The Cowsills In Books

Page 102-103:
Strictly speaking, family rock actually originated with a group called the Cowsills. One of the many American bands that rode into the pop scene on the Beatles' coattails, the Cowsills racked up several Merseyish-sounding hits before the media began to focus on their real-life identities as sibling rockers. That was the beginning of the end. The problem was that they were so relentlessly wholesome - an attribute that is anathema to rock'n'roll. Worse yet, their mother played with them. And as if that wasn't enough, at the height of their popularity, they became the official spokesmen for milk.

For a while there, the Cowsills seemed to be everywhere - billboards, radio and TV. There was even a sitcom (The Partridge Family) loosely based on their lives. Ironically, however, while the Partridges blossomed as a record act, placing one song after another on the charts, their real-life prototypes began to flounder. Eventually, the bubble burst and the Partridges went the way of the Cowsills. David Cassidy renounced his teen idol status and suffered a period of emotional letdown that led to a drinking problem. Although that was a long time ago, he hasn't particularly mellowed in his feelings toward the people who engineered the Partridge hype.

. . .

For the most part, family rock has gone the way of surf music and glitter rock. The Osmonds have officially broken up, the Cowsills are currently an L.A. punk band, the Partridges were canceled, and the rest continue to bounce from label to label in search of the direction that will give their careers a second wind. Even the Jacksons, the group that started it all, have been eclipsed by brother Michael's stunning solo success - although all that may change now that boxing entrepreneur Don King has entered the picture. But, chances are that the Jacksons, like so many other artists who have fled the comfort and tyranny of Berry Gordy's kingdom, may never again recapture the glory of their Motown days.

Page 221: . . . In the past the Beach Boys have sometimes seemed to be too wholesome for their own good. Only guiding genius Brian Wilson's prodigious eccentricity saved them from becoming the Cowsills or the Carpenters in the public mind. But as has recently come to light, it turns out that drummer Dennis Wilson was as wildly out of control as his brother, or for that matter any of the all-time rock'n'roll biggies. . . .