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In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths

Kromm

By Kromm
in Everything Else TV

Mr. Sparkle
Message added by Mr. Sparkle,

Reminder:

This thread is for deaths of celebrities in the entertainment business only. No notices about politicians, please. 

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

6 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

That now makes 2 of the lead cast of Touched by an Angel who've passed on (Roma Downey & Valerie Bertinelli are the survivors). If you remember, Valerie played, like, a new apprentice angel/angel in training named Gloria, who worked with Tess, Monica & Andrew during the last 46 eps/probably the last 2 seasons of the show).

I think I'd have called her Miss or Ms. Reese. Her married name was Lett.

She was an ordained minister; in 1979, after taping an appearance on what was then Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, she almost died from at least 1 cerebral aneurysm (she was saved by 2 brain surgeries); she also sang the theme song to TBAA.

Ah I see. I do the above when I'm not sure if a person is married or not. Thanks for correcting me on that.

Nice (about being an ordained minister). Dang, glad she was saved by the surgeries.

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Bastet
Bastet

Piss up a rope, Val Kilmer.  If your physical illness got so bad that your life utterly sucked and no end to that suffering was in sight, so that suicide was or seemed to be the best of the available

wilsie
wilsie
BetterButter
BetterButter

Olivia Newton-John Has Died At 73

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Silver Raven

Silver Raven

(edited)

Ava Roosevelt missed being another Manson victim because her gas gauge on her new car wasn't working and she was afraid to drive it out of fear that she would be stranded somewhere without gas.  She was headed to Sharon Tate's house until she changed her mind and went home.  She was a model who was married to four different men, one of them the grandson of FDR.

Edited by Silver Raven
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Snipsa

Snipsa

9 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

That now makes 2 of the lead cast of Touched by an Angel who've passed on (Roma Downey & Valerie Bertinelli are the survivors). If you remember, Valerie played, like, a new apprentice angel/angel in training named Gloria, who worked with Tess, Monica & Andrew during the last 46 eps/probably the last 2 seasons of the show).

I think I'd have called her Miss or Ms. Reese. Her married name was Lett.

She was an ordained minister; in 1979, after taping an appearance on what was then Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, she almost died from at least 1 cerebral aneurysm (she was saved by 2 brain surgeries); she also sang the theme song to TBAA.

Rest in peace Della Reese!

 

Your post made me go look up who the other death was.  I had no idea John Dye (aka Andrew) had passed away in 2011 from a heart attack.  And so young too!

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roamyn

roamyn

(edited)

The LaBianca's owned a grocery store.

And Steven Parenti is the one who gets left out/forgotten abt, the most.  It's usually 'Shaeon Tate" Jay Sebring, Abigail Filter, her boyfriend, the LaBianca's, and a young friend of the groundskeeper', when describing the victims.

I thought there was another Manson victim other than Shea or Hinman?

Edited by roamyn
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ebk57

ebk57

5 minutes ago, Calvada said:

Very sad, but not unexpected, given the medical reports in the past few days.  I remember arguing with my sister about who was cuter, David Cassidy or Bobby Sherman.  I was Team David!

I started on Team Bobby, but moved on to Team David.  I was young and undecided. 

This makes me sad... 

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roamyn

roamyn

David Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, David Soul & Richard Hatch were the posterboys of my youth.  Two are now gone, and my sweetheart David Soul hasn't been in the best of health lately (just had a hip replacement done).

I'm getting too old to want to hear anymore deaths of my youth/young adulthood.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

(edited)

David was among the "so many I'm not sure I can count them anymore, let alone at all" celebrities I met while representing the March of Dimes (his show started in, like, 1969 or 1970 & ran until 1974; I mainly represented the March of Dimes in 1972). Since I found it on Google, here's the pic of me & David, taken when we met on the set of The Partridge Family. (I hope the link works).

