Such pop
music dynasties as The Osmonds, The Jacksons and the Cassidy’s may be
synonymous with 1970s teen pop, but so are a handful of other entities – some
better known than others. From entries on
outright obscure acts such as Taxi and Shorty, to accounts on more recognized performers
like the Bay City Rollers, Davy Jones, and Andy Gibb – it’s all covered herein.
Hannes A.
Jonsson has assessed more than 30 musically diverse artists from the 1970s who
can all – purposefully or not – be accused of having been squarely aimed at the
notoriously fickle teen market. Consequently,
many a career was cruelly cut short once its target audience came of age and
moved on. After all, longevity in the
music business is extremely difficult to achieve and yet harder to maintain and
is only awarded to a precious few via a combination of luck, perseverance, and,
of course, talent. And teen idols, by
their very nature, are deemed disposable once their core audience outgrows
them.
Therefore, some
of the stories told here are ruefully similar in that they often abruptly reach
its conclusion somewhat prematurely. Nonetheless,
these are tales that had to be told seeing since some of them really haven’t
been heard before or have been unfairly overlooked since their subjects may lack
a certain coolness factor. However, once
upon a time most of these acts were forces to be reckoned with and were near
and dear to many.
Also as a Kindle eBook:
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*****
Contents:
Foreword
1.The
family that plays together:
The
Osmonds
The
Jackson 5
The
DeFranco Family
Andy
& David Williams; The Williams Brothers
Hudson
Brothers
2.The
heartthrobs:
Bobby
Sherman
Davy
Jones
David
Cassidy
Rick
Springfield
Shaun
Cassidy
Leif
Garrett
Andy
Gibb
3.Meanwhile,
back in Britain:
David
Essex
The
James Boys
Bay
City Rollers
Hello
Kenny
(and Kenny)
Slik
Arrows
Rosetta
Stone
Taxi
Dead
End Kids
Child
4.Big
in Japan:
Buster
Flintlock
Shorty
5.Big
in Europe:
Mabel
The
Teens
6.Movers
and shakers:
The
King of UK: Ricky Wilde, Simon Turner, Brendon
Although Australian singer-songwriter Rick Springfield will always be best remembered for infectious early '80s pop-rock hits like "Jessie's Girl", "Don't Talk to Strangers" and "Love Somebody", he was by no means a newcomer to the scene during his massive '80s success.
A major star in his homeland since the late '60s, where he rubbed elbows with the likes of Bon Scott (Later of AC/DC) and Darryl Cotton (Later of Cotton, Lloyd & Christian), young Rick initially hit it big Stateside as early as 1972, when his first solo smash, "Speak to the Sky", made the U.S. Top 20.
The adjoined album "Beginnings", which was recorded in England, however failed to repeat this initial success, and so did the follow-up single "What Would the Children Think?".
Capitol, Rick's record company tried to promote him as the new David Cassidy. Trouble is, though, he wasn't. The completely self-penned "Beginnings" contained some serious lyrics about divorce, suicide and homosexuality - not exactly your typical teen fodder. Still, his handsome mug was all over 16 magazine and Tiger Beat.
The critical backlash was inevitable and Rick struggled for the rest of the decade to present himself as the ambitious and serious artist he claimed to be. "Beginnings" was a flawed but fine debut which deserved better.
Rick's rather recent biography "Late, Late at Night" is a riveting read covering his 40 plus years in the music industry. The highs, the lows, the sex, the drugs, the Rock and Roll.
His reoccurring bouts with both depression and sex addiction - hence the heavy title - are also well and truly documented.
These days, Barry Blue may be a big-time music mogul, involved in writing and/or production capacity with current teen acts such as The Saturdays, and Pixie Lott. But there was a time when Barry himself was in their shoes...
Born Barry Ian Green in London in 1950, by his mid-teens he, as Barry Green, had already become a proper recording artist in his own right. Furthermore, an early composition of his, "Rainmaker Girl", was recorded as a single B-side by none other than the late great Gene Pitney.
The next few years Barry spent working in music publishing as well as playing bass for the group Spice, which later became Uriah Heep. By then, though, Barry had other plans. Seeing songwriting as a more lucrative venue than as a mere artist interpreting other people's material, Barry Blue - as, by the early '70s, he was calling himself - had struck up a songwriting partnership with Linsey De Paul, and in 1972 De Paul hit it big with their co-composition "Sugar Me".
In 1973 Barry Blue signed a solo deal with the burgeoning Glam Rock/Teen Pop label of the day, Bell Records, and by mid-summer '73 he enjoyed his first - and biggest - solo success with the irresistible Zorba-the-Greek-goes-Glam single "Dancin' on a Saturday Night".
A number 2 U.K. hit, it was followed up with "Do You Wanna Dance", another top 10 entry in the autumn of 1973.
A self-titled debut solo album then appeared in 1974.
A largely unrecognised minor Glam/Teen Pop classic, it's a joyous and versatile smorgasbord of the sounds and styles of the mid '70s; from opener "Don't Wanna Be Blue", all Greek guitars and stomping Glam beat - not unlike "Dancin' on a Saturday Night", to the proto-disco closer of "One Way Ticket (To the Blues)", the only non-original there.
