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The first week of my eight week bus tour with The Cowsills, I felt alone - an outsider. They had a beautiful thing going, but it was theirs. I was a stranger.
It was the first time I had been away from home, and I got terribly homesick - probably a natural reaction, but I think any time you're around something wonderful and aren't a part of it, you become even lonelier. So, as their press agent, I worked double-time handing out press kits at all our stops and building up good public relations for the Cowsills. Bud Cowsill, the kids' father, was so intense about making this trip a success - he had me passing out records and pictures to people we met in diners along the roadside!
It was about the second week of the tour, and I was sharing a room with little Susie Cowsill, then only 7. I was putting on my makeup when 10-year-old Johnny came into the room. With his impish, lovely grin he told me how lucky he thought they were to have me with them on the trip. Susie hugged me. I felt so warm. I guess if I tried to pinpoint the time I became a part of this wonderful family - as opposed to being an intruding outsider - that moment would be it.
I continued to work double-time for The Cowsills - but now a different force was pushing me - devotion!
They won't forget The Cowsills in Boston. What a night! Everyone was at peak performance, and Susie - well, she brought down the house! What a night - my Cowsills were beautiful!
The whole tour was a wondrous success, ending eight weeks later in Los Angeles. The tour ended there - but I think that's where The Cowsills really began. There was a press reception in Los Angeles for The Cowsills that even topped the enthusiasm shown in Boston.
Well, that was the start of my career with my adopted family - two years have passed and The Cowsills and I have been to Rome, London, and all over the United States. They've appeared as guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, Kraft Music Hall, The Jonathan Winters Show, and Operation Entertainment, to name a few, and even had their own NBC_TV special, which was the pilot for a possible fall TV series. They sang the theme for the MGM film, "The Impossible Years" and just completed production of their next NBC_TV special, "The Wonderful World of Pizazz," seen March 18.
Noting just these few achievements brings to mind the hours I had to spend introducing the public and the press to The Cowsills. The introductions are over now, though. Everyone is well acquainted. My problem now is getting material to all the people who request it. What a problem!
But that's history and The Cowsills' future is as full of surprises and innovations as their past. The big change in store for The Cowsills is when little Susie goes into the movies. She has been offered many movie contracts and is eager to start her acting career. And mini-Mom, Barbara Cowsill, is eager to talk about her unique family on all the panel and variety shows that have requested her appearance. But this won't prevent the female Cowsills from joining the five boys in TV appearances and road concerts.
Expansion is the name of the game for The Cowsills.
When I started to work exclusively for The Cowsills, it was a big change for me. I had been used to handling the press for five, ten, sometimes twenty clients. I was a little skeptical about one client keeping my interest, but that fear was quickly erased! I'm glad that Bud Cowsill is so certain of youth. When I started working for him, I was only 19. And I wasn't so certain!
Did I mention that the last two years have been the greatest part of my life?
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