Looking Through The Eyes Of Love ..The History of DC Fan Clubs

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 In 1971 David Cassidy had the biggest fan club in the world, 200 000 members. In November that year, on every single day about 200 000 TPF records were sold , Tiger Beat circulation was 400 000 copies every month , and David received  weekly 25 000 letters . Letters , not emails...But does it mean that he was the most popular singer in the world? More popular than Elvis ot The Beatles? Of course not.

David Cassidy was a superstar, number 1 teen idol, but there were a lot of people, also young and interested in music ,who had no idea about his existence, or worse , people for whom he was a manufactured pretty boy with no talent, a joke. So why his fan club was the biggest?

In autumn of 1970, David Cassidy became an overnight sensation in the USA, from the start, from the first episodes of The Partridge Family, millions of girls were hooked just from the second they saw him and heard him sing. It was love at the first sight on a global scale..His fans were mostly girls, such fans were more willing to join a fan club. In that old pre Internet times fan clubs offered many things which were impossible to get other way, new pics and  info, e.g. about planned tours. Fans were willing to pay for it, and it was used ,someone made a lot of money because of it . There was also The Partridge Family Fan Club and both were advertised at the back of DC's and TPF's albums and in the teen mags run by Chuck Laufer..

Those official fan clubs ended in 1974 with the end of David's career as a teen idol. For many fans all over the world it was like David disappeared for ever. But he wasn't forgotten by the most loyal fans who still run his fan clubs.

The history of the non profit DC fan clubs run by fans themselves is fascinating. They appeared in the early 70s, first in the USA, later in Europe. In 1974 two very important ones started in Germany, launched by Tina Funk and Urda Voss, in 1981 Cathy Ortiz started 'Da-idy Fan Club' in the USA. There were other clubs, in the UK, Holland, Australia, they published newsletters, organized meetings, their role cannot be overestimated, thanks to those people who didn't spare their time and money, we have first-hand informations about David's life and career before the Internet era. Those fans followed David Cassidy during his theatre tours in the USA and Canada , later in the UK, they recorded his performances, collected all info. And I'm certain that they were a real, great support for David, especially in the 80s.

Around 1997 Jade's Down UnderWebsite was formed, Jane Reaburn took over that site in November 2004, and later Cat Ortiz allowed Jane to incorporate much of her website, so a complete record of David's activities could be kept in one place. Fans from all over the world contributed to the website. In 2011 David Cassidy contacted Jane and asked her that her Fansite be incorporated into DC's  own website . She currently runs The Official David Cassidy website and Official FB page.

We , fans, call it 'our website', it consists of more than 11000 pages, thanks to contributions of fans from all over the world. This is just an amazing great library and also a place where many friendships started, this is the true David Cassidy's legacy. 

Thank you Jane, Tina, Urda, Jade, Cat, Jim, Philip, Marjon, Barbara..and many more..

'Looking Through The Eyes Of Love' /Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srvXrs2itsE

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