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I've always felt that the Partridge Family was similar to The Monkees in several ways.
Now hold on! Before you tell me I'm crazy or out of line, let me explain.
First the obvious reasons: They were both made-for-television groups, and they both included real singers (Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones vs. David Cassidy and Shirley Jones).
Digging a bit deeper, they both had instrumentalists who could barely play their instruments. Mickey was not really a drummer, at least at first, and Danny Bonaduce could only do basic bass lines at best. (Peter Tork, of course, was an adequate bassist and Mike Nesmith was a good guitar player.)
And then there's the fact that when they first got started, neither group performed using some of their best assets.
Mike was an excellent songwriter who had to fight to get his songs recorded. Shirley was (and is) a legendary singer/actress who got buried in the background mix on every single song they let her sing on. (In fact, I couldn't find a definitive listing of what songs she DID sing on, although by all accounts, she was on several tracks.
Finally, for the most part, both groups appealed to teens. Just looking at the covers of Tiger Beat and similar magazines of the day proves it.
The major difference between the Monkees and Partidge Family? The Monkees worked hard to become a real group who could go out on tour and perform their hits--including their own compositions.
The Partridge Family had David Cassidy and a backing band that included NONE of the rest of the cast.
Susan Dey and the other kids lip synced on TV, and did not sing on their records. Background vocals on virtually all cuts were provided by The Ron Hicklin Singers, a group of vocalists for hire--similar to The Wrecking Crew, who provided instrumental support for hundreds of acts, including The Beach Boys, the Fifth Dimension, and Frank Sinatra.
All of that said--and thank you for your indulgence--The Partridge Family came up with some "Great Songs of the '70s," all of them sung by David Cassidy.
Today's "Great Song" is 1972's "I'll Meet You Halfway." It could almost be categorized as "bubblegum music," but it's a bit more sophisticated. In fact, it's a great Pop song... written by two prolific songwriters, Wes Farrell and Gerry Goffin--Carole King's ex-husband--who knew how to write hits. In fact, Gerry co-wrote "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (with Carole) for The Monkees!
For the record, "I'll Meet You Halfway" reached #4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and #9 on The Hot 100.
Give It a Listen. I think it matches up to a lot of Monkees music. You may disagree, but "Il'' Meet You Halfway."
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