, Money..

Jane, over at her infamous fan site (well, it IS infamous for DC fans), summarized David's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in February 2008.

"David talks about his old hits, which he says were crafted by the best in the business. "Some of the greatest musicians that ever, ever lived, I worked with and played with," he says. "I soaked it up like a sponge. In those five years, I couldn't have had [a better] education. I couldn't have bought it if I had $10 million.""

Oh, but you did, David. You did buy that education. Remember all those merchandising royalties you never got paid?

Now, what I want to know is where does he get five years? I'm assuming he's referring to the Partridge Family music. Isn't that four years? Does he round up the years, the way he rounds up his height?

And was I alone in being embarrassed by his performance on that show? I saw it once - probably on YT - and recall a lot of awkwardness from serenaded audience members. Didn't he sing ITILY out of tune? It didn't sound good at all. That's what I remember.

Here's David singing about money, making it sound sexier than it already is. Song written by Wes Farrell, Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart; appears on the PF's "Bulletin Board" album.

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.