Created by Bernard Slade, the series was inspired by and loosely based on The Cowsills, a real singing family in the late sixties. In fact, in its early development the Cowsill children were approached to be featured on the show, though that idea was quickly discarded (The Cowsills rejected the offer when producers wanted to replace their real-life mother Barbara in the cast). The show starred Shirley Jones as mother Shirley Partridge and David Cassidy (Jones' real-life stepson) as her son Keith. The remaining Partridge children were played by Susan Dey as Laurie, Danny Bonaduce as Danny, Jeremy Gelbwaks (replaced after one year by Brian Forster) as Chris, and Suzanne Crough as Tracy Partridge. Dave Madden played Reuben Kincaid, who was their manager and family friend.
The back of the bus, became an icon for the show, due to its Mondrianesque paint design.
The Partridge Family was produced for ABC by Screen Gems television, which was just finishing its run with The Monkees, another show about a fictional music group. The company promoted the success of the show by releasing a series of albums featuring the music of the family band, though most cast members did not actually play on the recordings. A group of studio singers and musicians, led by producer Wes Farrell actually created the Partridge Family sound. Although he was originally cast with the intent to lip sync, just weeks into production David Cassidy convinced Farrell he could sing, and was allowed to join the studio ensemble as the lead singer. Several songs were made without Cassidy as lead, they were featured in some of the early episodes and on the first album. He and Shirley Jones, who sang background, were the only cast members who were actually featured on the recordings. The whole cast would lip sync to the recordings when they performed on each episode, though it was obvious to most viewers that the actors were lip-synching, The Partridge Family became an instant success, not only as a TV show, but as a band that produced actual hit songs.
The Partridge Family's biggest hit came in 1970 with the song "I Think I Love You," which began climbing the Billboard chart in September and peaked at number one in December of that year. The companion LP, "The Partridge Family Album" reached number four. Other Partridge Family singles including, "I'll Meet You Halfway", "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted", and "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" would also chart high on the Billboard chart. The theme songs "When We're Singing", and its successor "C'Mon, Get Happy" were composed by Danny Janssen and Wes Farrell.
The title card for the pilot episode of The Partridge Family was, "What? and Get Out of Show Business?".
As the show and associated merchandizing took off, David Cassidy became an overnight teen idol. Cassidy launched a solo singing career, touring with his own group of musicians and performing Partridge Family songs as well as hits from his own albums. In the midst of his overwhelming rise to fame, Cassidy soon grew tired of the show. In the summer of 1972 he gave a very candid interview to Rolling Stone magazine in which he attempted to distance himself from the squeaky-clean image of Keith Partridge.
By the fourth season, due to declining ratings and Cassidy's looming departure, a feeble effort was made by the producers to breathe new life into the show. They introduced a precocious 4-year-old neighbor named "Ricky Stevens" played by Ricky Segall to occasionally sing children's songs with the band. To no avail, the ABC network moved the show from its 8:30 Friday night slot to Saturday at 8:00, directly opposite the hit All in the Family, against which they knew it would not survive. The show was cancelled, after 96 episodes and ten Partridge Family albums.
The Partridge Family had a brief resurgence in animated form, which saw the family propelled into the future. The animated Partridge Family first appeared when the kids did a series of guest spots on "Goober and the Ghost Chasers". That idea evolved into a CBS Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera-produced cartoon, "Partridge Family 2200 A.D.". It featured new characters Veenie (Keith's Venusian friend) and Marion (Laurie's Martian friend). Danny had a pet robot dog named Orbit. Shirley Jones and David Cassidy did not voice their animated counterparts, and Susan Dey and Dave Madden had very limited involvement with this series. Sixteen half-hour installments were produced for the animated series, which lasted for half a season on CBS Saturday morning (September 7, 1974 - March 8, 1975); on the syndicated Fred Flintstone and Friends, it was retitled The Partridge Family in Outer Space.
Nickelodeon featured a heavily publicized run of the original series in the early- to mid-90s, along with the Brady Bunch, as part of its Nick-At-Nite line-up. The network used interviews and commercials featuring cast members, and even created a new version of the Mondrian-esque Family bus for promotion.
In 2000 two different made-for-TV movies aired on different networks; Both "Come On Get Happy" and "The David Cassidy Story" attempted to tell the story behind the series. While the movies were criticized as being somewhat inaccurate, they did recreate some of the imagery and music from the original series. "Come On Get Happy" even featured another replication of the bus, which was later auctioned off on eBay.
A modernized version of the bus was created for a new promotion in 2004, when VH1 premiered In Search of The New Partridge Family. This talent competition in the format of American Idol sought a new cast for a contemporary version of the sitcom. The elimination type program aired seven episodes in which a panel of judges selected a new Partridge Family cast from auditioners across the country. The resulting pilot episode of The New Partridge Family aired in January of 2005, but due to low ratings VH1 opted not to produce any more episodes.