Back in the day, David was the March of Dimes' Honorary/Celebrity Teen Chairman for either Los Angeles County or the whole state of California; his co-star & then-stepmother Shirley Jones was the Mother's March fundraiser's Honorary/Celebrity Chairwoman for either Los Angeles County or all of California. So, of course, it was arranged for me to meet them on their set when I was scheduled to be in Los Angeles to start with.

While I was there, I also (luckily) got to meet Susan Dey & Danny Bonaduce, who were either still there to film more or were about to leave because they'd maxed out their allowable working hours on the set, under the child labor laws. And I eventually did a March of Dimes telethon in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with Dave Madden who played Reuben Kincaid, the family's manager.

The only cast members I never met were the late Suzanne Crough, who played the youngest daughter & child, Tracy, & Brian Forster who, by that point, had taken over the role of youngest son Chris from the original actor who played him in the first season, Jeremy Gelbwaks.

You'll probably be glad to know this is the last pic of me with a celebrity that I can Google (except the pic from my first meet & greet with Barry Manilow, 10 years ago... & I don't know why mine can be Googled since the ones my best friends took on the same night can't be Googled).

Edited by BW Manilowe
To add info.
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legaleagle53

legaleagle53

(edited)
10 hours ago, roamyn said:

David Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, David Soul & Richard Hatch were the posterboys of my youth.  Two are now gone, and my sweetheart David Soul hasn't been in the best of health lately (just had a hip replacement done).

I'm getting too old to want to hear anymore deaths of my youth/young adulthood.

I can well imagine how David Cassidy was to the young girls of his day what Farrah Fawcett would become to the young boys.  I remember reading Tiger Beat and 16 back in my Jr. High and high-school days (What?  I thought they were interesting!), and it seemed as though David was on pretty much every other cover of those two magazines.

Edited by legaleagle53
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ebk57

ebk57

7 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

David was among the "so many I'm not sure I can count them anymore, let alone at all" celebrities I met while representing the March of Dimes (his show started in, like, 1969 or 1970 & ran until 1974; I mainly represented the March of Dimes in 1972). Since I found it on Google, here's the pic of me & David, taken when we met on the set of The Partridge Family. (I hope the link works).

It does work!  Thanks for sharing that lovely picture and the story.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

6 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

I can well imagine how David Cassidy was to the young girls of his day what Farrah Fawcett would become to the young boys.  I remember reading Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine back in my Jr. High and high-school days (What?  I thought they were interesting!), and it seemed as though David was on pretty much every other cover of those two magazines.

Yeah, I read 16 & Tiger Beat (& their sister publications, as well); I was actually reading them by the age when all of this happened to me. So it was really weird to pick up Tiger Beat, & other teen magazines published by the same company, & see that pic of me & David Cassidy I linked to on the page in front of me (it was in the "news" columns they ran in the mags; we had NO idea, in advance, they would use the pic in their mags--as I remember, they used it in at least 2 mags). It was kinda the same feeling as Googling yourself & actually finding something. I think the Tiger Beat magazines used the pic because they published in LA (at least at the time); 16 & its sister mag(s) was/were published in NYC (at least when I actually had subscriptions), so that may be why they never ran the pic (shrugs).

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Blergh

Blergh

I know that Mr. Cassidy had put his entire family through the mill the last few years but I can't help but feel that they must be devastated by the loss. I can't imagine that his stepmother Shirley Jones would have imagined that she'd outlive him. 

    Is it too much to hope that somehow he was able to learn of having survived Mr. Manson and taking comfort in that? Speaking of the latter individual, I imagine that Doris Day and Candice Bergen are downright relieved at that news but for a time in the early 1970's, they as well as Miss Day's now deceased son Terry  Melcher were believed to have been in danger due to Mr. Manson having orchestrated his worst atrocity on what had been  Mr. Melcher and Miss Bergen's mutual residence. 

 

 Back to Mr. Cassidy, I can only hope that his family and loved ones can take comfort from the memories of him before his downward spiral had happened. RIP, Mr. Cassidy as well as Mr. Melcher who can now rest easier. 

