David Cassidy on the Web
7 More Not-Quite-As-Famous Bands That Didn't Actually Exist In Real Life
May 3, 2013
http://whatculture.com
7. The Partridge Family
Remember when I said I didn't want to focus on rip-offs? It was the 3rd paragraph. This is my exception. Although they may have been similar to the Monkees (who were more trying to emulate the Beatles), The Partridge Family was made for the new American suburban hippie-parents who were not yet ready to give up on their musical dreams while raising a family. That is, if your dream was to travel the country in a school bus singing radio friendly pop tunes to avoid dealing with the loss of your husband and father of your 5 kids (in theory).
The Partridges were actually another made for TV musical group like the Monkees who had little to no input on the actual production of the songs. Most of the songs were written and performed by studio musicians with the exception of Mother Partridge (Shirley Jones) and Keith Partridge (soon to be teen hunk David Cassidy) who convinced producers that they could actually sing well enough to be recorded. Everybody else lip-synced.
Cassidy parlayed that opportunity to soon break out of his TV role and take his act solo, travelling with his own musicians, appearing in Rolling Stone and basically living the rock and roll lifestyle. Another Partridge, Donnie Bonaduce, also became infamous for being a bit of a douche, and living the rock and roll lifestyle, despite not really knowing anything about rock and roll.
The Partridges had a few albums that made it into the Billboard charts, aside from their catchy 'C'mon get Happy' theme song, they also hit number 1 in 1970 with 'I think I love You', selling over 5 million copies. They released 9 albums between 1970-73, quantity over quality meaning something in those days. Their 1971 Christmas album also hit #1 on Billboard USA, #45 in the UK.
Not bad for a fictional widow and her 5 photogenic kids from California.
