InternetFM.com

Hand Curated Radio

You are here: Home / Archives for The Partridge Family

The Partridge Family

Today in Rock History – November 21

by

Rolling-Stones-19651965, The Rolling Stones perform at Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas.

1967, The Who begin their first headlining tour of the U.S. at the Civic Auditorium in Fargo, North Dakota with supporting act the Unbelievable Uglies. The Mayor of Fargo accuses the Who of inciting the teen audience with their instrument-destroying behavior and bans them from ever appearing there again.

1968, Yoko Ono suffers a miscarriage. John Lennon has a Nagra tape recorder sent to the hospital so he can record the last heartbeats of his son, who is named John Ono Lennon II.

1969, Tyrannosaurus Rex appeared at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1969, The Doors played the first of two nights at the Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden, New York City.

1970, The Partridge Family started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “I Think I Love You.” The song was featured in the first episode of The Partridge Family TV series, made by the same company that made The Monkees.

1970, Two months after his death Jimi Hendrix was at number one on the singles chart with “Voodoo Chile” the guitarist’s only chart topping single.

elton_mmatw1971, Elton John kicked off a 13-date UK tour at The Coventry Theatre, promoting his new album Madman Across The Water. The album cover was embroidered over two weeks by Janis Larkham, wife of the album art director David Larkham. She used the back of an old Levi’s jacket, and the original was gifted to Sir Elton.

1972, Hawkwind play at St.Andrews Hall, Norwich, England.

1973, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention perform at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1974, Wilson Pickett was arrested in New York City for possession of a dangerous weapon after he pulled a gun during an argument.

1975, To commemorate Elton John week in Los Angeles, the singer received a Star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame.

1975, The Sex Pistols appeared at Westfield College, Frognal, London.

1976, The Stranglers, supported by Chelsea, appeared at The Nashville, London, England. This was Billy Idol’s last gig with Chelsea, who then joined fame in the punk band Generation X before becoming a solo artist.

1976, Foghat perform at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1977, Queen play at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, while Jethro Tull appears at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1979, Country-rock act Dr Hook were at number one on the UK singles chart with “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman,” their only UK  chart topper. It was a top six hit in the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

1980, Don Henley was arrested after a naked 16-year old girl was found at his home in Los Angeles suffering from a drug over-dose, he received a $2,000 fine with two years probation.

1981, Queen and David Bowie were at number one with “Under Pressure.” They recorded the song together when both acts were working in a German recording studio. It was David Bowie’s first released collaboration with another recording artist.

1983, Michael Jackson’s 14-minute video for “Thriller,” was premiered in Los Angeles. Directed by John Landis and co-starring former Playboy centerfold Ola Ray. The video, like the song, contains a spoken word performance by horror film veteran Vincent Price. The video was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the zombie dance sequence at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East Los Angeles and the final house scene in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood at 1345 Carroll Avenue.

1987, Billy Idol knocked Tiffany from the top singles position on the US singles chart with his version of Tommy James’  “Mony Mony.” Tiffany had been at number one with another Tommy James song  “I Think We’re Alone Now.”

1988, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page set out on his first ever-solo tour at The Hummingbird, Birmingham, appearing with John Miles and Jason Bonham, the son of Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.

1991, Aerosmith made a guest appearance on The Simpsons TV animated comedy. Other acts who have appeared on the show included Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, U2, The Moody Blues, The B-52’s, The Who, R.E.M., Phish, Blink-182, Metallica, and The White Stripes.

1995, Legendary manager of Led Zeppelin, Peter Grant, died from a heart attack aged 60. Known as being one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history, Grant secured 90% of concert gate money and intimidated record store owners who dealt in bootlegs. The former wrestler, also worked as a film extra and bodyguard. During the early ’60s Grant worked as a tour manager for Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and The Animals.

1995, The Beatles Anthology Vol 1 was released in the US, featuring 60 tracks including the track “Free As A Bird,” a song originally composed and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. In 1995 a studio version of the recording was released as a single by The Beatles, incorporating contributions from Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

1995, Bruce Springsteen kicked off his Ghost of Tom Joad Tour at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the first of 128 shows.

2003, An acoustic guitar on which the late Beatle George Harrison learned to play fetched £276,000 ($441,600) at a London auction. His father originally bought the Egmond guitar for Harrison for £3.50. Another item auctioned was a signed invitation to the post-premiere celebrations for The Beatles Hard Days Night film, which went for £17,250 ($27,600.)

2007, The Red Hot Chili Peppers were suing a US network over the name of its TV show, Californication, saying the title was “immediately associated in the mind of the consumer,” with its 1999 album and single release. The band filed a lawsuit against Showtime Network. Five years after the filing there was no public resolution to the matter.

Born on November 21: Dr John, aka Malcolm John Rebennack (1940); Lonnie Jordan, War (1948); Alphonse Mouzon, drummer, songwriter, Weather Report, The Eleventh House (1948); Livingston Taylor (1950); Brian Ritchie, bass, Violent Femmes (1960); Bjork Gudmundsdottir, singer, actress, The Sugarcubes (1965); and Alex James, bass, Blur (1968)

Link to Today in Rock History archive.

Today in Rock History – September 25

by

beatles-cartoon-series1965, The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled I Want To Hold Your Hand and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.

1965, The Who arrive in Denmark to begin their first Danish tour with a 9 pm show at the Folkets Hus in Elsinore, then rush 20 miles to Copenhagen to play the KB Hallen at Midnight, this set with loaner equipment from the Swedish band The Lee Kings. According to a member of The Namelosers, a Swedish pop band, Roger bursts into the dressing room after the second show and headbutts Keith in the nose because Keith had been playing too loud.