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

12 minutes ago, Blergh said:

I know that Mr. Cassidy had put his entire family through the mill the last few years but I can't help but feel that they must be devastated by the loss. I can't imagine that his stepmother Shirley Jones would have imagined that she'd outlive him. 

    Is it too much to hope that somehow he was able to learn of having survived Mr. Manson and taking comfort in that? Speaking of the latter individual, I imagine that Doris Day and Candice Bergen are downright relieved at that news but for a time in the early 1970's, they as well as Miss Day's now deceased son Terry  Melcher were believed to have been in danger due to Mr. Manson having orchestrated his worst atrocity on what had been  Mr. Melcher and Miss Bergen's mutual residence. 

 

 Back to Mr. Cassidy, I can only hope that his family and loved ones can take comfort from the memories of him before his downward spiral had happened. RIP, Mr. Cassidy as well as Mr. Melcher who can now rest easier. 

Unfortunately, his "downward spiral" started at/near the end of The Partridge Family (he had, however, started experimenting with drugs at around age 10). During a World Concert Tour, there was a crush of fans at a gate to enter his show in London and a young girl fan was caught in it; she apparently had a heart attack, incurred brain damage, and died  (linked article originally in People magazine in 1974). This had a big effect on David. Also, he had felt he wouldn't be seen as any character except "teenybopper heartthrob" Keith Partridge & he wanted to be taken seriously as an actor & as a singer. Those 2 factors, at least in everything I've ever seen or heard in the subsequent years, were big reasons behind his "downward spiral" & eventual alcohol abuse issues.

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BooksRule

BooksRule

Darn.  I hate to hear that about David.  The second concert I ever attended was a David Cassidy concert (the first one was The Monkees).  I don't remember much about it (even though I was in the second row) except that I seem to remember that he was wearing a beige (or maybe gold) jumpsuit, there was a lot of flying fringe and lots of screaming from girls.  

I still have many of my '16 Magazine' and 'Tiger Beat' issues from way back then (although I haven't looked in the box for decades.).  I was always torn between David, Donny Osmond and Bobby Sherman.  I liked Michael Jackson, too, but he always seemed very young to me (even though I think he was only about a year younger than Donny).  I still have most of the Partridge Family albums from when I was a teen (even the Christmas album).  I might have to drag them out and listen to my favorites.  

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Nordly Beaumont

Nordly Beaumont

I was a very late blooming, immature kid. I hung on to teen idols longer and more emotionally than most. They were everything to me. Davy Jones is gone. David is gone. Shaun Cassidy and Donny Osmond better hold the hell on! My childhood is being crushed!

My dad worked construction that would take him out of town a lot. But I remember so many times he would be home and fall asleep in front of the tv when I wanted to watch the Partridge Family. I would quietly sneak up to the tv and slowly turn that giant knob to try to change the channel without waking him (remember tv with the round knobs? yeah, not easy to change the channel quietly!) He would always wake up and claim he was watching whatever was on the tv before - I'd go to my room and cry. One time, out of the blue, he said I could watch it. I can't remember a single Christmas or Birthday present my dad gave me - but I remember that night and how happy it made me. RIP David.

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

I grew up in the 80s and only really watched Brady Bunch reruns. Listening to the songs in recent years I was surprised how good some of them were like "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" and "I Can Feel Your Hearbeat". David might have hated them and wanted to play "real rock and roll" but those were truly great pop songs and not disposable bubble gum. A big part of what makes them great were his vocals. None of the actual Partridges except Shirley Jones sang on them.

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Angeltoes

Angeltoes

Twenty years ago we would have all bet money that Danny Bonaduce would have been the first Partridge to go, but now he's outlived Suzanne and David.  He's probably as surprised as anyone.

Several years ago I bought a Partridge Family greatest hits CD and took it to work.  Every female in my age group went bananas.  

Be at peace, David.

