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Post by dem bones on Feb 28, 2016 20:04:39 GMT
Not knocking the Cass, but purists are advised to stick with the novels. Just so you know, that link seems to lead nowhere. Perhaps it is for the best. Phew! Thanks for the alert JoJo. Link now fixed in original post. Try David Cassidy.Com
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Post by dem bones on Nov 8, 2018 11:25:17 GMT
This one's for Meta. How's the weather .... Michael Avallone - The Partridge Family #2: The Haunted Hall (Curtis, 1970) It's a real spook out - when rock's coolest supergroup invade a mansion filled with ghosts - and deadly danger!Blurb: IS THIS ANY WAY TO HAUNT A HOUSE? YOU BET IT IS!
Take five spirited kids and one groovy mom [who just happen to be the coolest group in rock]. Put them in a deserted mansion set deep in the woods. Add assorted creepy ghosts. a smattering of sinister secrets, and enough danger to frighten King Kong. What do you get?
A super-swinging saga of suspense starring rock's first family - THE PARTRIDGES!
SEE THE SCREEN-GEMS TV SERIES STARRING SHIRLEY JONESGreat news for fans of pop's most spook-plagued garage band! The Haunted Hall is available to read on-line via Archive.org, though you may have to join waiting list (Search 'Partridge Family'). The Partridge Family are playing the Larkland Rock Festival by special request of the state Govenor. With every hotel fully booked, manager Rueben Kinkaid wangles alternate accommodation - an old dark mansion in the heart of the woods. It's owner, J. Watterson Turnbull, no longer requires it; he's been an inmate of the Blue Rapids sanatorium this past twenty years, on account of his pyromania. Kinkaid duly assures the rock n' rollers they'll be living in luxury for the weekend. What he doesn't let on is that Turnbull House, aka Satan Hall, is reputedly haunted!The Partridges arrive by night during a thunderstorm. Mom (vocals) parks the psychedelic bus. "Last one out's a rotten musician. And a square." Laurie (her on the cover, vocals) astutely observes that the gloomy mansion resembles the Collins house in Dark Shadows. "This is the sort of place the Addams Family would live in," agrees Christopher, eight (drums). "But not the Partridge Family!" reprimands Mrs. P., who'll thank the pair to keep such morbid fancies to themselves! But the teeny-boppers are right, and, had she but known what lay in store for her brood, Shirley would have turned around the Scoobie wagon, driven straight back out through the huge iron gates as if the Devil himself were on their tails.The festival is a huge deal, "a musical sit-in to tell the world about love, the milk of human kindness, peace - all wrapped up in a non-violent demonstration of the best that there is, and all the best there could be in mankind." Appearing alongside the Partridges are The Elephant Five, Sandy and Sonny and Sid, The Apes, The Loving Six - and Jerry Jingo, ( Love My Green Beret, Watch Out For Charlie, etc) the hottest thing in pictures. Laurie is spoony over Mr. Jingo. Keith (the Cass: seventeen, guitar/ vocals, "the man of the house"), can't resist a tease: if Jerry is such a big on screen hero, how comes he's a DRAFT DODGER in real life? That sure gets a rise out of little miss lovestruck! But her tears turn to joy when Ma's rap on the door is answered by a tall, lean, handsome young man, even dreamier than Paul McCartney! 'Duke' is the hippest caretaker ever! No cook, maid or chauffeur. No hot water or electric light (the storm has blown the fuses), Larder empty. Rueben Kinkaid has a lot of explaining to do! The Family dine on chicken soup before settling down to bed. All save their amiable host, who jumps on his motorbike, rides out in the storm to fetch supplies for tomorrow's breakfast. What a hero! What a gallant. But Duke is not all he appears to be, and neither is he alone in the mansion. Prior to the arrival of the pesky performers, the bogus caretaker and scuzzy pals had already set up camp in the rafters! Panic at Blue Rapids sanatorium, whose proud boast of never having had an escapee is no more. "In the house, all slept - the tired Partridge family, and up in the gloomy attic, Duke and his followers. And no one heard the low wail, the dreadful sobs, and the chilling clank of dragging chains ..." Until ..... And there I was thinking Terror By Night was a one off! It's not a compliment lightly bestowed, but The Haunted Hall is giving me Then Came Bronson #3: Rock! flashbacks.
