The Partridge Family

Serving as the Monkees' 1970s counterpart, The Partridge Family originated as a pair of entirely fabricated rock and pop acts created by Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures' television production arm. Whereas the Monkees concept and series embraced mid-1960s countercultural antics reminiscent of the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, the Partridge Family maintained an unwavering focus on conventional family values even while adopting a mild quasi-hip presentation. ABC's highest-rated program debuted September 25, 1970, and ran through 1974. Beyond David Cassidy's visage and vocals, viewers were drawn to Danny Bonaduce's precise deadpan delivery as Danny Partridge and the underlying tension exhibited by Dave Madden's portrayal of manager Reuben Kincaid; their joint scenes proved especially comedic.

The series starred veteran performer Shirley Jones alongside emerging talent David Cassidy and drew loose inspiration from the real-life Cowsills, whose hits included "Hair," "The Rain, The Park & Other Things," "Indian Lake," and "Love American Style." Susan Dey appeared as Laurie, Suzanne Crough as Tracy, and Jeremy Gelbwaks as Chris for season one; Gelbwaks' parents withdrew him amid the surrounding frenzy, after which Brian Foster assumed the role. Only Cassidy's lead vocals and Jones's background harmonies appear on the recordings. Bell issued every Partridge Family album, whose vocal arrangements echoed those of fellow Bell act the 5th Dimension.

Producers initially hesitated to cast Cassidy due to his status as Jones's stepson, yet she confirmed their amicable relationship. At peak popularity he received 30,000 letters weekly. In the opening episode the Partridge children persuade their mother Shirley to cut a demo; after tracking Tony Romeo's "I Think I Love You," produced by Wes Farrell, they secure a contract and achieve a number-one single on their debut release. The track indeed topped the pop chart for three weeks beginning November 21, 1970, and sold a million copies.

Further successes encompassed "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted," another million-seller that reached number six pop in early 1971; "I'll Meet You Halfway," which peaked at number nine that spring; and "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" from summer 1971. Apart from "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," no additional singles entered the Pop Top 30. Album sales thrived because each episode spotlighted two songs. As with the Monkees, the Wrecking Crew—bassist Joe Osborn, drummer Hal Blaine, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel—supplied the instrumental tracks, which also underpin the series' incidental music.

Although Cassidy contributed occasional material such as "Love Is All That I Ever Needed," he sought an independent artistic path. Bell granted him a solo deal whose first single, "Cherish," climbed to number nine pop, moved a million units, and topped the adult-contemporary chart in November 1971. The Cherish album arrived around February 1972. Mid-decade he moved to RCA, yet none of those singles charted.

The program's success spawned extensive merchandising—games, magazines, coloring books, music and paperback titles, pillowcases, toy guitars, dolls, lunch boxes, beach towels, paper dolls, and children's apparel—generating roughly 500 million dollars in licensing revenue. Cassidy requested a share of these proceeds, but the original contract contained no such provision and his request was denied. He therefore launched weekend concerts before large audiences; the grueling itinerary left him exhausted for Monday filming. A contractual loophole emerged because he had been a minor at signing, rendering the terms void. This enabled a revised agreement that raised his salary and granted merchandising participation, rendering him the era's highest-paid performer. Growing discomfort with Keith Partridge's wholesome persona prompted a candid Rolling Stone interview in which he criticized the series, disclosed marijuana use and groupie encounters, and appeared in a frontal semi-nude poster. Ratings nonetheless remained strong. After four seasons Cassidy chose to depart, prompting producers to end the show.

Following cancellation he earned acclaim for a Police Story episode, which led Columbia Television to create David Cassidy: Man Undercover; weak scripts and viewers' inability to separate him from Keith Partridge doomed the series. The 1976 death of his father, actor Jack Cassidy, in a December 11 penthouse fire, compounded by unresolved familial tensions, financial depletion—he had earned eight million dollars from 1970 to 1974 yet held only 100,000 dollars in assets by 1980—and career stagnation precipitated depression and substance issues. With friends' encouragement he obtained professional counseling. Recovery brought stage roles in George M. Cohan's Little Johnny Jones (1981), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1983), Blood Brothers opposite Petula Clark and later his half-brother Shaun Cassidy on Broadway, and Time in London's West End. He returned to recording with the fall 1990 pop hit "Lyin' to Myself" on Enigma, composed and performed the theme for NBC's The John Larroquette Show, and developed the Fox pilot Ask Harriett, modeled on Bosom Buddies.

His 1994 memoir, C'mon, Get Happy...Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus (Warner Books), recounted sexual exploits, alcohol and drug problems, and post-fame depression, with particular bitterness toward profits derived from his image. During the 1990s he collected cable residuals from Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite airings and royalties from Razor & Tie reissues. In 1996 he secured a two-year contract for the Las Vegas spectacle EFX, joined Susan Dey at the MTV Music Awards, and hosted VH1 programs. The decade yielded Didn't You Used to Be... (Scotti Bros., 1992) and Old Trick, New Dog (Slamajama, 1998). A 1999 tour was postponed after a foot injury sustained during more than 1,000 EFX performances. Subsequent Las Vegas productions At the Copa and David Inc. opened at the Rio Hotel, yet Cassidy pursued renewed touring. A 2001 world tour followed, supported by a new recording contract for his conceptual stage and music projects. Through the 2000s and beyond he made television appearances and continued performing until announcing dementia in early 2017; he died that November in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-area hospital at age 67.

Remaining cast members pursued guest roles before largely withdrawing from public view. After well-documented difficulties, Danny Bonaduce enjoyed radio success in Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York, and hosted the mid-1990s syndicated talk show Danny, produced by Columbia Pictures Television, which featured a Partridge Family reunion excluding Cassidy and Dey. Susan Dey appeared in Looker, First Love, various television films, and NBC's L.A. Law. On June 18, 1999, Jones received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fifth Annual Temecula Valley International Film Festival and that year hosted the Disney Channel special Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse with the platinum-selling ensemble. Despite detractors who, like those who labeled the Monkees the "Fabricated Four," dismissed the Partridge Family as inauthentic, both the series and its recordings ultimately sold more than 25 million copies and sustained fan clubs together with an enduring body of rock, pop, and bubblegum music.