David Cassidy on the Web
Family are thrilled at meeting '70s idol David Cassidy
December 1, 2008
By Lisa Hutchinson
Evening Chronicle
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk
THESE Daydreamers had always wanted to meet '70s pop star David Cassidy.
Now Diane Oswin, her sister Christine and mum Margaret have had their wish come true.
And the trio have the memories and photographs to prove it.
Professional cake-maker Diane even presented Cassidy, whose hits included Cherish, Daydreamer and I Think I Love You, with a creation she baked for him when she met him on the Isle of Wight.
And 81-year-old Margaret made a lasting impression on the heart-throb when she told him she was his oldest fan.
Back at their Cramlington home, in Northumberland, Diane said: "We were huge fans when we were teenagers and mum was in her 40s.
"The question everyone always asked in the schoolyard was whether David or Donny was the best looking?
"We had the posters, the books and went to the concerts. Our mum took Christine and I to one in London. We were all fans together.
"It was fabulous meeting him, but it was my mum who stole the show. She was mothering him and giving him advice on his sore throat. He really took to her."
Their meeting came after Margaret replied to an advert in a national newspaper inviting Cassidy fans to apply for tickets, each priced at £200, for a special day with the star.
And they were lucky enough to get picked from the 2,000 or so people who applied.
The trip was a treat to celebrate Diane's 50th birthday.
The successful applicants spent the day with the singer. They got the chance to ask him questions about his time on tours, his part in The Partridge Family TV show and his appearance in the original stage version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Those brave enough could also quiz him about the time he posed nude for an edition of Rolling Stone magazine, with American photographer Annie Leibovitz in 1972.
It was The Partridge Family, a show about a mother and her brood of travelling musicians, that made him so well-known.
While it was big in the UK, it was a runaway success in America. It made Cassidy a teen idol across the world in the early 1970s.
During that time, his fan club had more paid-up members at any one time than any other in history.
Last year Cassidy, David Essex, Showaddywaddy and The Osmonds brought Geordie fans out in force when they appeared at Metro Radio Arena as part of the Once In A Lifetime Rewind tour.
And Cassidy's die-hard followers gathered on the Isle of White earlier this month to meet the man himself and help raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation.
Diane, who runs Sweet Art Cakes, added: "I made David one with his portrait on from the cover of his Dreams Are Nothing More Than Wishes album. He loved it and ended up buying it for £100 and donating the money to charity."
Margaret, a grandmother of six, said: "He gave me quite a bit of attention.
"I told him I liked Elvis and Neil Diamond, but I said he was the best. I said I must be his oldest fan and he loved it."
