The best-selling single of 1970 was the song “I Think I Love
You,” a catchy pop tune by a group called The Partridge Family.
The song topped hits that year by The Beatles, James Taylor and
Stevie Wonder, to name just a few.
Singing lead on that song – and most of The Partridge Family
hits – was David Cassidy, who went from 1970s teen idol to the
highest-paid performer in the world at age 21 to Las Vegas
superstar in the 1990s.
Cassidy will open the 2006-07 Bradford Creative and Performing
Arts Center season with a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the
Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall on the University of
Pittsburgh at Bradford campus.
“The show will be a celebration,” Cassidy said in a telephone
interview. “And, yes, tell everyone I will be singing a lot of the
old Partridge Family hits.”
Some of those chart-toppers include “Doesn’t Somebody Want to be
Wanted” and “I Woke up in Love This Morning,” songs taken from the
popular 1970s TV series “The Partridge Family” that featured
Cassidy and actress/singer Shirley Jones – who was also his
stepmother.
“I believe the reason so many people remember those old songs is
that they had great melodies and hooks,” Cassidy said.
Another reason for the longevity of those pop songs was
Cassidy’s vocals. He was one teen idol who could actually sing.
He’ll be doing a lot of that Saturday while accompanying himself on
both acoustic and electric guitar.
“I also have a great band of accomplished musicians backing me
up,” he said. Some of them worked with Cassidy when he starred in
three popular Vegas shows in the last decade – “EFX,” “The Rat Pack
is Back” and “At the Copa.”
Now 55, the former heartthrob now lives in South Florida with
his wife and their 14-year-old son, Beau. He also breeds and races
thoroughbreds but said nothing would keep him from what he loves to
do most – play and sing music.
“Every few years, I go back on tour and re-discover those old
songs,” he said.
His upcoming performance will be the first time in 15 years that
he’s done a concert tour. After The Partridge Family ended in 1974,
Cassidy went out on his own, scoring hits with covers of “Cherish”
and “Breaking up is Hard to Do.” At one time, his fan club had more
members than did the fan clubs of either Elvis or The Beatles. To
date, he’s sold more than 35 million records.
Cassidy started out as an actor, appearing on TV shows in the
late 1960s like “Bonanza” and “Marcus Welby.” It was through his
acting that he was suggested for the role of Keith Partridge, the
eldest brother on the popular TV comedy. When producers discovered
he could sing, Cassidy was on his way – around the world and into
the hearts of millions of fans.
Singing was always a passion, he says. “Although my musical
training came as a result of my acting, I was always in garage
bands as a kid and was always the one who got to sing the solos in
my high school choir.”
In the 1990s, he starred on Broadway in the original production
of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and also in the
musical “Blood Brothers.”
His stint in “EFX” at the Las Vegas MGM Grand in the 1990s
became the most successful production in that city, and the hotel
acknowledged Cassidy was responsible for bringing in 1 million
people to see the show.
He says he loves singing the old songs, but his own musical
tastes as a youth were much edgier – Jimi Hendrix and the blues,
for instance.
“John Lennon was my inspiration. I got to know him quite well.
In fact, I spent New Year’s Eve 1974 with John and his wife, Yoko
Ono, singing and playing old Beatles songs.”
His current tour will eventually take him to the United Kingdom
where he’ll appear with the Osmond Brothers and David Essex. But
for now, he’s excited about coming to the University of Pittsburgh
at Bradford campus.
“Nothing makes me happier than singing and playing my music,” he
said. “So tell everyone to come to the show. We’ll rock out.”
Tickets can still be purchased by calling the BCPAC office or
online through the BCPAC Web site.
