Rocktrospectiva: David Cassidy's Underrated Self-Titled Album Turns 35

Released on this month 35 years ago, "David Cassidy" was the self-titled 8th., studio album by the US actor and musician David Cassidy. The discography of David Cassidy, an American pop artist, consisted back then of 7 studio albums. David Cassidy started recording albums in 1970. His career is most notable for his solo music and his recordings with the Partridge Family. 

 

On april 12th., 1989,  the former Partridge Family star and reluctant teen idol had been living in a self-imposed musical exile since the late Seventies, devoting his time to film and theater and to a newly discovered passion: breeding thoroughbred racehorses. But there was something still inside on Cassidy and by the late Eighties, Cassidy had begun writing again in earnest. He had also, thanks to three and a half years of therapy, developed a sense of humor about his pinup past. 

 

So, it was during his thirty-ninth birthday rolled around last year and he happened to hear Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, the sarcastic morning-drive team on KLOS, in Los Angeles, launch a roast in his honor, Cassidy called the station to get in on the joke. 

 

At the invitation of Thompson and Phelps, he drove to KLOS and played three of his new songs on the air. By the show's end, curious fans had begun gathering in the station's parking lot, and three record companies had called to offer recording contracts. One of those companies, was the now-defunct Enigma, the label that finally released David Cassidy — his first U.S. album in fourteen years, it was a huge bet, cause Enigma was a popular rock and alternative US label in the 1980s. 

 

The first single taken from the album was the featured hit single "Lyin' To Myself" which had a serious rotation on the MTV and peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990, the single was the first top 30 for David in 18 years, this propelled Cassidy's musical career again, the guy was suddenly everywhere, programs, tv show, interviews and also was a presenter with Susan Day at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. 

 

There was then another single ready to released "I'll Believe You Again" written by Cassidy and Sue Shifrin on the b side; a track which is not featured on the album. Unfortunately shortly after the release of David Cassidy, Enigma Records would go bust, leaving David Cassidy to once again change record labels, even though the album reached 136 on the Billboard charts.

 

David Cassidy performed a series of concerts including an SRO gig in Toronto in 1990 to support the album; his warm-up act was a stand-up comedy routine by Danny Bonaduce, his old Partridge Family co-star. Bonaduce credits David Cassidy for helping him out of one (of his many) dark times by inviting him on the tour. 

 

Talking about the record, can't really complain about, it was a nice bet for Cassidy proving that he was a real musician, and indeed the album was a fantastic collection of pop rock tracks which unfortunately cannot mesure how far would peaked on the chart due the catasthrophe with the defunct label. 

 

David Cassidy Track List: 

 

1. Labour Of Love

2. You Remember Me

3. Lyin' To Myself

4. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

5. Hi-Heel Sneakers

6. Message To The World

7. Living Without You

8. Stranger In Your Heart

9. Prisoner

10. All Because Of You