Rant #1,878: Easy Come, Easy Go

The other day, I spoke about Record Store Day, and how much I looked forward to visiting my local record shop that day to look for vinyl bargains.

Today, I want to talk about a performer whose vinyl albums and singles I might just be looking for on that day, although I already have a substantial amount of his records in my collection, but not everything, that's for sure.

In the late 1960s to early 1970s, music was changing, becoming harder, more topical, and the influence of FM radio was starting to be felt.

During this period, it was truly the last gasp of the teen idol, generally male performers who seemingly came out of nowhere, were good looking, recorded pop and rock tunes that were as catchy as all heck, and seemed to exist only to please mainly young female fans.

Talent? That took a back seat to looks, that's for sure.

Since the days of Elvis Presley, teen idols had ranged from Dion to Paul Anka to Fabian, and then later, to Davy Jones, David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman.

Sure, the Beatles set the tone for the teen idol movement in the mid 1960s, but honestly, they couldn't stay in that mode for too long and be taken seriously, but yes, they set the template for Jones, Cassidy and Sherman, that's for sure.

And yes, there were others, but in the latter stages of the 1960s and into the early 1970s, as Jones kind of moved aside for newer teen idols, Cassidy and Sherman vied for the hearts of teen girls everywhere.

Showcased on two ABC shows--Cassidy on "The Partridge Family" and Sherman mainly on "Here Come the Brides" but on a few other network shows like "Shindig" and "Gettin' Together," both Cassidy and Sherman entered our living rooms each week with music that some found irresistible, others found trashy.

I remember that when the Monkees waned in popularity toward the latter stages of the 1960s, my sister took down all her Davy Jones pictures that she got from magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine and replaced each and every one of them with pictures of Cassidy culled from the same publications.

We shared a room back then, so on my side of the room there were pictures of my favorite sports stars and on the other side of the room were pictures of Cassidy, one after the other after the other all over the room.

I wish I had pictures of this; it was really unbelievable.

But anyway, I personally never liked Cassidy, to be honest with you. His show was horrid, at least to me, totally unfunny, the Partridge Family music--with the exception of one or two songs that I did like--was generally banal, and I was getting older, and this entire concept was really not for me as I entered my teen years.

But I did like Bobby Sherman--always did, always will.

Although his music at the time was considered to be in the same boat as Cassidy's, I thought his music had a slightly harder edge to it, but yes, that "harder edge" was much like comparing one soap to another. Both of their music at the time was quite sudsy, but I preferred the Sherman brand as opposed to the Cassidy brand.

Sherman has actually been around for years before he entered the teen idol phase. He had been recording since 1962, so he was originally in the teen idol mode of the Frankie Avalons of the world, but he was a pretty ubiquitous presence on TV throughout the 1960s, what with his good looks and his excellent singing voice.

But he didn't get his first hit record until he entered the teen idol phase of the late 1960s, and 1969's "Little Woman," his biggest hit at No. 3 on the charts, set him on course for an interesting three-year run on the charts, and in young girls' hearts.

His followup singles were very, very good, and sold millions of copies, including "La La La (If I Had You)" (1969, No. 9); "Easy Come, Easy Go" (No. 9, 1970); and "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (No. 5, 1970), but by 1971 or so, the hits started to wane.

He continued to place singles on the charts through 1972, but by 1973, his run was virtually over ... as was the run of the teen idol concept. Sure it resurfaces on occasion--look at Justin Bieber--but it just isn't the same as it was way back when, when I guess we kids were a bit more innocent than subsequent generation of kids were, and this type of music was created to feed our souls--and give us a reason to spend gobs of money.

Sherman later left show business altogether, and became an EMT on the West Coast.

He surfaces occasionally, and did do one last tour as a member of the "Teen Idols" tour several years ago, but today, now in his 70s, Sherman only performs occasionally, doing benefits and working for charities.

His time, and the time of Cassidy, were like comets that show themselves briefly in the sky and then leave us with only memories.

I liked Bobby Sherman, I still do, and if one of his records that I don't have turns up on Record Store Day, I will grab it.

His music brings me back to a different time and place, and it is nice sometimes to visit that time again, a time when he was one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.