David Cassidy on the Web
C’mon, Get Happy with David Cassidy
June 16, 2016
By Mike Morsch
www.centraljersey.com
Expect Partridge Family and solo hits when David Cassidy plays NJPAC.
Women of a certain age will recall rushing out to their local newsstands or anxiously waiting by their mailboxes to pick up the latest edition of Tiger Beat magazine. It included pullout posters of teen idols, which would then be used to adorn the bedroom walls of those pre-teen and teenage girls.
Ah, the early 1970s. It was a glorious time for those teen idols and their hair. And one of the biggest poster boys from that era was David Cassidy.
”I had a lot of hair and I was dubbed the ‘Hair God.’ I didn’t do it, the guy who cut my hair called me that,” Mr. Cassidy says. “It was kind of fun and I took it all in stride. But I wish I had all that hair now.”
It was also a challenging time for Mr. Cassidy. He was starring in what would become an iconic television show about a fictional musical family, The Partridge Family, while at the same time trying establish himself as a bona fide rock star in his own right, away from his television persona.
”I was doing ‘The Partridge Family’ during the week, and when I would finish shooting on the set, I was recording in the evenings,” Mr. Cassidy says. “I would go out on a Friday night or a Saturday morning with a band and do two shows on Saturday, do two on Sunday and then fly back and be on the set Monday morning. That’s enough to make anybody tired, just talking about it now.”
Mr. Cassidy will re-recreate a bit of that hectic schedule from his younger days when he performs two shows June 25 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. He will perform hits from the Partridge Family and from his solo career.
Mr. Cassidy, the son of stage and screen star Jack Cassidy, has built a long career as a singer, television and stage actor, producer, writer and director. He is a multiple Grammy-award nominee and has sold more than 30 million records worldwide.
These days, Mr. Cassidy, 66, makes it clear in conversation that he is comfortable in his own skin. In addition, he also is appreciative of growing up in the musical era of the 1960s and 1970s, and is thankful that the fans of his teen idol years have remained faithful for decades.
”People relate to me as to whatever impact I’ve had on them to whatever degree,” he says. “It’s great to go back, and when I do a lot of my early stuff — Partridge Family and David Cassidy solo stuff — the audiences love it. I know I love it when I see an act and I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard it or I saw them. I wish people could even for five minutes have an experience of what the consciousness was and what the music was and the artistic freedom that recording artists had in the 1970s. What an incredible time to be a musician, a rock ‘n’ roll star, to do creatively what you wanted. It doesn’t look like, smell like or sound like anything in the music business today.”
Mr. Cassidy describes his current show as one of high energy that takes people on a musical journey of his life.
”I think if you’re old enough to remember being alive in the mid- to late-1960s and 1970s, the public generally thinks it’s all about style. The superficiality of wearing striped bell bottoms and Afros,” he says. “But there was real social and political change going on. And I pretty much aligned myself with that change. I always felt the need to share that with people. I am not ashamed of my age or the time in which I was born. I really feel lucky.”
The success of The Partridge Family was both a blessing and a curse for Mr. Cassidy, he says, because he was so deeply ingrained in the character of Keith Partridge he played in the series.
”People assumed because of being on the cover of ‘Rolling Stone,’ being on the cover of ‘Life’ magazine and all those teen magazines and celebrity magazines, that I was Keith Partridge,” he says. “But because of that I was really and truly inspired by how passionate my fans had been and how loyal they’ve been ever since then.”
But still, there is more to David Cassidy, the musician and performer.
”I do a lot of sharing of thoughts and ideas through my music when I play live. I always want people to see the real me as opposed to the poster on the wall,” he says. “I think that I’ve done a fairly good job of revealing a lot of my soul to people. My flaws and weaknesses, as well as my strength and my talent.”
And that goes back to his awareness that what he does has left a lasting impression on people for a long time.
”It’s such a cool thing to know that your music has had, or your talent has had, a chance to impact people,” he says. “I always say, without being embarrassed or ashamed, that I bring light and happiness to people. I love it and I love them for their undying support. It means a lot to me, it really does.”
David Cassidy will perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark, June 25, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $49.50-$59.50; njpac.org; 1-888-466-5722.