1967, The Beatles began recording the new Paul McCartney song “The Fool on the Hill” at Abbey Road, London. John and George played harmonicas, Paul played a recorder and recorded his lead vocal and Ringo played drums.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Playhouse Theatre in London.

1968, Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Those Were The Days.” Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.

1969, John Lennon recorded the track “Cold Turkey” with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Yoko Ono.

1970, The first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on US TV, featuring Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce.

1971, David Bowie and America both appeared at Friars in Aylesbury, England.

1971, The production master for The Who’s next album, Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, is compiled at Apple Studios. Also, in Melody Maker, Pete calls for the audience to become more involved with the performers. He also believes that although the equipment may change, rock will stay pretty much the same. In the same issue a fan attacks The Who for their high ticket prices calling them capitalists hiding behind a banner of anti-materialism. The letter is sparked by the outrageous ticket prices for The Who’s upcoming tour, some as high as £3.50 ($5.25.)

deep-purple-fireball1971, Deep Purple went to No.1 on the chart with their sixth album Fireball.

1972, Black Sabbath released their fourth studio album, Black Sabbath Vol. 4. The album, which features a monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised, taken during a Black Sabbath concert, was originally to be titled Snowblind, after one of several songs referring to the band’s cocaine use.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California.

1975, Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey. Wilson collapsed into a coma suffering severe brain damage. Ironically, he was in the middle of singing one of his biggest hits, “Lonely Teardrops” and was two words into the line, “….my heart is crying” when he collapsed to the stage, striking his head heavily. Wilson died on 21st January 1984. Van Morrison wrote the song “Jackie Wilson Said,” covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

1975, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1976, Wings played a charity concert in St Marks Square, Venice to raise funds for the historic city. The night was a success but the weight of the equipment used by the group caused more damage to the square.

1977, Yes performed at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1980, John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a heavy drinking session. “Bonzo” was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, from inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours). During live sets his drum solo, “Moby Dick,” would often last for half an hour and regularly featured his use of his bare hands. In 2007, Ludwig issued a limited edition drum kit in Bonham’s memory.

1980, The Grateful Dead played the first of fifteen nights at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California.

1981, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 50-date North American tour at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.

1982, Queen made a guest appearance on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, where they performed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Under Pressure.”

1990, Drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for Nirvana and was instantly given the job. Grohl’s last band Scream had recently split-up.

1993, Nirvana went to No.1 on the UK album chart with In Utero the bands first UK No.1 album.

1999, Stephen Canaday of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils was killed when the vintage WW II plane he was flying in, rolled, inverted and crashed into a tree. The pilot failed to maintain speed which resulted in a stall.

2000, Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”

Born on September 25:  Gary Alexander guitar, vocals, The Association and John Locke, Spirit (1943); Onnie Mcintyre, Average White Band (1945); Bryan MacLean, guitar, vocals, Love (1946); and Will Smith, actor, rapper (1968)

Link to Today in Rock History page.

 

Song Of The Day – “Come On Get Happy” and “When We’re Singing”– by The Partridge Family

by

partridgefamily1The Friday nights of my wonder years would have never been complete without The Partridge Family.

“The Partridge Family” TV show was based on the real-life family group, The Cowsills, who had hits in the 1960s with “The Rain, The Park and Other Things” (1967) and “Hair” (from the musical of the same name) in 1969. The Cowsills were originally slotted to play themselves in the series; however they weren’t trained actors, so the decision was made to put a TV group together.

Shirley Jones, who played the group’s mother (Shirley Partridge), was already a well-established actress and a veteran of musical theater. David Cassidy (Keith Partridge) was the son of actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward. In 1956, Jones married Jack Cassidy, making David Cassidy her real life step son. The rest of the cast was filled out with Susan Dey (the fox of the group, especially if you were 11 years old) as Laurie Partridge, Danny Bonaduce as the precocious redhead Danny Partridge, Jeremy Gelbwaks/Brian Forster as youngest boy Chris, Suzanne Crough as youngest sister Tracy, and Dave Madden as Reuben Kincaid, the group’s hapless manager.

With the exception of Shirley Jones and David Cassidy, the actors did not appear on their records which were all produced by Wes Farrell and performed by the legendary Hollywood recording studio collective known as the Wrecking Crew. This was the same group of studio musicians who provided music for literally hundreds of big hits from the 1960s by everyone from The Beach Boys and Byrds to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. The backing vocals on their records were provided by studio vocalists John and Tom Bahler, Jackie Ward and Ron Hicklin.

Today’s Song Of The Day, features both versions of the opening theme of the TV show. The first version, called “When We’re Singing,” sports different lyrics and a different vocal arrangement than the second, more familiar version, which was called “Come On, Get Happy” and ran for most of the series.

The show made David Cassidy a major teen idol during the 1970s, and spawned a whole host of hits including “I Think I Love You,” “Doesn’t Somebody Want to Be Wanted,” “I’ll Meet You Halfway,” “I Woke Up In Love This Morning,” “Looking Through The Eyes Of Love,” and popular albums like “The Partridge Family”,” Up To Date”,” The Partridge Family Sound Magazine”,” A Partridge Family Christmas Card”,” the Partridge Family Shopping Bag”,” Partridge Family Notebook”,” Crossword Puzzle” and “Bulletin Board.”

Solo albums were also released by David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce, although the vocals on the Bonaduce album were sung by session singer, Bruce Roberts, and not Bonaduce. The show ran from September 1970 through March 1974, and when all was said and done, group released nine albums hit albums and placed eleven hits in the charts.