David Cassidy on the Web
David back to experience the passion of the North
June 6, 2012
By Barbara Hodgson
The Journal
www.journallive.co.uk
Ahead of David Cassidy's return trip to Newcastle, the former teen idol talks to BARBARA HODGSON about family, loyal fans and his Newcastle United shirt
MY interview with David Cassidy comes the day before his birthday ("my 39th" he tells me; 62nd says Wikipedia) which he's planning to spend quietly with his wife before having dinner with friends.
But, true to form, he also has two gigs in the same weekend, including a tribute to Davy Jones (the pals had been planning to perform in a concert together in Miami before The Monkees star's sudden death in February) which he's both anxious and excited about.
The gigs are at Tampa and St Petersberg, not far from his home in South Florida where he moved from Las Vegas in a determined effort to cut down on a gruelling workload.
From his teen idol days in the 70s, which saw the New York-born pop star and actor shoot to fame in US musical sitcom The Partridge Family and build up as frenzied a fan base here in the UK with such hits as Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and that best-selling of 1971 I Think I Love You, Cassidy has kept the momentum going, continuing to perform while spreading his wings as musical theatre star, producer and director.
In Vegas he was both star and creative director of $75m extravaganza EFX, a show he reworked into the resort's most successful production, and created other major hits such as At The Copa and co-created, with writer-producer Don Reo, The Rat Pack is Back!
He says: "I moved to South Florida from Las Vegas where I was doing 10 shows a week, had 88 employees and was producing two shows at one time, creating a TV series and was executive producer as well.
"It was much too much. I lost a number of years of my life and you don't get to relive that. It's not a dress rehearsal.
"So I made a promise to my wife and son. It's about balance in life."
That promise was to cut back on the workload and restrict tours to no more than two weeks.
Even so, he'll be coming over to the UK for rather longer than that, having signed up for a Once In A Lifetime tour which will see him share the stage for the first time with Leo Sayer, Hot Chocolate and Smokie and brings him to Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on November 14.
"I'd made a commitment not to tour any more and this will be the longest," he says. But his wife will be coming over for some of it, he tells me, and he is keen to reconnect with the "unbelievably supportive" UK fans who have stayed with him since those heady early days when his face graced the front of everything from teen magazines to cereal boxes and membership of his official fan club was said to have exceeded that of Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
That was, by all accounts, a mad time. "That kind of fame is once in a lifetime," he acknowledges. "And it's still very intense – the fans are very passionate!"
But he's been keen to impress the reality of the industry upon his children, including a daughter and son now making their own respective marks in the acting and music industry.
"They're well aware of the difficulties of choosing this career," he says.
"I'd encourage anyone to follow their dream but they have to be aware that very few people become successful. The odds are stacked against you.
"My dad was a revered actor (Jack Cassidy). He instilled in me a great work ethic and I instill that in my own children."
But he adds: "It's important that everybody in life has an opportunity to pursue their dream."
His took in pop stardom, Broadway – starring in the original production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Blood Brothers – and the West End stage (in Time, with Sir Laurence Olivier).
He also won an Emmy nomination for his role in TV series Police Story.
He still sees himself first and foremost as an actor.
"I began as an actor and I still consider myself to be one though I don't get to do a lot of it."
He's worked in the past with his brothers Ryan, Patrick and Shaun who all work in the business, from set decorating, through acting and writing to producing, and suggests a pilot TV show, just written by Shaun which he's hoping will be picked up, might have a part for him.
"I love to act," he says. "Unless you change, reinvent yourself, people don't know what you're capable of doing.
"Because I was so famous for so long playing a specific role in a specific TV show (The Partridge Family) that's how people saw me ... as an air-head; they thought that was me.
"But I had a lot of fun doing that.
"As an actor you try to create characters that are authentic: that's something I've always loved to do." But it'll be those glorious days of the 70s that he'll be re-creating during Once In A Lifetime, with old hits that he didn't get a chance to sing during his time in musical theatre.
"That's the reason people come to see me," he points out.
"I try to explain this to people: the reason I have fans is that they loved what I did and are familiar with those songs.
"If I didn't play them, fans would be disappointed."
And they've stuck with him a long time. While he spent a couple of years living in London in the 80s he hadn't been back before that since 1974.
"I have a really great connection with fans in the UK; they're very loyal."
He adds: "The last time I was in Newcastle was about four years ago at the Arena.
"As an American I find the people of Newcastle are very different; they're passionate.
"It's something I related to very much.
"I was raised in Manhattan, New York City, then moved to live with my grandparents in a rural area and I spent the time from when I was five until 11 with them and the people of the North East remind me of that; there's just a certain something about their values and a certain something about their passion and pride.
"A friend of mine who works with me over there lives in Newcastle.
"It's great. I feel a connection.
"The audiences are amazing – the last time, they gave me a Newcastle United football jerseys and scarves and it's all great stuff. I've got it at home."
This new tour celebrates a time when he and the rest of the bill provided the musical backdrop to many fans' lives.
"It's a celebration of a time when a lot of people grew up with myself and Leo – who I have a great respect for; he's a fantastic writer and singer – and Hot Chocolate and Smokie.
"It's music that people can relate to and that's probably something that needs to be celebrated more.
"Things move so quickly now. We buy a cell phone and in eight months it's obsolete. People long for the simplicity of the old days."
Once In A Lifetime comes to Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on November 14. Visit or www.ticketmaster.co.uk or call 0844 847 1726 for tickets
