David Cassidy In His Own Words
DC's interviews press , radio or tv are fascinating. Sometimes it was of course PR, he was told what to say, but sometimes he was very sincere, and we can hear the real man. This page is for the things DC said or wrote about his career, life, work..I will start with the 70s..(with 1 exception) :
'Man, don't call me a former teen idol. Don't call me a heartthrob. Don't call me a sex symbol. Tell me I'm bad, tell me I'm lousy. But don't call me that.' (1998)
'I wish every human being could walk out on stage and have that energy focused on you' DC speaking to Michael Barratt in 1974
'The music we do is bubblegum to the trade. I think it's little better than most bubblegum. Sophisticated bubblegum. What it's not is George Harrison. That's what I want to be doing. That's what I will do.' (January 1971)
'I cut out whenever I get the chance. A few months ago I packed my guitar and my sleeping bag and headed for Carmel, Big Sur and Lake Mead with another buddy. After a while the city starts to get to you, to pull you down' (April 1971)
'Then all of a sudden they were chasing me. I had to run, I literally had to run for my life.' ( June, 1971).
'Some of my fans are really weird' he notes, impressed in spite of himself 'One group even haired a private detective to trail me.' (July 1971)
'Sometimes I yell at the top of my lungs. Not at people. Only when I am by myself, like when I learned they released a certain record of mine as a single which I didn't want them to do. I was in my room alone and yelled a word which I better not repeat. It's not becoming of a teen-age idol.' (October 1971)
'I am quite emotional. I laugh a lot. Sometimes I cry. Not so much for feeling sorry for myself , but if I think I have hurt someone.' (October 1971)
'The adulation is a drug' (December 1971)
'If you own a lot of land, you can stand in the middle of it and they really can't see you. I like to be alone sometimes and I find it difficult to be alone.' (March1972)
'I have a positive attitude toward life and everything and I think people respond to that.' (April 1972)
'There's so much that's dishonest being printed about me. These people want to make something of me that I'm not. I have no control over what's printed about me.'( April 1972)
'I read in one fan magazine that I was very self-centered. And I am. I work for me, 18 hours a day. It's my gig. So I don't have time to get a point of view.' (May 1972)
'On one hand, I want the security, on the other hand, it makes the fans very inhibited.' (August 1972)
'I don't even know what the real David Cassidy is like.' (August 1972)
'I can't really complain. Who knows, five years, 10 years. I could be laying carpets somewhere' (August 1972)
'It's going to be rough. I'm prepared for the worst. A lot of people aren't really ready to accept the change. But I'm confident I will overcome.' (November 1972)
'Me, I've cut a dozen records in the last 20 months - and 11 of them turned out to be over-a - million best-sellers! My total record sales since TPF started : 18 millions (November, 1972)
'You get stamped in a mold that becomes difficult to cast off' (November, 1972)
'I dig someone who's settled, usually older than I am, who isn't that liable to do a lot of talking later (November 1972)
'Unfortunatelly no one can be a Peter Pan forever' (February, 1974)
'I'm not going to do a movie unless it's really, really very good.' (February, 1974)
'I try to d-mistify myself. I'm just a human being who happens to do rock-n-roll for a living' (1975)
'I hope that the fans will come with me' (1975)
'What I really stop doing was feeding a machine that was creating an image that was manufactured, fabricated, false' (August 1975)
'I went through 5 years of hell' (April, 1976)
'I'm interested in quality. I want to blow them out of their boots' (November,1976)
'I was tired of strangers in my room, my bed; tired of girls climbing up the fire escape and hiding in my closets, in my shower.'(November , 1976)
'Once, just once, I became seriously involved. But I was working 18 hours a day.' (November 1976)
'We are very much in love' (March 1977 , DC about him and Kay Lenz)
'It was painless' (April 1977, about his marriage ceremony)
'I wouldn't want the old intensity of the past. I'm coming back because I think it's time to act and record again. It's not a popularity contest I've come back too (November, 1977)
'I'm ready for the disappointments and heartaches, the thrills and spills, whatever'(May, 1978)
'I won't do garbage for money. I'll work because I want to. I don't ever want to be embarrased again.' (June, 1978)
''It was to be called 'Undercover', but we couldn't use it for legal reason.(..) So they chose 'David Cassidy-Man Undercover', I didn't ask for it, it wasn't in my contract.' (October, 1978)
'I was a BIG star, yet I kind of felt dwarfed' (November, 1978)
'I'm not playing him as a super macho, or very physical. I'm trying to make him vulnerable. I'm not macho enough and I'm not very physical. I don't intend to carry an adventure show. I'm still only five feet, eight inches.' (about playing Dan Shay, November, 1978)
'I like myself now. I had become a paranoid recluse (..) I never wanted to be a professional rock singer. It all happened so fast. It was so big. I didn't know how to handle it.'(December, 1978)
The '80s