"Kalamazoo" and "Rosetta Stone", a couple of more dance-oriented tracks, probably also prepared Barry for his production work with disco band Heatwave ("Boogie Nights") in the late '70s, while the gorgeous ballad "Queen of Hearts" could very well have been recorded by someone like label mate David Cassidy.
But inexplicably, Spector pastiche "Ooh I Do", another Blue/De Paul co-write and one of the album's key cuts, was given to De Paul who cut a vastly inferior version and had a summer of '74 hit with it. Albeit a minor one.
The "Barry Blue" album was issued in two different sleeves in Europe: The upper one for Germany and Scandinavia, while U.K. and France got the lower one.
Oddly enough, the album wasn't a hit and all subsequent Barry Blue singles stalled outside the U.K. Top 10. "School Love" reached number 11 in the spring of '74, while both "Miss Hit and Run" (#26, August '74) and the-almost-title cut of Barry's second - and last - Bell LP, "Hot Shot" (#23, October '74) under performed to a fault.
The "Hot Shots" album was an odd exercise in contract fulfillment. Six new tracks, aforementioned singles "Hot Shot", "Miss Hit and Run" and "School Love" among them, paired with eight old tracks from the first LP, "Dancin' on a Saturday Night" and "Do You Wanna Dance" to the forefront, of course.
Barry Blue's spell at Private Stock Records during the next couple of years did not yield any hits, although some pretty decent singles were released. "Tough Kids" (Barry later also produced the Dead End Kids version) and "Devil's Gun" (American act C.J. & Co. covered this in 1977 and enjoyed a worldwide disco hit with it) are definitive highlights.
After his '70s solo career ran its course, Barry, as earlier touched upon, took to producing acts such as Scottish Teen Pop band Dead End Kids (I may have blogged about them once or twice here before) as well as Heatwave - to name but two.
In the '80s he worked with both Bananarama and Five Star, as well as returning to the charts once more as a solo act under the pseudonym Cry Sisco! Well, "Dancin' on a Saturday Night" it ain't...
Although there are a few fine "Greatest Hits" compilations out there, there was a truly excellent budget Barry Blue career retrospective issued by the Demon Music Group as a Music Club Deluxe double CD last year, which features all the best of Barry's work as an artist, songwriter and producer. Say what you like, but the guy has done some serious genre hopping...
There was a public outcry. Or at least a Facebook petition. But at long last, as of this past spring (2012), Shaun Cassidy's complete back catalogue is now available on the very nearly obsolete format that is a Compact Disc. Better late than never! My good old vinyl never looked - or sounded - so fine. Alas, the time for a reappraisal is ripe...
With his family tree as it is (Son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, half-brother of David), clearly Shaun was poised for some kind of stardom from the very beginning.
After having begun his career in local L.A. bands such as Longfellow in the early to mid '70s, industry veteran Mike Curb had the good sense to sign him as a solo act to his Curb Records on a licensing deal to Warner Brothers.
Long-time Curb-collaborator Michael Lloyd, then fresh off his work with the Osmonds, was assigned as a producer of the project and the ball was rolling...
Europe was used as a platform for launching the potential new star. Seemingly, as early as late 1975 debut single "Morning Girl", a fine cover of the Neon Philharmonic's quite unique sole 1969 hit, was a hit in the Netherlands.
The summer of '76 then saw the European release of 2nd single, a cover of Eric Carmen's excellent "That's Rock 'n' Roll". The debut album, also entitled "That's Rock 'n' Roll" was then also issued in Europe.
Around the same time Shaun's acting career also took off in America with his role as Joe Hardy on "The Hardy Boys" mysteries TV show. Thus, the time was deemed right for the release of his U.S. debut, the single "Da Doo Ron Ron", a cover of the Crystals Spector/Greenwich/Barry classic from 1963.
It swiftly secured the no. 1 slot on the Billboard Top 100 and a star was (briefly) born.
A self-titled album soon followed; but apart from the sleeve design and the title it was the very same LP as had been issued earlier in Europe.
Mostly made up of covers such as the aforementioned singles, it also contains Shaun's very own composition "Holiday", as well as a couple of Michael Lloyd originals. Goffin/King's "Take Good Care of My Baby" and "Be My Baby", another Spector/Greenwich/Barry classic, were also aired. But, best of all perhaps, is a cover of a relatively obscure Bobby Goldsboro tune (at least outside the U.S. of A.), "It's Too Late"....
Overall, the album has aged rather well. I hadn't listened to it in years and as much as I love the original of "Da Doo Ron Ron", I seemed to recall that Shaun's cover was rather dreadful in comparison. But it really isn't. It's just very 1977 sounding - nothing more, nothing less. It has a faint disco beat and it is very understandable why it became the big that it was. However, Shaun himself later said: ""Da Doo Ron Ron" I have a real hard time with, because I just love the Crystals' version of the record and I love Phil Spector's records. I think that mine sounds very bland in comparison." (from Barry Scott's "We Had Joy, We Had Fun", 1994 Faber and Faber)
Preceeded by perhaps Shaun's finest hour, another Eric Carmen-penned single "Hey Deanie", his second album, "Born Late" (1977) is also, in all probability, his best LP.
