Heartthrob David, star of so many bedroom walls and school jotters, burned brightly, but his tragic death leaves such a void
Iwas never “Team David” or “Team Donny” at school.
I was too busy looking through my telescope, watching Star Trek and listening to Bowie to have time to drool over David Cassidy or Donny Osmond.
I did, however, find myself feeling very sad about David’s death last week.
He was a very troubled man who was never comfortable with the insane level of fame he achieved back in the ’70s.
He was pigeonholed into the role of teenybop heartthrob when he really wanted to be a rock star, and I don’t think he was ever truly happy performing hits such as I Think I Love You and Cherish, but with those good looks and soulful, puppy dog eyes, he was destined to be a pop star.
David first found fame at the age of 20 with the US TV show The Partridge Family about a group of kids and their mum who were all in a band together.
And yet despite the cheesy storylines, David still managed to shine like a star and his solo pop career just exploded.
It’s hard to imagine the level of hysteria back then.
David would turn up to find his hotel besieged by thousands of screaming girls.
Some of them found their way into his room and when he tried to perform you couldn’t hear a thing because of the shrieks and squeals – it made a One Direction concert seem like a church service.
Tragically, in all the confusion and in the crush of the crowds, one of his young fans in London died of a heart attack. This affected David profoundly and many people believe he never truly recovered.
He also had a ridiculously punishing schedule. He once said he didn’t sleep for two weeks as his management hadn’t factored in any time for him to rest.
You can’t keep up that pace without something giving. He was a firework who burned very, very brightly for a short time, and then it all fizzled out.
David earned a fortune, but claimed he saw very little of the money, leaving him bitter when the fame bubble burst.
He had three failed marriages and a big drinking problem, but to his credit David never gave up. He continued to perform and make music, and his band of loyal fans always supported him.
At the start of this year he revealed he was suffering from Alzheimer’s, a cruel disease that killed his mother, and last week he died aged 67 in a Florida hospital.
For many who grew up in the era where you bought teen magazines to cut out the photos to pin on your wall or on your school jotters, the death of David Cassidy is just unbearably sad.
It’s probably unfair to compare him with Donny Osmond, as the two could not be more different, but they did share the common experience of being astonishingly famous in their youth.
Donny has gone on to carve a very successful career, but he and David were never at odds with one another, and I know he and the other Osmonds will be very sad.
As are all of us who lived through that era.
Hysteria that made a One Direction concert seem like a church service
If you haven’t checked out Scot Squad on BBC Scotland then do yourself a real favour.
It is deliciously funny. The writing is razor-sharp, every performance pitch perfect.
It was great to see Deacon Blue’s Lorraine McIntosh chewing up the scenery in a hilarious cameo.
Catch up on the iPlayer and learn how to speak fluent “bam”.