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The musical Cowsill Family - Barbara Cowsill and six of her singing youngsters - seem to be haunted by ghosts and good luck. They have appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and the "Today" show, and are now doing their first hour-long special. "A Family Thing" with Buddy Ebsen as guest star will be aired on Channel 4 tonight.
How does a mother a housewife of 20 years take to show business? "Well, I'm still in a daze," Barbara says. "I had a lot of doubts, but I should have known my husband - he loves a challenge."
Bud Cowsill, a retired Navy man, father and founder of the group, had faith in his family. He borrowed $100,000 to get them moving. After meeting with only modest success, he was ready to throw in the towel.
Down in their luck, they were about to lose the 27-room neo-gothic "Munster mansion" they owned in Newport, R.I.
Finally, good luck came to them late last year with the release of their first million-selling record, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things."
"Now that I'm over being scared of gettin up to sing," says Barbara, "I feel like I'm just out singing with the kids."
The kids include Bill, 20; Bob, 18; Paul, 16; Barry, 13; Johnny, 11, and Susie, 9. Dick, who is Bob's twin, is currently in the Army in Vietnam.
The Cowsills are managed by a husband-and-wife team named Leonard and Myrna Stogel. Stogel says: "We went for broke and made it.
"The remarkable thing about this family is they can perform in any facet of the music business - from hard rock to all the old standards."
The ghostly portion of the haunting started in their mansion, which was once owned by seafaring Capt. McCormack.
"We really don't believe in ghosts," explained Barbara, "but we had a lot of weird things happening without explainations: pipes banging, doors slamming, locked shutters flying open, pans rattling, the whole bit." So when things happened for no apparent reason, the ghost of Capt. McCormack took the blame.
An almost eerie coincidence caps this take - the Cowsills' special will preempt "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" - the story of a house haunted by ghost of the seafaring Capt. Gregg.
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