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.
That's The Way It Is With You
The Partridge Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You'd never ever want to put down
One good scene just leads to another
It spinnin' your head around
Longer you read it the surer you get
That ya gotta just keep on goin'
That give and reach
Like gettin' an itch in a scratch where ya itch
That's the way it is with you baby
You reach down in my soul
Turn off my control
That's the way it is with you, baby
And let me be the first one to say, I thank you
Did you ever hear a song
That's the kind of song you wanted to sing along
From beginning to end
The third time you heard it, ya knew the words
But ya had to hear the tune again
Over and over and over and over, ya got to hear it one more time
Like real good meals and cookies and kids
Tears and hummin' this love of mine
That's the way it is with you, baby
You got me by the core
Ya got me screamin' more
That's the way it is with you baby
Let me be the first one to say
How much can I need you
And how much longer
How do you feed an endless hunger
That's the way it is with you baby
You reach down in my soul
Turn off my control
That's the way it is with you baby
Let me be the first one to say, I thank you
(Repeat)
The Partridge Family's song "That's The Way It Is With You" is a love song that compares the feeling of being deeply in love to the experience of reading an engrossing book or hearing a song that you can't help but sing along to. The singer explains how he feels about his partner, using metaphors that suggest a deep, all-consuming passion that he can't resist. The book analogy emphasizes the addictive quality of love, with each new bit of detail or development in the relationship enticing the singer to keep going. The lyrics suggest that the more the singer learns about his partner, the more he becomes addicted to the relationship and the stronger his love grows.
The song also likens the experience of being in love to hearing a familiar song that you want to listen to over and over again. The repeated listening is driven by the same sense of compulsion as reading the engrossing book - you can't get enough of it. The singer is similarly unable to get enough of his lover, with every moment spent with them igniting a fiery passion that he can't resist. The chorus repeats the phrases "That's the way it is with you, baby" and "Let me be the first one to say, I thank you," emphasizing the gratitude and appreciation that the singer feels towards his lover.
Overall, "That's The Way It Is With You" is a romantic and poetic song that uses vivid imagery to capture the all-consuming nature of love. It portrays love as a force that cannot be ignored, and that draws the singer in with irresistible power.
Line by Line Meaning
Did you ever read a book that's the kind of book you thought
Have you ever come across a book that was so engaging and captivating that you didn't want to put it down?
You'd never ever want to put down
So much so that you couldn't resist reading it from cover to cover?
One good scene just leads to another
Each chapter was so well-written that it kept you wanting more and more?
It spinnin' your head around
The book was so immersive that it made you feel like you were a part of the story?
Longer you read it the surer you get
The longer you read it, the more you were convinced that it was a great book?
That ya gotta just keep on goin'
It was so good that you just had to keep on reading?
That give and reach
The book was full of moments that were both heartwarming and inspiring?
Like gettin' an itch in a scratch where ya itch
Reading it was like scratching an itch that you didn't even know you had?
And a love that keeps on growin'
The book also had a touching love story that kept on evolving and growing?
That's the way it is with you baby
The same way this book was captivating, so is this person (baby) in my life?
You reach down in my soul
They have a profound effect on me emotionally, touching me deep down inside?
Turn off my control
Their love has the power to make me feel so alive and free that I lose control of my emotions?
And let me be the first one to say, I thank you
I am truly grateful for their presence in my life and the positive impact they have on me?
Did you ever hear a song
Have you ever listened to a song that was so amazing you just had to sing along?
That's the kind of song you wanted to sing along
A song that you felt like you could sing the words to, even if you just heard it for the first time?
From beginning to end
A song that was so beautiful and captivating that it held your attention from start to finish?
The third time you heard it, ya knew the words
Even though you may have only heard the song a few times, you felt like you already knew the lyrics?
But ya had to hear the tune again
Even though you know the words, you still had to listen to the music again because it was simply amazing?
Over and over and over and over, ya got to hear it one more time
The song was so good that you had to listen to it multiple times before you could get enough of it?
Like real good meals and cookies and kids
Like meals and snacks that leave you feeling completely satisfied, or kids who bring nothing but joy into your life?
Tears and hummin' this love of mine
A love so beautiful that it makes you want to hum of the love that you share?
You got me by the core
This person (baby) has such a profound effect on me that they have captured my whole being (core)?
Ya got me screamin' more
Their love is so powerful that it makes me want to crave and desire even more of it?
How much can I need you
The fact that I need this person so much is overwhelming, and I can't even begin to quantify that feeling?
And how much longer
I can't even imagine how much longer I can go without this person's love and presence in my life?
How do you feed an endless hunger
This love and craving that I have for this person (baby) is boundless and unrelenting?
Let me be the first one to say, I thank you
And for all these reasons, I am so grateful for their love and presence in my life, and would like to thank them for it?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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