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Seven-year-old Susan Cowsill had the
perfect excuse to miss grade school in
the late Sixties. She was hitting the
road as a singer in her
family's pop band, the
Cowsills. "I begged
because performing
was in our veins," recalls Susan, now 30.
This Cowsill kid,
along with brothers
Bill, then 19, Bob, 17,
Paul, 15, Barry, 13,
John, 11 and mom
Barbara, 38, had four
Top 20 tunes includ
ing 1967's "The Rain,
the Park and Other
Things." The clean-
cut Cowsills, who
were managed by
their dad, Bud, were
just average kids from
Newport, Rhode Island, who kept their
egos intact — except when it came to
sibling rivalry. "We became experts in
torturing each other," she says. But
this form of punishment was nothing
compared with TV producers' plans for
the family. The group became upset
when producers wanted the children
for The Partridge Family, but insisted
actress Shirley Jones play the mom.
The band nixed the TV venture, and
continued touring together. Eventually, the tours became tiring and the
group disbanded in 1970. (Barbara died
of emphysema in 1985.) Nowadays, the
guys have families and careers as diverse as carpentry and songwriting.
Susan is single, lives in Burbank and has
been working on a solo album, writing
songs, and singing backup. The Cowsills will tune up again, Susan says. "It's
time for music that makes you feel
happy"
Sabrina McFarland
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