David Cassidy on the Web
After run of Vegas glitz, ex-teen idol back to music
July 17, 2002
By Gary Graff
The Oakland Press
Notes from the music beat...
Onetime Partridge Family frontman and teen dream David Cassidy notes that he hasn't been to Detroit in quite some time - for at least a decade, since he last toured.
But Cassidy still notes with pride that he was the first artist to play at the Pine Knob Music Theatre when it opened in 1972. Not surprisingly, he was chagrined to find out about its name change to the DTE Energy Music Theatre.
"I heard that," Cassidy, 52, says, "but we all still think of it as Pine Knob, don't we?"
Told that patrons and other performers indeed still refer to the amphitheater by its old moniker, he's pleased.
"Cool; then I don't have to feel like too much of a dinosaur if I refer to it as Pine Knob," he says. "It's one thing to say I played there, and another thing to say I'm the guy who opened it, you know?"
Back then Cassidy was riding a wave of fan mania that was compared to Elvis Presley and the Beatles - and presaged the likes of Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC. He's nowhere near as commercially hot these days, but he may be even busier than when he was the toast of the teen pop world.
Having successful revived his career through theater projects such as "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Blood Brothers" and in the Las Vegas productions "EFX," "At the Copa" and "The Rat Pack is Back," Cassidy - the son of actor Jack Cassidy and stepson of "Partridge Family" co-star Shirley Jones - has turned his attention back to music.
His latest project is "Then and Now," an album for which he re-made several of his old hits ("I Think I Love You," "Come On Get Happy," "Cherish") and recorded a few new tracks, including a cover of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic" that was used for a Mervyn's holiday campaign last year.
Cassidy - who's planning to record a ballad-oriented set for release during 2003 - says his goal with "Then and Now" was "to lovingly go back and see if we can make these songs again in a way people will get it, to get the essence of the material without being dated.
"You have such a different perspective in your 50s than you do at 20 or whenever I recorded them," he says. "It's difficult to be true to the material and try to approach it with the same innocence. It was a challenge."
He's less pleased with another remake of his old material, however. Katie Cassidy, his 15-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, has released a new version of the Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" - though not with her father's blessing.
"I have spoken to her and told her what my thoughts are about teenagers going into show business," Cassidy says. "It's certainly not my idea, and I don't think it's in her best interests, personally. This is her mother's deal.
"But I wish her well; she's a sweet girl, a wonderful person and I hope she enjoys it. If it works, great. If it doesn't then she's going back to school, I hope."
David Cassidy performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus of Oakland University, Rochester Hills. Tickets are $45 and $35 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100.
