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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UPI) - As their popularity faded, William J. Cowsill said, he "knew it was futile" trying to pay off his singing family's mountain of debts.
The former business manager of the Cowsills, a 1960s musical group consisting of his wife, daughter and five sons, was in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Wednesday. Now a merchant seaman with little money, his testimony reflected the ups and downs of musical popularity.
The family grossed, "I think of $600,000" in 1969, Cowsill said. He told bankruptcy referee Arthur Votlaie he had about $50 in pocket money when he filed for bankruptcy June 27.
Papers showed Cowsill owed $445,339.01 to hotels, recording studios, credit card companies, attorneys, agents, airlines, banks and other firms. He listed assets of $4,873, mostly personal property.
He said he has no real estate or bank accounts and believes the group's musical instruments were either pawned by one son, given away or sold by the family.
The group folded in 1970. In previous years, hit records including "Indian Lake" and "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" sparked a string of television appearances.
The family's property was repossessed by banks or former owners about three years ago. It included six acres and a 23-room mansion in Newport where the family group got it's start, 184 acres in West Greenwick, R.I. and property in Glendale, Calif., worth about $85,000.
Cowsill's wife, Barbara, now lives in Warwick. One son is in medical school, two live in Narragansett, and occasionally perform in local bars. Another son, John, and daughter Susan are living in California, he said.
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