'I've never done trendy stuff. If the suit doesn't fit me, I can't wear it just because everybody else it. (..) Pop music I love, and it's my fate. (December, 1983)
'No one in my family ever understood my fascination' (about horses, December, 1983)
'I've got my appetite back for music and I'm going to release a new single , The Last Kiss. I wonder if my old fans still remember me?' (January, 1985)
'There's no place like London' (February , 1985)
'I'm afraid of going to jail.(..)I'd put a gun to my head if I was locked up. When I was young I was a bit wild and ended up one night in the police cell. I'd been drunk and bellingerent. When you spend the night next to a derelict alcoholic you sober up quickly' (February, 1985)
'We have no plans for children of our own. raising a child is a major commitment, and I'm far too self-indulgent to take that sort of thing on.' (being married to Meryl Tanz, February, 1985)
'My great fear was that I'd end up doing a phatetic golden oldies tour if I'd stayed in the business (February, 1985)
'I've always been rewarded by risk-taking, both in relationships and in my career. Without risk there are no rewards (..) I hope that this time the audiences will come and listen - to me (July, 1985)
'I was being packaged as a goody-goody, cleaner than clean. In reality, I was a real womaniser. I had more women than I care to remember. I'd invite friends back to my hotel and they'd hide in the closet while I made love on the bed.' (August, 1985)
'My British fans have been unbelievable and very supportive. I feel very lucky. A lot of artists forget when they make it that it's the fans ultimately who make you or break you. I have been fortunate in my career.' (April, 1987)
The 90s
'I didn't become a tragic figure. I didn't end up playing in some lounge somewhere, being a sad oldies act, you know? I finished and left it on the top.' (November, 1990)
'Just do me a favor. Don't call me 'former teen heartthrob' okay?. It's as if they were constantly discussing your second year of college. I'm not back there any more.I'm living in the present .(May,91)
'I'm really not bitter anymore. The show made me a somebody' (July, 1993)
'Like a lot of people, I turned to substance abuse. But I did it very quietly. No one ever knew what I was doing. My personal life is where I've always been able to pull down the curtain'(May, 1994)
'Writing a book was really cathartic for me. I'm almost embarrassed about it. I still feel like a kid, and here I'm writing my memories. But I have been this professionally for 26 years (May, 1994)
'It's definitely the best role I've ever had as an actor in tv, film, or on the stage' (about BB, June,1994)
'My greatest gift is that people - whose lives I've touched and have had an impact on - always been there for me' (June,1994)
'It seemed that whenever I'd read my name, it would be David'former idol sex symbol' Cassidy. I used to that. Well, I guess I'm going to have to do sth more significant in my life, like David'convinced felon' Cassidy , or sth (February, 1995)
'People are always saying - I have no idea you could do that- I think they're surprised I'm as good as I am. They say - you were so sweet and cute and it (TPF) was such a nice show..' (May, 1997)
'It caused me enormous pain. The rejection. I felt abandoned. I felt like there must be something wrong with me. Why doesn't he love me? Well, he treated everybody like that. It's hard to understand when you're 3,5.' (May, 1997)
'People have been going -'Isn't it amazing that you have a hit' (No Bridge I Wouldn't Cross)- And I like - Yeah, but don't be so stunned by it. I have sold 25 million records.' (February, 1999)
'I'm twisted, demented, neurotic, psychotic, and have a jones for chocolate frozen yogurt. Just kidding.'(1999, while chatting on-line with fans)
'My life is so full with responsibility and work that I have to fight for every free moment each day to spend with my family' (1999)
'..I inherited some of the talent as well as the lack of interest in anything else (..) it also had to do with the fact that I like to make people laugh, and I like to make them happy, I've had that since a very early age. (..) there's a lot that I get in return from audiences.' (1999)
'There's nothing quite like performing live in front of live audience.'(1999)
'I live in the present, I work in the present, I love in the present. And I'm very successful in the present(1999)
'There is a story behind every song that I write.' (1999)
The '00s
'In 1986 I was in the darkest , most unhappy (..) I was almost a million dollars in debt. (April, 2000)
'I was never a drug addict. I was just into excessive, self-destructive behavior' (May, 2000)
"I ran in Venice (in 1986) where there were a lot of homless people. I had glasses on and would pass them and thought - If I don't do this, that's where I'm going to be - I'd say I'm that close. Keep going. Keep going.' (September, 2000)
'The highs have been incredibly high and the lows have been really pretty low' (September, 2000)
'I'm an optimist. I mean, you have to be with my career. (March, 2001)
'I guess the time I got most freaked was when I found a fan living in my air conditioning unit. She'd been there 6 weeks (October, 2001)
'I know at some point I will return to New York as it is where I was born and it's still in my heart my home' (2001)
'I've tried not too, since leaving TPF, to make the same albums again and again and again'(2001)
