How cool is this?

Worth it to watch the whole thing but Mr. Cassidy's solo starts around the 5:54 mark. Don't you just love how the term "teen idol" was never mentioned in the intros? And there were two bona fide teen idols on that stage. Respect.

Surprising Cover

Don't know if anyone out there is keeping tabs on covers of Partridge Family songs but Weezer ("Buddy Holly") covered "I Woke Up in Love This Morning". Can't imagine how their grunge manifesto escaped my notice all this time. FWIW, I discovered Weezer's version after stumbling on Mark Chevalier's version. More rock, less grunge for Mr. Chevalier.

Which cover version do you prefer?

He's So Vain? Well, yeah, but is the song about him?

Carly Simon's big hit with the infamous ironic lyric "You're So Vain" is about a David. The latest consensus seems to be David Geffen but I think that David Cassidy should still be in the running for one reason: in an episode of "Ruby & the Rockits", Ruby comments on David Gallagher's less than impressive stage outfit and he protests by saying that Carly Simon went nuts over that outfit back in the day. There were a lot of "in-jokes" on that show and I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of them.

Lyrics to Ms Simon's song here. Read various interview segments with her dribbling hints through the years as to who's so vain on her own website.

Whodda Thunk Senior Citizens Could Be Rock Stars?

Care to feel your age? Care to guess their age?

The one that amazes me the most is Tina Turner. I envied her legs when I was 18 and I still envy her legs, now, a *cough, cough* decade or so later. A few days ago, she was attending a Georgio Armani fashion show in Paris looking like this:


Above photo found on the International Tina Turner Fanclub website.

Music Trivia

Can you imagine David Cassidy singing this song? Mickie Most, a very successful English record producer, apparently offered "Touch Too Much" (written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn), to Cassidy who passed on it, dismissing its chart-topping potential. Miffed and wanting to prove Mr. Cassidy wrong, Mr. Most then offered it to The Arrows, a band fronted by Alan Merrill whose similarity to Cassidy starts and ends with the shag. The Arrows had a British hit with the song in 1974. Check out Merrill's come-hither looks in the clip below. Another bit of trivia: Merrill wrote "I Love Rock & Roll". Yeah, that "I Love Rock & Roll", the earworm made immortal by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Read more about Mr. Merrill here.




Here's another link between David Cassidy and Alan Merrill: both recorded "Walk Away Renée". I hear more vulnerability in Cassidy's version. It can be found on his 2003 "A Touch of Blue" CD.





Seeing as some of you enjoy these comparisons, here's the original version of "Walk Away Renée" by The Left Banke. The voice here is as grating and unforgivable as nails on a chalkboard.