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roamyn

roamyn

David may have had a 'downward spiral' in the 80 s, but he picked himself back up.  Unfortunately the last few years he picked up the alcohol.  I wonder if some of that was to not face what he knew must be coming:  the dementia that took his family members away.

To believe that he's been on a continuous binge all these years does him a disservice.

I still have a few posters from Tiger Beat or one of those, but of David Soul (& one Paul Michael Glaser). The things we hang on to.

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TVFan17

TVFan17

I'm still reeling from the sudden and unexpected death of my beloved Tom Petty last month (because he was everything to me for a chunk of my life!), but I had to pop back in here to join you all in talking about David Cassidy.

 

I, too, loved David Cassidy in the '70s.    I could not get enough of The Partridge Family.   I was a young child, but I had crushes on all the cute teen idols.  I started with Bobby Sherman, then moved on to Donny Osmond, Davy Jones from The Monkees and, the Rolls Royce of '70s heartthrobs -- David Cassidy.  (Within a year or two I also moved on to a Shaun Cassidy obsession!)  While Donny Osmond was cute and seemingly a sweet guy, David Cassidy was HOTTTTTT!!!!  David was so sexy in his heyday.   And I am not one bit ashamed to say that I still like some of the Partridge songs -- they are nothing deep and meaningful, but they are catchy and fun.  David was a talented guy, as are most people in the Cassidy family.

 

I hate that David's life went off course and that he ended up with recurring substance issues, financial issues, DUI arrests, family issues and, ultimately -- due to heredity -- dementia.     It doesn't seem like he was a bad guy, underneath it all.    But he had a chip on his shoulder for a while and, whenever I saw him in interviews or other TV appearances over the last few years, I always felt there was a strong underlying sadness there.  I thought  that he was lost, and just trying to hang on to whatever happiness he could find.  I think he was simultaneously angry that he could not escape his Keith Partridge/heartthrob years, and yet relieved in some way that people even still remembered him as a heartthrob in the first place.

 

David said that he and his daughter, Katie, never had any relationship, and that she had a totally separate life -- as though it was no big deal to either of them to not have a relationship.   She seemed to support the claim that they had no relationship, and did not seem interested in one.    And there are plenty of people who don't have relationships with their biological parents these days, so it's not abnormal.    Just because people are related doesn't mean they have to associate with each other.    But I always felt there was more to it than that, like maybe there had been an attempt at a relationship between Katie and David that went awry and caused some pain and heartbreak, and then anger.  I don't know.  I could be wrong.  It's just a hunch.   I somehow hope they were able to make peace or share one final moment together before he left this earth, but I am not hearing any reports of her being there with the other family when he passed and said his goodbyes.

 

In any case, he was too young to go and it's very sad.

 

On a side note that is sort of related...... Through some strange work-related circumstances, I had a painfully awkward lunch with David's and Shaun's youngest brother, Ryan Cassidy, about 23 years ago or so (just the two of us).   Despite the uncomfortable lunch, we kept in contact (phone-only) after that, off and on for about 2 or 3 years, and we almost got together a second time, for post-work coffee or dinner (his suggestion) -- and had a night lined up for it -- but it never happened, for whatever reason.   I didn't really know what to make of him, and he didn't really know what to make of me.  And I know that I couldn't tell if we were going to get together to just shoot the breeze as platonic pals, or to possibly discuss business opportunities, or to potentially even go beyond the platonic stage to something else.   I didn't pick up on any real "he is interested in me" vibes, but it was confusing.   Getting together in person again would have probably cleared up the mystery, and any kind of get-together would have been fine with me (business or pleasure, platonic or non-platonic) at another point in time -- except for that I had just begun dating someone else (that same month), and I was more interested in pursuing that relationship than I was in trying to find out if Ryan C. and I were going to be actual friends, business contacts or... something else.    It was all just very surreal for me, because I'd had such massive crushes on his 2 teen idol brothers at one point, and there I was, having lunch with, and chatting about getting together a second time with, the youngest Cassidy brother -- something that my 10-year-old self would have never guessed would happen when I was dreamily watching The Partridge Family and The Hardy Boys years earlier.