Not only were the originals getting a lot better (Album opener "Teen Dream", "It's Up to You" and the very excellent "Walk Away", in particular), but covers such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic" (a #31 single hit for Shaun), the Young Rascals' "A Girl Like You", and not to mention the White Plains' slightly more obscure "Carolina's Comin' Home" were a bit more inspired than the Spector/Goffin/King stuff from the first album.
Album number 3, "Under Wraps", appeared in 1978.
The self-penned opener "Hard Love", a rather decent "Hey Deanie" re-write, wasn't even issued as a single in the U.S. Instead, Warners opted for the more predictable - and bland - "Our Night" by the more established songwriting pair of Carole Bayer Sager & Bruce Roberts. It stalled at #80 on the Billboard Top 100 and became Shaun Cassidy's last charting single in his homeland. In Europe, though, "Hard Love" became the lead-off single.
The rest of the record consisted of the by now true and tested formula of covers and originals alike. Of the former, "It's Like Heaven", a Brian Wilson/Diane Rovell/Rushtyn Pamphlin composition originally made for American Spring in the early '70s, was a stand-out, while the aforementioned "Hard Love" and "Taxi Dancer" were in strong evidence of the latter.
But overall, this record was a drop in quality and clearly aimed at a "maturing" audience - ALWAYS a risky proposition in the world of '70s Teenpop. After all, this was years before George Michael and Robbie Williams...
"Room Service" (1979) offered more of the same, albeit more focused and thought-out.
It's somewhat surprising how much control Shaun seems to have obtained by this time in his short career. He has a hand in five out of the nine tracks here. Rather unusual for teen idols of that time.
The "mature" theme here persists, but the material overall is better than on the previous record. Nonetheless, an "obvious" single is hard to spot. Therefore, once more, different cuts were initially chosen for single releases in the U.S. ("You're Usin' Me") and Europe (the Bee Gees-like "Are You Afraid of Me"). Strange, though, that the perhaps strongest cut here, "Break for the Street", wasn't one of them...
Usually, when an artist's career is in a dire straits, there are two ways out: either the "Greatest Hits" solution or the ever-classic throw-them-to the-lions "Live" album answer. In Shaun's case, the latter was chosen as his next release.
"Shaun Cassidy Live! That's Rock 'n' Roll" came out in late 1979 and pretty much disappeared without a trace...
A bit of an odd mixture of Shaun's biggest hits ("Hey Deanie", "That's Rock 'n' Roll" and "Da Doo Ron Ron") and Rock & Roll/oldies standards alike ("Bad Boy", "Slow Down", "Rip it Up" - none of which had been previously recorded by Shaun), it comes off as a rather unconvincing and uninteresting effort from someone who (perhaps) clearly couldn't care less anymore...
Rather recently I accidentally obtained a German white label test pressing copy of this album. It came with a proposed first tracklisting which I have scanned here below...
Unfortunately, though, the record itself was the same as it ever was...to paraphrase Talking Heads.
OK, for better or for worse, but we could've gotten a completely different record here. Somewhere, someplace it must still exist. Mike Curb, are you reading this?
"Wasp" (1980) was Shaun Cassidy's last long player and the first one without Michael Lloyd at the helm. Instead, Shaun opted for a far more "edgy" collaborator that was Todd Rundgren. Well, just take a one look at that cover art and you can tell there's something very different afoot. Utopia, perhaps?
For starters, the covers here sound sublimely exotic in comparison to Shaun's earlier efforts. David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Who and Ian Hunter are among the main culprits.
In recent years this record has started to enjoy a little something called "cult following". Well, that in itself is just as fragile as this album. It's a pretty "interesting" effort, and very courageous at that. But a further collaboration between those two - Cassidy and Rundgren - possibly would've been even more daring...
But that, clearly, wasn't to be. After "Wasp" Shaun seems to have focused his energies more on acting rather than singing. With one small exception.
In 1989 he teamed up with the Dutch Bolland brothers (Falco, Suzi Quatro, Samantha Fox, the authors of Status Quo's "In the Army Now" hit) and came out with the forgettable Europop single "Memory Girl" ...
Since then, Shaun has mostly focused his attention on TV-production, writing and, to a lesser degree, acting.
In 1993, though, he teamed up with big brother David in the musical "Blood Brothers" and they took Broadway by storm. And recorded the Broadway cast CD in the process. The year before, (Mike) Curb Records had issued the Shaun Cassidy "Greatest Hits" CD.
Now, nearly 20 years later, it's been followed up with the aforementioned belated Shaun Cassidy catalogue on CD reissue program.
As I said before - and this is where we came in - better late than never....
SHAUN CASSIDY album discography:
"That's Rock 'n' Roll" (WB 56 342) (Germany, 1977)
"Shaun Cassidy" (BS 3067) (U.S. 1977) (The same as above) (CD, Curb Records, 2012)
