TV Show: 1970- 74
“Hello, world, here’s a song that we’re singin”
The Partridge Family: 1970- 1974
“BUZZ” Newspaper Article Nov 2015 (#56-pF)
By: RLSchwinden aka MrZer0
In Jun 1970 as The Monkees, called it a day, I was really bummed, But, then some salvation was on the way, because in Dec 1969 Columbia Pictures- Screen Gems (who also filmed The Monkees) started filming a New Replacement Musical TV Series in “The Partridge Family” remarkably (or not) about 60% of the song writers & musicians moved from “The Monkees” to the “Partridge Family” although instead of Don Kirshner, Wes Farrell would be in charge & instead of Micky Dolenz, David Cassidy would be the Lead Vocalist. However Bobby Hart would still be a main songwriter. And the new TV Band would be on the same record label as the old Monkees as Bell Records, purchased Colgems Records.
The series was loosely based on the real live “Family Band” The Cowsills:from Newport, R.I. with 7 family members & 8 LPs on MGM Records from 1967- 71, with 3 Top #2 Billboard Hits. The series starred David Cassidy (David Bruce Cassidy: 12 Apr 1950; NYC) & his real-life Step-Mother Shirley Jones (Shirley Mae Jones: 31 Mar 1934 Charleroi, PA) with Susan Dey (Susan Hallock Dey: 10 Dec 1952 Pekin, Ill.) & Danny Bonaduce: (Dante Daniel Bonaduce: 13 Aug 1959; Broomall, PA) & Dave Madden: (17 Dec 1931- 16 Jan 2014).
While Cassidy was a good guitar player & a great singer & Jones had been in many musicals with soundtrack LPs; such as “Oklahoma” in 1955 & “Carousel” in 1956 & “Music Man” in 1962 & countless others, only Jeremy Gelbwaks: (22 May 1961; L.A. CA.) had any musical experience by learning to play the drums for the filming of the TV Show. The others all faked it for the camera. Never-the-less this made for TV band released 10 LPs & 11 Singles from 1970- 1974 as well as several Solo LPs.
> 1970: I Can Feel Your Heartbeat <
The 1st LP was released in late ’70 (back then there were no hard release dates) made to look like a “Photo Album” it did contain the “Premium” of an 8×8” color photo for the fans to frame, the single “I Think I Love You b/w Somebody Wants To Love You” (one of 2 picture sleeves) was a #8 Billboard Hit on 5 Dec 70, to me, the stand out tracks are “Bandala” & “I Can Feel Your Heartbeat“, I feel this is one of the weakest releases from them as several songs were recorded without Cassidy & Jones, Trivia: one of the Keyboard players on this LP was Mike Melvoin the father to Prince’s guitar player “Lisa”. There were 4 out-takes from this LP “Com’on Get Happy” “Baby I Love, Love, I Love You” & 2 sung by Ron Hicklin “Together” & “Let The Good Times In” There were 13 TV episodes released this year, my favorite being episode #7 from 6 Nov ’70 “Danny & The Mob”.
> 1971: Summer Days <
Their 2nd LP ‘Up To Date’ was released in 1971 designed to look like a “Calendar” this LP contained the “Premium” of a “Book Cover” Cassidy had an original song on this one “Lay It On The Line” 2 singles were released from this LP; “Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted b/w You Are Always On My Mind” which had the 2nd of 2 picture sleeves & a #6 hit on 13 Mar 1971, followed by “I’ll Meet You Halfway b/w Morning Rider On The Road” which was a #4 hit on 29 May 1971. There was an out-take “Stephanie” written by “Monkees” side-men Ric Klein & David Price. The TV Episode “Knight In Shining Armor” from 19 Mar 1971, launched another TV Show starring Bobby Sherman: (22 Jul 1943 Santa Monica) “Getting Together” for 14 Episodes in fall ’71 & winter ’72, Sherman released 8 LPs & 15 Singles on Metromedia, spawned from the 2 TV Shows.
Their 3rd LP ’Sound Magazine’ was released in late ’71, designed to look like a “Teen Magazine” of the day, with the #18 single “I Woke Up In Love This Morning b/w 24 Hours A Day” on 18 Sep ’71, Cassidy had his 2nd song on this one with “Love Is All That I Ever Needed” the 1st of many Bobby Hart songs “I’m On My Way Back Home” is also on this LP. There were 2 out-takes for this LP”I’ll Be Your Magician” & “Warm My Soul”. Their 4th LP was ‘Christmas Card’ the “Premium” for this LP was an actual “Christmas Card” tucked into a slot on the cover, Jones got her 1st lead vocal on the LP with “Christmas Song” For the TV Show there was 26 episodes released this year, my favorite being episode #21 from 19 Feb ’71 “Partridge Up A Pair Tree” starring the love of my life Annette O’Toole: (1 Apr 1952; Houston, TX) For some reason Bell Records would not give Jones a Solo LP deal but did release 3 singles the 1st being “I’ve Still Got My Heart Joe” b/w “Everybody’s Reachin’ Out for Someone” Bell #119. Cassidy scores a “Christmas #1” with “Cherish b/w All I Wanna Do” (a Non-LP song) on 25 Dec ’71.
> 1972: Something New Got Old <
As if this project did not have enough success ’72 would be the year of all things Partridge Family- David Cassidy, Bell Records really stepped up the musical output, this year starting with a #2 hit with “It’s One Of Those Nights b/w One Night Stand” on 22 Jan ’72, followed by Cassidy’s 1st Solo LP ‘Cherish’ in Feb ’72 containing a Cassidy original & another Bobby Hart song. Followed by ‘Shopping Bag’ in Mar 1972 this LP’s “Premium” a real plastic Shopping Bag, this LP contained 1 Cassidy original & 2 Bobby Hart songs, “Am I Losing You b/w If You Ever Go” #39 29 Apr ’72. On 1 Jul ’72 “How Can I Be Sure b/w Ricky’s Tune” hits the #25 mark on the charts, quickly followed by “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do b/w I’m Here You’re Here” a #30 hit on 5 Aug ’72. Incidentally Wayne Newton’s #3 hit “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast b/w Echo Valley 26809″ from Aug ’72, contained a “Partridge Family” song on the B-Side. I own a “Gold Record Award” for this 45 Single, I was able to get Wayne to sign it, Newton: “Where on earth did you come across this?”