'I was never uncomfortable with the fact that it (TPF) had tremendous impact and was so successful. I just didn't want to be a nostalgia act. I wanted to go on and have a present.'(December, 2001)
'Nothing in life is what it seems - celebrity in particular, fame in particular(..) there is a lot of it that is dark and really smarmy and underisable' (March, 2002)
'My relationship with my fans is truly extraordinary' (March, 2002)
'Sue thinks it's the best song I've written in the last (about New York City Life ) I don't know maybe ever. It's about my life and my past and my present and, ummm, my potential future.' (2003)
'It's funny how your life flourished . But I was working seven days a week, all day and all night. There was no life, it was all about work' (about Las Vegas) (2003)
'Having a son myself has really changed me. It's made every aspect of my life flourish.'(2004)
'I'm trying to keep a balance. For nine straight years I was doing 8 to 10 shows a week, 50 weeks a year. Believe me , I love the work and I love what I do, but your body gets to a point where the work is so physical, it's just wears you down.' (2005)
'I don't want to go to Broadway just to go to Broadway, I don't want to do tv series just to say I'm in tv series. I don't! I don't need to do it. I love the fact that I don't need to do it. (2006)
'People have tried to profit from me my whole life and it still makes me feel cheap.'(2007)
'There's an unspoken trust when you walk away from a relationship. I'm not going to say anything about anyone I was intimate with' ( about his autobiography) (2008)
'Tonight, I'm publicly stating that I am an alcoholic..(..) When I drove up (to Saratoga Springs) was that I realized this journey has been going on for so many years. And the journey is now, every day, 24 hours, to stay sober.' (2008)
'..people loving you to a point where they want to have a piece of you for their wall and they can love you so much they want to tear your clothes off or tear you apart.' (2008)
'I play an egocentric, wild, alcoholic maniac. I wanted to send myself up. It wasn't that much of a stretch.' ( about his role in Ruby& The Rockits, 2008)
'I've always strived to do things that people didn't know I could do or expect I could do.' (2008)
'People aren't necesssarily very interested. They want to know about the fame and women and the girls and all the sizzle as opposed to the steak' (2008)
2010s
'The fans now are different from before, I have stalkers, and some are old ones and some are new. Some people just don't get reality.' (2011)
'Learning how to be a good parent was easy in the end because I'd basically had the What Not To Do manual (2011)
'He (Jack) never said I was worthless, but his resentment would come out in these little mean ways. Then when TPF came along, he said in a interview that I got lucky with my success and that just broke my heart.' (2011)
'..even though I was 24 by the time the series ended, I was about 19 emotionally. I hadn't lived: I'd devoted myself to the business of David Cassidy, rather than the person.' (2011)
'I'm never going to retire and say - This is it. This is my last show - I promised my wife and son no more than 2 weeks on the road. I'm doing one- nighters. The old body just doesn't want to do more than 3 or 4 gigs.' (May 2012)
'I do the songs people expect to hear whether they've seen me a hundred times or one time they won't be disappointed. Of course I do the hits' (August 2012)
'I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy the admiration any young kid receiving all the publicity and attention that comes with success is a lot of fun and make you feel important to people. But there is another side of life and that's facing the reality of who you really are and what you genuinely need as a human being. When the stage lights dim and the audience head home, you're left alone having to face and deal with certain truths of who you really are..'(2014)
'The question : 'Are you happy with the person you are today?' David Cassidy : 'I'm still working at it and probably will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I have weaknesses and strengths and I wake up each day hopping that I will have the power to move in a more positive direction..' (2014)
'You can look back in wonder, but it doesn't make sense to look back in anger. I'm thankful for the career I had back in the day and that I can still go out there and tour now..' (2015)
'It becomes harder and harder to travel. I have arthritis in my lower back and also in my hands, which makes it difficult to play. But, I find a way to do it. I warm up a lot. I live in South Florida and travel across the country and back is a big deal for me. (2015)
'Some people say I talk too much. Because I like telling the story about why I'm singing that song. Especially when I'm dedicating them.' (2015)
'I got offered a couple of movies in the last 5 years, but the quality was not what I wanted. Quentin Tarantino offered me an opportunity. From a scheduling standpoint I couldn't do it. (2016)
2017
"I've chosen for 2017 to finish where I began, and where I was born, in the city of Manhattan, in New York, at B.B.King's' (February 25)
'Thank you. For all of it. For all the decades. I don't think I do. I know I love you' (March4, 2017)
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