To be very continued
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Post by helrunar on Nov 8, 2018 14:42:25 GMT
Kev, I love you. Thanks for some much-needed laughs on an otherwise less than distinguished morning.
I read one of these Partridge books around 45 years ago but, unsurprisingly, otherwise have no memory of it.
Please yes, do very continue.
Cheers, Steve
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Post by helrunar on Nov 8, 2018 16:05:08 GMT
I do recall how blatantly dated the tired attempts at hip teen lingo were to a perspicacious 14 year old reader of the day. Harried professional middle-aged writers of the early Seventies failed, in many more instances than I can enumerate or recall, to realize that "hippies," teens, and rock musicians circa 1972 no longer spoke with slang that had been hip back in 1966. It was strictly Squaresville, man.
H.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Nov 8, 2018 16:19:25 GMT
I do recall how blatantly dated the tired attempts at hip teen lingo were to a perspicacious 14 year old reader of the day. Harried professional middle-aged writers of the early Seventies failed, in many more instances than I can enumerate or recall, to realize that "hippies," teens, and rock musicians circa 1972 no longer spoke with slang that had been hip back in 1966. It was strictly Squaresville, man. H. Wow! Crazy! Get hip, daddy-o!
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Post by dem bones on Nov 14, 2018 8:03:10 GMT
A chilling glimpse inside the mind of a pyromaniac.
"He'd start another fire - the biggest fire of all. The best one of his flaming career. Why not? It would be the perfect ending to a grand and glorious lifetime of fire-setting. Certainly, he had every right to burn his own house down. Who could object to that? After all, it was his property, wasn't it?"
J. Watterson Turnbull has returned home. Worse. In making his escape from the Insane Asylum, the old boy lifted a box of matches from a dozy orderly.
Satan Hall, the following morning. Starvation rations have taken their toll, and the Partridges, by now barely alive, are at a low ebb. Mr. Kinkaid PROMISED a cook, maid, chauffeur, luxury conditions. What have they got? A dubious "caretaker" gone AWOL, bread and chicken soup for breakfast! Anyone would think they'd been transported as one to Foodbank Britain PLC, AD 2018. How long can they last? Will they even make the big musical "sit in"? The prospect of a skeletal Shirley expiring mid-I Think I Love You - no, it is too ghastly, too unthinkable! Besides, Laurie has more pressing problems - her bedroom is haunted by a ghost with a terrible laugh! Last night it drove her screaming into the corridor, and, though the family did their best to placate her, none of them heard a darned thing. Could she have imagined that laughter, so gruesome and unnatural? Is she going mad?.
More unfamiliar voices! This time from the room adjoining her own. Frightened as she is, Laurie, can't resist a sneaky pry.
Idle curiosity proves her undoing.
For Duke is no more the legitimate house-sitter than his skanky "friends" are THE BEATLES! The five teenage layabouts have been cadging shelter on a property that doesn't belong to them! They'd have gotten away with it, too, were it not for those Pesky Partridges!
Indian, the real creepy one, is for the pack splitting the scene with captive in tow, demanding a huge ransom for her safe return. Duke decides otherwise. But something will have to be done about Laurie. She knows too much. "Suddenly Laurie wasn't scared. Instead she was angry - right down to her loafers. The handsome Duke and his weird friends - ugh! Maybe Duke kept ugly yellow-hair from hurting her, but he wasn't much different from the rest of the grubby bunch. Her chin went up.
"I thought you were real rock people," she said icily. " I thought you were dedicated to non violence. What are you doing going to the Festival anyway? You've no business there - you just don't belong to that scene - either of you!".
If only the rest of the Family would hurry up and realise they are a sister short!