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buffynut

buffynut

(edited)

I posted in the http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3585-david-cassidy-still-thinks-he-loves-you/#comment-3836077 forum, so I won't totally repeat myself, but I also loved The Partridge Family and David in the 70's.  Then in 1994 I saw him in the play Blood Brothers in Toronto and met him at the backstage door after the show. I got an autograph and picture with him. He was very kind and patient with us "mature" women waiting to meet him.  

RIP David. You'll be missed.

Edited by buffynut
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SunnyBeBe

SunnyBeBe

(edited)

Oh, it means so much to read stories that are like mine.  All those memories from childhood are bitter sweet.   I think David knew how many fans he had.  I hope his family can take some comfort in knowing that he is now at peace.  And that they can understand that with dementia, the person is really not capable of thinking clearly, using good judgment or doing the right things.  They have delusions, lie, and appear agitated.  It's because their brain is broken.  I know he drank a lot, but, after the brain damage starts.....it's progressive.  RIP David.  You will always bring a smile to my face when I think of all the good time from my childhood.  This one, like Davy Jones is hitting me hard though. (Hang in there Donny.)

Does anyone know if he maintained a relationship with a daughter that he only learned of when she was an adult? Just curious. It was a friendly relationship, the last I read about it.

This is one my favorites by David.  I'll Meet You Halfway. 

Edited by SunnyBeBe
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Calvada

Calvada

I've lost grandparents, my parents, but nothing hit me like the loss of one of my siblings.  You expect to lose the older generation, but not a sibling, especially as I did, suddenly and unexpectedly, decades before any of us were supposed to die.  I hope Shaun and Ryan find comfort in memories such as Shaun described and the knowledge that many, many people are recalling how David touched their lives.   

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

I've lost grandparents, my parents, but nothing hit me like the loss of one of my siblings.  You expect to lose the older generation, but not a sibling, especially as I did, suddenly and unexpectedly, decades before any of us were supposed to die.  I hope Shaun and Ryan find comfort in memories such as Shaun described and the knowledge that many, many people are recalling how David touched their lives.   

There's another Cassidy brother between Shaun & Ryan, Patrick Cassidy. For anyone who watches The Voice, Patrick is the father of 1 of the contestants from last season, Jack G. Cassidy. David & Patrick also did a TV show together, Ruby and the Rockits, which co-starred the actress then known as Alexa Vega, now known as Alexa PenaVega. That show was on what was then the ABC Family channel (now Freeform) in 2009. Besides David & Patrick acting in it, Shaun was 1 of the creators & Ryan Cassidy worked in some capacity behind the scenes. Shirley Jones also appeared in 1 ep as the mother of Patrick & David's characters.

And by the way there's a young girl (High School Junior) from my hometown, Addison Agen, who started out on The Voice with Miley in the season currently airing, & who was stolen by Adam in a recent round where the singers from each team had to sing against each other to keep their place. She got to the live shows this week, singing a Sara Bareilles song, & was the first person called safe last night &, so far, everyone's talking like she's a front runner.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

From CNN: Former "Tiger Beat" Editor: I Watched Fame Take Its Toll on a Young David Cassidy

I thought this was a very interesting piece--it's an Op/Ed type thing--about what it was like to cover David Cassidy for 1 of the teen-oriented fan mags he was in, almost nonstop, back in the day. It's by Ann Moses, who was Editor of Tiger Beat at the time (& whose name I still remembered from having read the magazine, & her sister publications, back in the day). I think it's worth a read (or else I wouldn't have linked to it).

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AgentRXS

AgentRXS

(edited)

My David Cassidy memories aren't as eloquent as some of the posts here but I'll share it anyway.

David as a teen idol was in my mother's generation, not mine, but she was a huge Bobby Sherman fan and despised David Cassidy. She especially hated "I Think I Love You"---she would absolutely go nuts if she even heard the beginning notes of that song.