The 1st “Greatest Hits LP” titled ‘At Home’ was released in Sep ’72, because so many 45 Singles were released with songs that were not contained on a LP, however several songs on this LP were not singles or hits at all, but featured in the TV Show. Cassidy’s 2nd Solo LP was released in late ’72 ‘Rock Me Baby’ this time Cassidy had 3 originals included, & the #38 Hit “Rock Me Baby b/w Two Time Loser” on 14 Oct ’72. The 6th studio LP ‘Notebook’ was released in Nov ’72, When I meet Cassidy & got him to sign my copy he said “That’s why it’s blank on the front, so the kids could write on it” Jones 2nd Bell single “Ain’t Love Easy” b/w “Roses in the Snow” Bell #253 was released sometime in ‘72 & Jones had a duet “Girl Land” with her husband & David’s real-life Father Jack Cassidy: (1927- 1976) on the various LP ‘Free to Be… You and Me’ 23 TV episodes were released this year, my favorite being from; 21 Jan ‘72 “Waiting For Bolero” Keith Partridge “These aren’t potato chips, it’s potato dust”
> 1973: It’s A Long Way To Heaven <
As ’73 opens “Looking Through The Eyes Of Love b/w Storybook Love” hits #9 on the charts on 27 Jan ’73, this will be the last song to hit the top of the charts, ending the “Top 40” reign of the project. The next 2 LPs both released in ’73 are by far the hardest to locate in the wild (before the Intronetts that is) their 7th LP ‘Crossword Puzzle‘ is released in Jun ’73 with an actual “Crossword Puzzle” for a cover containing the final 45 single “Looking For A Goodtime b/w Money Money” this LP contains 3 Bobby Hart songs. Followed by the 8th & final LP ‘Bulletin Board’ in Oct ’73, the cover looking like a household bulletin board,containing the final 3 Bobby Hart songs, strangely Cassidy’s 3rd Solo LP comes out in the same month ‘Dreams Are Nothing More Than Wishes’ is also released in Oct’ 73 with a remake of an earlier Partridge Family song “Summer Days” this LP does have the 45 single “Daydreamer b/w Puppy Song” this LP contains 2 more originals by Cassidy & his main song writing partner at the time Kim Carnes: (20 Jul 1945 Hollywood).
Shirley Jones 3rd & final single is also released in ’73 “Walk in Silence” b/w “The World is a Circle” Bell #350. While Jones did not get a solo album deal, Danny Bonaduce did, with Lion-MGM his only solo LP contained the 45 single “Dreamland b/w Bluberry You” & 2nd single a Partridge Family out-take “I’ll Be Your Magician b/w Fortune Lady” even more odd Ricky Segall: (10 Mar 1969 NYC) was given a solo record deal on Bell Records, after appearing in only 10 TV episodes of the show. 24 TV episodes are released this year my favorite being ”I Left My Heart In Cincinnati” from 26 Jan ’73.
> 1974: Where Do We Go From Here <
This will be the last year for the project, as the final 10 TV Episodes are released my favorite being “Two For The Show” from 19 Jan ’74, as is the end of any project a “Hits” LP is released, & in Apr ’74 ‘World Of’ a 2 LP “Best Of” is released. From Sep – Dec ’74 the cartoon “Partridge Family 2200 A.D.” was aired for 16 episodes, Starring: Dey, Bonaduce, Brian Forster (14 Apr 1960 L.A.) the Great- Great Grandson of Charles Dickins & Suzanne Crough: (6 Mar 1963- 27 Apr 2015) as the voices of their TV characters.
This same year David’s 4th & final solo LP is released ‘Cassidy Live’ with the 45 single “Please Please Me”. It’s worth noting that a myriad of merchandise was released in conjunction with the Partridge Family, enough to rival their predecessor The Monkees; the coolest & most sought after being the Lunchbox w/Thermos, Trading Cards, Board Game, & View-Masters. As Wes Farrell produced all 8 LPs he co-wrote many of the projects songs besides him Tony Romeo wrote some 16 songs, followed Terry Cashman & Tommy West, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil & Gerry Goffin. Bobby Hart released a book “Psychedelic Bubblegum” earlier this year where he details his work with The Monkees & Partridge Family, Hart to me in 1990 “(Wes) Farrell, kept me working in the early 70’s working on TV Shows like Partridge Family, Sigmund & The Seamonsters & Josie & The Pussycats”
Many of my friends ask me “How can you be into that kid’s music?” I respond “It’s simple, I am a little older than you, it was on TV, there wasn’t “KISS” yet & more importantly, good songs are good songs”
So see you for our 7th Xmas @ Mr. Zero’s 55113
Mr. Zero’s *Est. 2009
1744 Lexington Ave. N.
Roseville-St. Paul, MN. 55113
TV Show: 1970- 74
Thanks for the step back in time. Thank you also for letting us know who the Partridge Family was “modeled” after. It was probably known back then, but forgotten over the years.
It was also interesting to note that Brian Forster (14 Apr 1960 L.A.) is/was the Great Great Grandson of Charles Dickens. Interesting bit of trivia to find out 42 years later.
It was also interesting to find out that Brian is/was only 5 months younger than me. He looked so much younger.