(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
The Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"
Hit Number 1: November 21, 1970
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
It's the second time it has happened so far. When "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family hit #1 on the Hot 100, it was the second time that a band who didn't actually exist accomplished that feat. (The first time was "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies) For the first half of the 1970s there was a popular sitcom that was simply called The Partridge Family, and it followed the adventures of a musical family in their daily lives, as well as their lives while on tour. Of course, most of the actors on the show didn't actually possess any musical talent. When you're listening to "I Think I Love You", you're not really listening to anything that Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce or Brian Forster are contributing. The only ones that had any talent were Shirley Jones and David Cassidy, who you do hear on the recording. The other musicians are session musicians that were brought in by producers.
The idea of the Partridge Family was loosely based on the Cowsills, a real-life musical family band. In fact, the children of the Cowsills were initially considered to play the roles of the children, but since they had no acting talent and they were considered to be too old to play those roles, that idea was abandoned. (The Cowsills have had two #2 hits, which are their highest-charting songs. The first was "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", a 7, and "Hair", a 3) Cassidy, who was actually the son of Jones, proved to be the main star of the show, and became a teen heartthrob during the show's time of popularity. Cassidy's charm, coupled with the show's popularity, are likely the biggest reasons why songs like "I Think I Love You" became hits. That's because "I Think I Love You" is a pretty corny song.
Believe it or not, Cassidy had to prove to the producers that he had singing talent. When they finally found their cast for the show, they began to look for session singers who could lend their voices to make it seem like the actors were the ones singing. Cassidy was annoyed that they were looking for someone for him, and once he proved to them that he could in fact sing, the show had a hell of a heartthrob. It's hard to imagine a life where Cassidy was only an actor, and not a singer.
Anyway, I said that "I Think I Love You" is corny because it's your cliché schmaltzy 70s song. However, that's not always such a bad thing. Overall, "I Think I Love You" is a silly teenage conflict of a song, where a guy can't come to terms with the fact that he loves a girl. The production team involved with it did a good job with not taking something like this too seriously. Cassidy sings with enough charisma that the song works, and the backing vocalists, while strangely robotic in their sound, are great support for Cassidy, which is all they really needed to do. Admittedly, there isn't much exciting about the instrumentation; maybe they were only concerned about trying to bring Cassidy's strong voice to the forefront. If that's the case, then they succeeded. (There is what sounds like a harpsichord solo, which is pretty nice) There's nothing amazing about it, but as far as silly, schmaltzy 70s songs go, it's a pretty good little song.
After the success of "I Think I Love You", the Partridge Family ran for 4 more years, with the last season airing in 1974. In that time, the "band" never got to #1 again, but they did crack the top ten twice in 1971 with "I'll Meet You Halfway" and "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted". (The former made it to #9. It's a 5. The latter made it to #6. It's a 7) David won't appear in this blog again, but his half-brother Shaun Cassidy will.
GRADE: 7/10
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