(* as part of The Partridge Family )
Chart entered : 13 February 1971
Chart peak : 18
Number of hits : 16 ( including 5 with The Partridge Family )
This one's another minor landmark, the last single here that could be purchased with old money. Apart from a fragmentary recollection of one of the last steam trains pulling into Manchester Victoria , Decimalisation was the first national event that impinged on my consciousness. I can remember buying jammy dodgers at break time with old pennies and that the old sixpence was now worth 2 and a half pence, the exact price of a packet of crisps.
David's arrival was another sign that the quality threshold had slipped a bit in the new decade. At least since Adam Faith broke through, we'd given untalented teen idols short shrift. Fabian had been sent home after one very minor hit while Joe Meek had broken himself on the rock of trying to keep Heinz in the charts.
I remember The Partridge Family being on TV and struggling to get my head round the Shirley Jones stepmother thing but otherwise my knowledge of it comes from After They Were Famous - type shows so I can't have enjoyed it much. It was loosely based on The Cowsills, a family singing group popular in the latter half of the sixties. The plot generally revolved around widowed mum Shirley ( Shirley Jones ) taking her musical family around in a big camper van - or was it a bus ? - to perform in some unlikely locations after a bit of slapstick comedy. David was cast as eldest son Keith ( he was already 20 and Jones was 36 ) purely on his looks. He had no musical cv at all bar a 4 night run in a failed musical but both his parents were actors and he'd recently had guest roles in things like Ironside and Bonanza.
The original intention was that the recordings would be made by session musicians and the actors ( apart from the musically-trained Jones ) would just lip-synch them. None of David's younger co-stars had musical training ; notoriously Danny Bonaduce , besides having the second worst hairstyle of the decade ( the winner will be popping up here shortly ), would strum the bass during their "performances". David however persuaded the producers that he was good enough to do the lead vocals himself and got a pop career as a result. The musicians on the records were L.A.'s famous Wrecking Crew.
The song was written by Tony Romeo, previously most notable for Lou Christie's I'm Gonna Make You Mine. It's best appreciated without the visuals, a magnificently-arranged baroque pop song from the point of view of a timid man frightened by the strength of his feelings. The words, melody and ringing harpsichords all compensate for David singing it like a Dalek. Although his limitations weren't as exposed on the uptempo numbers as they were on the ballads there's still nothing positive you can say about his vocal performance.
The song was a million selling monster hit in the States staying at number one for three weeks in late 1970.
The original intention was that the recordings would be made by session musicians and the actors ( apart from the musically-trained Jones ) would just lip-synch them. None of David's younger co-stars had musical training ; notoriously Danny Bonaduce , besides having the second worst hairstyle of the decade ( the winner will be popping up here shortly ), would strum the bass during their "performances". David however persuaded the producers that he was good enough to do the lead vocals himself and got a pop career as a result. The musicians on the records were L.A.'s famous Wrecking Crew.
The song was written by Tony Romeo, previously most notable for Lou Christie's I'm Gonna Make You Mine. It's best appreciated without the visuals, a magnificently-arranged baroque pop song from the point of view of a timid man frightened by the strength of his feelings. The words, melody and ringing harpsichords all compensate for David singing it like a Dalek. Although his limitations weren't as exposed on the uptempo numbers as they were on the ballads there's still nothing positive you can say about his vocal performance.
The song was a million selling monster hit in the States staying at number one for three weeks in late 1970.
I first heard this song via the Voice of the Beehive version in the early 90s. On comparison, I think their version is miles better.
ReplyDeleteMercifully, I'm too young to remember young David and his TV career. Or any of this songs. 15 hits?? Has he been deleted from pop history?
One has to be careful with David that you don't end up sounding like an old dinosaur disparaging female taste but really they are all shite. This is the only one worth hearing ( and not for his contribution ) ; there really is no reason for any radio producer to spin one except on nostalgia shows.
ReplyDeleteNB : you've brought my attention to a counting error which I'll correct. It should be 16 hits. Ta.