So of course, I recorded it onto a cassette off the oldies station on the radio (this was the '90s). Whenever she and I would argue, I would go into my room, lock the door and play it over and over, singing it at the top of my lungs. 

So thank you, Mr. Cassidy, for providing me with a way to drive my mother nuts LOL. Rest well, sir. 

Edited by AgentRXS
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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

On 11/21/2017 at 11:06 PM, BooksRule said:

Darn.  I hate to hear that about David.  The second concert I ever attended was a David Cassidy concert (the first one was The Monkees).  I don't remember much about it (even though I was in the second row) except that I seem to remember that he was wearing a beige (or maybe gold) jumpsuit, there was a lot of flying fringe and lots of screaming from girls.  

I still have many of my '16 Magazine' and 'Tiger Beat' issues from way back then (although I haven't looked in the box for decades.).  I was always torn between David, Donny Osmond and Bobby Sherman.  I liked Michael Jackson, too, but he always seemed very young to me (even though I think he was only about a year younger than Donny).  I still have most of the Partridge Family albums from when I was a teen (even the Christmas album).  I might have to drag them out and listen to my favorites.

I have all the PF albums too, & I think 4 of David's solo albums that were done during/not terribly long after the PF days. I have all of those on the original vinyl, & most of the PF albums & David's first 2 solo albums on CD, as well as 1 PF album & David's version of "I Write the Songs" (which I got because it's also a Manilow song & I'm a Manilow fan who also collects versions of his songs by other artists) only as downloads from iTunes. 

The only PF albums I don't have on CD are the original greatest hits compilations that were released during the show--The Partridge Family at Home with Their Greatest Hits & The World of the Partridge Family--& their final studio album, Bulletin Board. When they finally started reissuing the PF stuff on CD, for some reason they opted to release 2 different hits collections on CD instead of CD versions of the ones that were released during the show's run. Those were The Very Best of the Partridge Family: Come on Get Happy & David Cassidy & the Partridge Family: The Definitive Collection. The former was neat because it had at least 4, maybe as many as 6, songs from the show which had never been put on an album--or CD--before; the latter was, as the title implies, a combination of hits by the Partridges & by David as a solo artist. They also put out another hits compilation in around 1989; that had a cover with the PF lunchbox on the front.

I'm still trying to figure out how I missed Bulletin Board on CD. As I remember, it was finally released in that format, though it was a long, long time after the rest of their original studio catalog & the new hits collections were out. But I never found it, once everything was reissued, until I found it was available to download while looking for other stuff on iTunes. Which I did. The reissue comes with 2 songs Shirley Jones recorded as a solo vocalist; I'd heard of at least 1 but didn't buy either.

I put all the PF & David Cassidy solo stuff I have on my iPod; I'm 54 years old & have no problem admitting to it. That's as "bubblegum/teenybopper" as it gets. Everything else is more what a 54-year-old woman should normally have on her iPod.

If anybody gets the urge to download any of it, iTunes has all the PF stuff, the solo stuff David recorded during/reasonably near the end of PF, & a bunch of stuff David recorded for a bunch of not really well-known music labels after the PF days through to when he announced his retirement after his dementia diagnosis &/or his death earlier this week; if you're not into iTunes, the Amazon.com MP3 Store should also have most or all of it. There are also videos which I've been watching on YouTube. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff post-PF; especially the more recent live stuff. He uses some really weird phrasing on the live stuff (but not the Cassidy Live! stuff that's from the PF era/early in David's solo career) that sounds to me like if he's not singing under the influence, he's attempting to mock what he's singing because it's the stuff from the PF days &/or during his early solo career that's more "teenybopper" & not the more serious/adult material he wanted to be recording when PF ended. (Shrugs)

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Mr. Sparkle
Message added by Mr. Sparkle,

Reminder:

This thread is for deaths of celebrities in the entertainment business only. No notices about politicians, please. 

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