David Cassidy on the Web
David Cassidy embraces his place in pop culture as a Partridge
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Joy Tipping
The Dallas Morning News
He's starred on Broadway and London's West End - with Laurence Olivier, no less. He co-starred, with both his brothers, on Ruby & the Rockits, the most expensive television show ever produced by ABC Family. He received an Emmy nomination for "A Chance to Live," the highest-rated episode of Police Story that ever aired. He revamped and starred in the Las Vegas extravaganza EFX.
But with all that, David Cassidy understands - and appreciates - that when people hear his name, the first thing that still comes to mind is The Partridge Family, a television show that appeared in 1970, ran for four seasons and garnered not one Emmy nomination. It was seen as fluff, but its fans were, and remain, fervently loyal.
"It'll never bother me that I'm best-known for that," Cassidy says with a laugh during a phone interview from Los Angeles. "When you know you've had such an impact on people as we did with that show, it's just great. When people meet me, they always have this 'Wow!' look on their faces. They light up. It's a great gift to me, how people remember that show, and I'm really proud of the way my career has evolved since then."
With that in mind, expect Cassidy, 59, to sing a lot of songs from the Partridge Family catalog at his concert Saturday at Nokia Theatre. He's on a solo tour, but Dallas-area audiences will get a special treat: Davy Jones, who starred in the late 1960s show The Monkees, will open for Cassidy, and Cassidy hints that they may do a song or two together at the end of the night.
Cassidy loves the spirit of Dallas, he says. "There's something about Texas and Dallas in particular that's so special. Houston - well, it's more corporate or something. With Dallas audiences, it's like, 'Let's go have fun! Let's celebrate!' " It's been about 15 years since he last played here, he says.
On The Partridge Family, Cassidy portrayed the eldest son of a musical family headed by Shirley Jones, his real-life stepmother. Cassidy and Jones were the only members of the TV cast who actually sang on the Partridge Family records. They had several chart-topping singles, including 1971's No. 1 single, "I Think I Love You." Cassidy's solo career included the hits "Cherish," "Rock Me Baby" and the 2004 platinum album Then and Now.
Having come from a family of actors - his father, the late Jack Cassidy, was a debonair leading man - Cassidy says he always considered himself an actor first, then a musician. He moved to New York after high school, worked in a mailroom and got his first professional job in a Broadway show, 1969's The Fig Leaves Are Falling. When he got the Partridge Family gig, though, he suddenly had a recording career that he'd never expected, but which has endured for nearly four decades.
His last major project was Ruby & the Rockits for ABC Family, which he calls the best experience he's had as an actor. In April, he'll start filming a movie that he says he "can't really talk about, except to say that it's a little like Mamma Mia! but more edgy and more rock-y, about a period of serious rock 'n' roll.
"We've got the choreographer from Mamma Mia!, it's got a great pedigree, and it has the potential to be something really special."Plan your life
David Cassidy and Davy Jones will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Nokia Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie. $49.75 to $69.75. Ticketmaster.
