David Cassidy on the Web
Cute is key to teen idol status
May 27, 2011
By Rick Chase
wcfcourier.com
I admit I have always been confused about the title of "teen idol." Are we talking the idols of teenagers, or are the idols themselves teenagers? Is there some sort of sliding scale that measures performers and labels them depending on the combined age of the idol and their intended audience?
Are idols just a momentary warp in the musical time and space continuum before they evolve into successful adult performers (think former Disney Mouseketeer Justin Timberlake)? Or will they simply disappear like Sajid Kahn, who filled many a teen magazine for a short time in the late '60s.
Obviously, all teen idols aren't teenagers. Elvis Presley, for example, was 21 when his first hit climbed the charts. David Cassidy was 20 when "The Partridge Family" premiered. On the other hand, Michael Jackson was only 8 when he began sharing lead vocals with his brothers.
But before I allowed weighty questions like these to keep me up at night, it dawned on me. There must be an arbitrator who decides who is a teen idol. Somebody gave the nod to The Monkees' Davy Jones instead of his bandmate Peter Tork. Why was Michael a teen idol instead of Jermaine or Tito? Why did the idol gods smile on Donnie and Marie Osmond and not on their brothers Wayne or Merrill?
My wife handed me the answer.
"You have to look at things with the eyes of an elementary school girl," she said. "They don't talk about talent, they talk about cute."
Yes, "cute" is the key.
Davy Jones received most of the ink devoted to The Monkees simply because he was the cute one. Remember that Paul McCartney often was called "the cute Beatle." Guess what? He also was the one who flourished in the pulp pages of "16 Magazine" and its competitors.
David Cassidy had it all over Danny Bonaduce on "The Partridge Family's" cute meter. The Bee Gees' Andy Gibb totally trumped his brothers in cute.
If a face repeatedly peers at you from the covers of teen magazines, you can bet those faces are cute enough to be a teen idol. They will soon grow up, as will their fans. And, as always has been, there will be a new crop of cuties waiting in the wings to answer probing questions like, "What is your favorite color?"