The first two seasons of the original series were released as of October 2005 on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Also, at the same time Arista Records released a new music compilation, "Come On Get Happy!: The Very Best of The Partridge Family," which included four previously unreleased tracks.
Despite the prefabricated nature of the "band", the Partridge Family's records were some of the best arranged and produced of their day. Much care was given not only to the overall sound, but even to show that sound would translate to AM radio, then the major outlet for pop music. The writing was equally good, at least on the early albums. However, as ratings and record sales began to drop, so did the quality of the material.
I Heard You Singing Your Song
The Partridge Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the jumbled pieces of my life
Took the long way around to come together
And then I heard you singing your song
And I knew I'd been living all wrong
And I couldn't help but sing along
La la la la la la la la la la la la
Never giving, always taking
And faking every move I make
To keep me safe and well protected
(Chorus)
Sing a long
Sing a long
I was almost down to empty
And the world looked mighty cold
And then I heard you sing a simple song
And the sun came a rushin' back to fill my soul
I heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Hear you singing
The lyrics to The Partridge Family's "I Heard You Singing Your Song" are about a person who had been living their life in a jumbled mess, always taking and faking their way through everything in order to feel safe and protected. However, things changed once they heard someone else singing their song. The walls that had taken so long to crumble finally fell apart, and the pieces of their life finally came together. They couldn't help but sing along with the person singing their song, and they knew that they had been living life all wrong until then. The song's chorus is a call to anyone who is struggling to find happiness, to sing along and find joy in their life.
The song's message is one of hope and inspiration, encouraging listeners to find their own path in life and to never give up on their dreams. The lyrics reflect the positive philosophy of the 1970s, when the song was released, and continue to speak to people of all ages today. The melody is catchy and upbeat, making it a great song to sing along to.
Line by Line Meaning
Now the walls took along time to crumble
It took a considerable amount of time for me to overcome the obstacles in my life.
And the jumbled pieces of my life
Everything in my life seemed chaotic and disordered.
Took the long way around to come together
All the different parts of my life took a winding path to finally fit together.
And then I heard you singing your song
Then, I listened to you sing and perform your music.
And I knew I'd been living all wrong
I realized that I hadn't been living in the right way before listening to your music.
And I couldn't help but sing along
I was so moved by your music that I had to join in and sing too.
La la la la la la la la la la la la
The vocalized melody that the singer is joining in with
Never giving, always taking
I was always selfish and taking from others without giving back.
And faking every move I make
I pretended to be someone that I wasn't and made false actions that didn't reflect my true self.
To keep me safe and well protected
I acted this way to protect myself from being vulnerable or exposed.
I was almost down to empty
I was feeling drained and hopeless.
And the world looked mighty cold
I felt like the world was an unwelcoming and harsh environment.
And then I heard you sing a simple song
But then I heard your uncomplicated and beautiful tune.
And the sun came a rushin' back to fill my soul
Your uplifting music gave me hope and optimism that filled the emptiness inside me.
Sing a long
Encouragement to sing along with the music.
Sing a long
Encouragement to sing along with the music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Singing your song
Performing music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Heard you singing your song
Heard you performing your music.
Hear you singing
Request to hear someone perform their music.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@richarddavid8519
Now the walls took along time to crumble
And the jumbled pieces of my life
Took the long way around to come together
And then I heard you singing your song
And I knew I'd been living all wrong
And I couldn't help but sing along
La la la la la la la la la la la la
Never giving, always taking
And faking every move I make
To keep me safe and well protected
Sing a long
Sing a long
I was almost down to empty
And the world looked mighty cold
And then I heard you sing a simple song
And the sun came a rushin' back to fill my soul
I heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Heard you singing your song
Hear you singing
@viickidameral7468
No body but no body could replace David Cassidy.his voice is breathtakingly beautiful and sultry, and he’s breathtakingly beautiful His voice makes your heart melt
@viickidameral7468
David was so beautiful you can’t take your eyes off of him . His voice is breathtakingly beautiful,when his eyes look at you they make your heart melt
@matthewreese8064
Such a great voice. RIP David you will be missed.
@bridgetdrummond1721
I think this is the best display of David's voice during the Partridge Family years. Totally mesmerizing and breathtaking. David never got the credit he deserved.
@LovesDavidCassidy
nope they used him for partridge family items & at first he didn't see a dime & they cheated him out of that money, those items was over a million dollars & they didn't pay him for all of that, he got a check after the 4 years for i think 5,000 but he later found out it was over a million dollars & they cheated him out of that money!
@viickidameral7468
I BBC agree with you Bridget
@haileyh500
People were so blinded by his startling good looks that they somewhat overlooked what a really talented singer and musician he was. I just loved him. 💔💔💔
@misstramaine1981
Well-said! David Cassidy was literally dreamy.; people got lost into eyes and overlooked his talent.
@jonathanschweizer3631
Agreed! People tended to sleep on his voice, and he was a wonderful singer.
@davidconway1905
h,i i, new on here first,