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Note: This magazine is from Norway and hence written in Norwegian. Googlel translator was used.
Freckles, laughter, big brown eyes, a "Munster-like mansion" in Newport, Rhode Island, a mini-mommy and a whole lot of talent. This is a Cowsill. It took America 500 years to create The Cowsills. Five hundred years of mixing nationalities, races, philosophies, beliefs and democracy within its' borders. Five hundreds of people from all over the world to create families. The Cowsills happened. They are a new dimension in today's entertainment world. Ironically, while The Cowsills like not anybody was produced a music industry, the industry sat and loved its. The same thing happened with The Beatles, five years earlier. This "thing" that we are talking about can be compared to a chemical reaction which requires special ingredients to be able to take place. The Cowsills provide all the ingredients. On many occasions, they only use a small piece of prepared insecurity and the entertainment industry . . .
Who they are
The Cowsill company consists of the following: Bill, Bob, Barry and John Cowsill, the original tribe, their mini-mother, Barbra Cowsill, who runs her her sweet, clear voice to the boys' polyphonic singing when and where needed, tour managers Dick and Paul Cowsill, who look after the cars and all the electronic equipment the group has to bring around, said it's a Cowsill baby, Susan Cowsill , who risk being completely betrayed by his six brothers and finally Mr. Cowsill, the head of the family who sits behind and manages it all.
Love is . . .
Mr. Cowsill, whose first name is Bud, believes that love is the key word when it comes to raising a bunch of children, especially his.
When the boys do what's right, they know it. And when they do something wrong, they know it too. On the other hand, it is difficult for a father to decide at all times what is right and wrong. The only constant is love. If someone in the family has a problem, we show as much understanding as possible, but we would like the problem to find its own solution regardless of the impact, says Bud Cowsill.
The house on the hill
Mr. Cowsill, Mrs. Cowsill and all the others live in a 22-room house on one of the few high streets in Newport, Rhode Island. When you drive up the winding road towards the hill, and catch the first glimpse of the house, it seems as if it was built for a ghost film. Ivy covers all the house's walls, windows are broken and gutters are hanging. This location can only exist in the United States. The grass grows 3/4 meters high, and Curly, the family dog, hunts rabbits and other wild animals in the small forest nearby.
The house has 3 floors with a lot of branches and projections and has a footbridge up on the roof. You can walk around the entire house on it. The footbridge was built by the captain who built the house. He set it up so that his wife could go up there and look for his ship, on the rare occasion that it happened to pass Newport.
Today Mrs and Mr Cowsill usually take a walk around the roof every time they want to tear themselves away from their 8 wild children.
Inside the house
The interior of the house matches the exterior. The family's living room contains a huge sofa, two chairs and a TV set. In the kitchen we find cookware and furnishings that were modern in 1917. The food is cooked on a huge gas stove, and it is not easy to get a fire on it. In the room that was supposed to be a library, there are only a couple of ping-pong tables. There are seven bathrooms and one shower.
The water pressure is not particularly high, so the best time to take a shower is at 3 in the morning Bob explains.
The pennies went to . . .
In the last three years, most of the family's money has been used for the purchase of instruments and equipment.
We haven't had anything left for mobiles, and I'm glad it's constantly coming from Barry.
In little John's room, a cage has been built for a small monkey. I saved my pocket money for several weeks to buy Clyde. But the day after I got him. I found Clyde lying dead in the cage. The monkey had frozen to death, says John with tears in his eyes.
Clyde's death took place at a time when the family was about to lose everything they had. They had no money. The telephone was switched off, and there was no oil to fire with in the worst of the cold.
One evening, Bill and Bob cut up two wardrobe dressers to have something to burn in the stove. Everything that could be burned we had to take advantage of to get through the cold winter, says Barbra Cowsill.
The house in danger
In the end, the economy was so bad that they were threatened with having to leave the house they were all so fond of. In order to obtain financial help if possible, the family went to New York. And there they were, thanks to fate, or whatever we shall now call it, presented to Artie Kornfeld. Artie is a producer and writer, and became one of the necessary ingredients in the aforementioned chemical reaction.
Things are starting to happen
Artie was immediately aware of how best to approach the matter. He introduced The Cowsils to Lenny Stogel, probably the only talented producer in the US who was ready for them at the time. He understood that something could be done here, and made contact with MGM Records.
And thus the first step in the Cowsill family's pop rocket was ignited. In the course of a few weeks, their name was to be found on the hit lists, and as of today, The Cowsills are some of the USA's most in-demand artists.
Now it's Europe's turn, and their big hits The Rain, The Park have been launched in each domestic market. It was with that melody that they broke through in the United States. Bill Cowsill was born on 9 January 1948, Bob a year and a half later, on 26 August 1949. Barry was born on 14 September 1954 and little John on 2 March 1956. In other words, the Cowsills are quite young in age, but you wouldn't think so when they and their mother make big sound on a gramophone record.
We will surely hear a lot more about The Cowsills.
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