502 Goodbye David Cassidy - Romance ( Let Your Heart Go )

Chart  entered : 11 May  1985

Chart  peak : 54

One  of  1985's  forgotten  stories  was  the  brief  comeback  of  one  of  the  early  seventies'  biggest  stars. After  enjoying  two  number  one  singles  David  appeared  to  have  shot  his  bolt  by  1975  when  "Darlin'"  exited  the  charts  here; the  US  had  lost  interest  some  time  earlier. A  long  string  of  flops  followed  before  David  decided  to  quit  the  music  business  and  concentrate  on  acting  with  moderate  success.

By  1985  he  had  decided  the  time  was  right  to  attempt  a  musical  comeback  with  Cliff Richard's  producer  Alan  Tarney. The  first  single  "The  Last  Kiss "  had  exceeded  expectations by  peaking  at  number  6   in  March  1985   helped  by  featuring  George  Michael  on  backing vocals.

"Romance  ( Let  Your  Heart  Go )"  was  the  follow-up   and  was  a  joint  Tarney / Cassidy  composition.  Tarney  drops  him  into  a  murky  soup  of  Thompson  Twins  / Howard  Jones  keyboard  sounds  with  a  vaguely  Afrocentric  feel  while  David  murmurs,  in  his  usual  breathy  style,  some  tired  cliches  about  getting  it  on. His  voice  hasn't  improved  one  iota  since  his  hey-day; the  appearance  of  Matt  Bianco's  Basia  on  backing  vocals  improves  matters  slightly  but  the  tune  isn't  exactly  memorable  and  i's  a  pretty  dismal  record. It  was  helped  on  its  way  by  a  picture  disc  featuring  Dave  in  a  topless  clinch  with  a  well-known  glamour  model  15  years  his  junior  who  will  herself  be  featuring  here  before  long.

The  song  turned  out  to  be  the  title  track  of  his  album  which  reached  number  20  here  helped  by  a  sell-out  tour  and  22  in  Germany. The  third  single  "Someone"  a  rockier  number  with  corny  spoken  interlude  that  you  feel  Cliff  would  have  done  better  , failed  to  trouble  the  charts.  A   fourth  track, the  Euro-pop  "She  Knows  All  About  Boys"  written  by  Don  Merino  was  released  in  Germany.

David  was  quiet  for  the  rest  of  the  decade  then  re-emerged  in  1990  with  a  new  self-titled  LP  to  mark  his  40th  birthday. It's  a  passable  AOR  album, co-composed  with  his new  wife  Sue  Shifrin,  very  much  in  the  style  of  Richard  Marx  and  yielded  his  first  US  hit  in  18  years  ( also  his  last  )  when  "Lyin  To  Myself"  reached  number  27.  His  tour  to  promote  it  was  notable  for  employing  former  Partridge  Family  co-star  Danny  Bonaduce  as  a  warm-up  act.

Further  progress  was  stymied  by  his  record  label  being  taken  over  by  Restless  Records  who weren't  interested  in  taking  him  on.  His  next  album  in  1992  "Didn't  You  Used  To  Be  ...?" was  released  by  Scotti  Brothers. Despite  the  ironic  self-awareness  of  the  title, Dave  and  Sue's songs  don't  stray  far  from  the  usual  romantic  themes  and  the  album  is  firmly  anchored  in   the  mainstream  pop  of  the  day.  It's  competent  and  David's  voice  finally  shows  some  signs  of improvement   but  only  the  big  ballad  "I'll  Never  Stop  Loving  You"  ( co-  written  with  Asia's John  Wetton   and  later  covered  by  Heart  and  Cher )  really  demands  a  second  listen.

The  album  didn't  chart  anywhere  and  David  moved  into  musical  theatre  including  appearing  in  Blood  Brothers  with  his  half-brother  Shaun. He  hosted  a  show  8-Track  Flashback  on  VH-1  from  1995  to  1998.  David's  last  new  songs  were  on  his  1998  album  "Old  Trick  New  Dog"  featuring   your  man  with  dyed  receding  hair  on  the  cover. It  was  filled  out  with  remakes  of  old  Partridge  Family  numbers  and  had  to  be  released  on  his  own  Slamajama  label.

Since  then  David  has  stuck  to  revisiting  his  old  hits  and  scored  a number  5  hit  in  the  UK   with  "Then  And  Now " in  2001 . In  2003  he  released  a  covers  album  "A  Touch  of  Blue"  with  a  bonus  album  of  re-recordings   which  got  to  61  in  the  UK.  A  straightforward  compilation  "Could  It  Be  Forever"  got  to  52  in  2006. An  autobiography  with  the  same  title  was  published  the  following  year.

Along  with  occasional  acting  roles ,  David  has  dabbled  in  reality  TV  and  toured  frequently. In  2008  he  admitted  to  being  an  alcoholic . He  has  two  convictions  for  driving  under  the  influence  and  did  community  service  last  year.  He  filed  for  bankruptcy  last  year  and  had  to  sell  his  house. On  the  day  it  was  auctioned  off,  he  was  involved  in  a  non-fatal  road  accident  while  driving  on  a  suspended  licence  and  now  faces  charges  for  that.