I'm still enjoying my 70s Teen Heart-Throbs album but somewhere along the line I noticed that half of the artists have something in common. They were all television stars before they were singing stars. Uh-oh. Does that mean that these boys weren't especially talented but they got record deals because they were cute and could therefore sell a lot of albums? No! Would the recording industry focus on good looks and their ability to sell tie-in merchandise over actual talent? That would never happen. Bobby Sherman earned his place on lunchboxes because of his singing. It has to be true.
Apparently, in the 1970s all you needed was a show that got you into the teen magazines and that would get you a career in music. Wonderful! Of course that had happened before the 1970s and it would certainly happen after the 1970s, but I think that the trend definitely peaked in that decade. In fact, can we call it a golden age? Let's do! The Golden Age Of...What? Teen Idols is too broad but so is Guys With Feathered Hair and The Golden Age Of TV Stars Making Records is too wordy. We'll use that one but I don't know if it is entirely accurate.
Before the 1970s it was different. Performers attempted to be well rounded entertainers and many succeeded. The Rat Pack could actually sing, act, and do comedy. And let's not forget those fabulous M ladies, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van Doren. They all had nightclub acts, and while I don't know the specifics of their shows I know that nightclub acts back then were some combination of music and comedy. They were making the effort.
Every now and then someone would think that they were a well-rounded entertainer and make a record. I'm not pointing any fingers, but if I was going to point a finger I would point it directly at William Shatner and holler, "Don't think I'm letting The Transformed Man off the hook!" Sure I like that record, but that doesn't mean it's good. That same argument can be made for many teen idols of the 1970s, especially the TV stars. I love them, but they're not that good.
My K-tel heartthrob record has a nice cross section of actors-turned-singers and as I mentioned earlier, they make up fifty percent of the artists on the album. I've got David Cassidy (with The Partridge Family, not solo), Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Bobby Sherman, and John Travolta. This record should come with some sort of warning label. Warning: When TV Stars Make Albums Individual Results May Vary.
Most of them aren't horrible, they are just really bland. The Cassidys are the best of the bunch, followed closely by Bobby Sherman. Leif Garrett kind of stinks but I love him anyway. And then we have John Travolta. Why was he allowed to make a record? Don't tell me about Kotter-mania because I will not listen. The liner notes tried to tell me about Kotter-mania but they spelled it maina which means I don't have to take them seriously because they don't proofread their work. That wasn't the only typo I found either. Plus they gushed a little too much about Travolta.
K-tel described his career with words like unforgettable and mind-blowing and stand-out but managed to forget his slump in the '80s. They skipped right over it but made sure to rave about Pulp Fiction. Rick Springfield's career highlights ended with Hard To Hold. Why did they omit High Tide? Meanwhile, you might be asking why I omitted Rick Springfield today. His first single came long before his role on General Hospital, that's why. He is the token teen idol on this album who started as a pop star and then moved to television. But the televisions stars! There is some unfortunate stuff included in the collection. I don't think it is the best work of these various stars, but I shouldn't be too hard on K-tel even though they don't proofread and were unfair to Leif Garrett in the liner notes. They must have thought it was a good selection.
My personal highlight is I Think I Love You, which is the David Cassidy portion and pure genius. I have no quarrel with I Think I Love You. Shaun Cassidy's contribution is Da Doo Ron Ron and it's okay but it could be better. I think if someone is going to record a Phil Spector creation they should do their best to attempt a Wall of Sound-type sound. KISS did that beautifully on Love Gun with Then She Kissed Me. Before Queen was completely Queen (they didn't yet have John) they recorded a single as Larry Lurex. They covered I Can Hear Music and they made an effort to have a wall of sound as well. Not the Wall of Sound, but a very good try.
Shaun Cassidy has a wall of bubblegum and really, you can't do justice to a Phil Spector song with a thin sound. I should mention that the liner notes state that Shaun's album was doing well in Europe but didn't take off here until the Hardy Boys was on TV. So he makes the television star list on a technicality. Leif Garrett's track is Runaround Sue and again I think this could be much better. I'm very partial to Dion so a Dion song needs to be done really well before I will admit it is good. Leif didn't quite pull it off. Bobby Sherman isn't bad but his song (Julie, Do Ya Love Me) is a little too musical theater for my tastes. It's got these horns that make me think a chorus line should be behind him. Oh, well. At least he's a pretty good singer.
And then we have Travolta. Why we have Travolta is a mystery because the man is warbling. Of all the teen idols on this album, his track is the proof that record contracts should not have been distributed so freely. His terrible song is called Let Her In and he sounds like a contestant in a junior high talent show. He is singing in a voice that sounds a little too high for his comfort and he can't hold a note without wavering. The liner notes claim that when this was released it "zipped" to number ten on the charts. I am very disappointed in the record buying public of 1976. I don't know if the 45 zipped up the charts or if it was the LP that did the zipping. They only say vinyl release so that could be either of them.
In the interest of full disclosure I will say that I used to have that first John Travolta album. I think I actually had more than one John Travolta album. I had one that featured a gatefold that opened up to a three-quarter length photo of Travolta in a sheepskin vest. I can't say no to an album with such a hilarious gatefold. This means that I can complain about Travolta's recording career all day but it doesn't change the fact that I am not part of the solution. I am most definitely part of the problem. I have no excuse for my behavior unless I try to claim that I am a preservationist interested in The Golden Age Of TV Stars Making Records.