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Post by dem bones on Nov 27, 2018 19:29:33 GMT
Well, that was a very quick read, just 128 pages. I was disappointed that the gang led by Duke didn't turn into the Manson wannabes that the text initially implied. You and me, both Rip. Soppiest biker gang since that crummy shower in Then Came Bronson #3: Rock!. Not too keen on these "rationalised" hauntings, either. Even so; "Supernatural" terror, suspense, pop stars barely existing on Foodbank Britain PLC starvation rations, romance/ betrayal, arson, appendicitis - have probably said this about several all his books, especially the ones I've never heard of, but The Haunted Hall is surely the Great American Novel Michael Avallone was born to write. So where were we ... Mom eventually realises her daughter is missing. Keith ain't much bothered. "Probably still mooning over her dream man, Duke. Or Jerry Jingo. I can't keep up with her." The family eventually muster enough enthusiasm to go look for the silly bint, but Laurie is nowhere to be found! A helicopter hovers above Turnbull House. "FUZZ!' Indian shouted. "LET'S SPLIT!"They do, but not before syphoning the petrol from Rueben's limo and the psychedelic Scoobie bus. Quite an over-reaction, too, considering its only Jerry Jingo in his private chopper! He's come to check out Satan Hall's suitability as a Haunted House for his next movie. Turns out Jerry, the epitome of cool in his tall Stetson, fine dungarees and buckskin shirt, is no draft dodger. His agent shaved a few years off the superstar's age to make him even more appealing to an adoring public. As if that were possible! Even Keith warms to him. As for Laurie, she is so over Duke. It's "Jerry his," "Jerry that" now and .... could it be forever? "No wonder he had so many fans and so many fan letters. He was really a nice person." Unlike some people she could mention! A mercy visit from Rueben Kincaid, apologising profusely for the terrible mix up that landed his charges in so unholy a mess. Fear not - he's booked them into a proper luxury mansion. All they need concentrate on is today's rock festival/ musical "sit in" to teach the world about love. Better still, Jerry invites the Family to appear in his next blockbuster movie. Everything in the garden is rosy! Until J. Watterson Turnbull strikes a match. Satan Hall ablaze - with Jerry and the Partridges locked inside! Will nobody save them? On a related note, watched the harrowing David Cassidy: The Last Session on BBC4 a few nights back, a documentary examining DC's phenomenal rise, fall, and descent into self destruction ("There is no sign of me having dementia at this stage of my life. It was complete alcohol poisoning. I did it to myself, man. I did it to myself to cover up the sadness and the emptiness"). The film makers portrayal is that of a tormented child star, living in shadow of famous father, pushed into a squeaky clean soap show when all he wanted, and desperately needed, was to be taken seriously as a rock musician. Seems he spent most of his life trying to lay the ghost of his teeny-bopper idol self. Footage of an ailing the Cass attempting to overcome the pain barrier to lay down vocals for what would be his final ep is particularly hard to watch. Interviewees include his once drinking pal Alice Cooper, and Partridge Family Co-star and fellow addict, Danny Bonaduce ("His relationship with happiness was questionable"). Film has since come in for a scathing response from family relatives and others who have an interest in protecting the "brand name."
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Post by andydecker on Nov 28, 2018 9:29:07 GMT
On a related note, watched the harrowing David Cassidy: The Last Session on BBC4 a few nights back, a documentary examining DC's phenomenal rise, fall, and descent into self destruction ("There is no sign of me having dementia at this stage of my life. It was complete alcohol poisoning. I did it to myself, man. I did it to myself to cover up the sadness and the emptiness"). The film makers portrayal is that of a tormented child star, living in shadow of famous father, pushed into a squeaky clean soap show when all he wanted, and desperately needed, was to be taken seriously as a rock musician. Seems he spent most of his life trying to lay the ghost of his teeny-bopper idol self. Footage of an ailing the Cass attempting to overcome the pain barrier to lay down vocals for what would be his final ep is particularly hard to watch. Interviewees include his once drinking pal Alice Cooper, and Partridge Family Co-star and fellow addict, Danny Bonaduce ("His relationship with happiness was questionable"). Film has since come in for a scathing response from family relatives and others who have an interest in protecting the "brand name." Considering that his half-brother Shaun could re-invent himself as a more or less successfult tv-producer it doesn't seem to run in the family. His show American Gothic in the mid-nineties wasn't half-bad. As a young one I couldn't stand Cassidy, he was one who you love to hate, as the girls adored him. I embraced Alice Cooper , and being pretentious as only a 15 year old could back then in gentler times I heard Emerson, Lake and Palmer. You know, "real" music.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Nov 28, 2018 9:42:40 GMT
As a young one I couldn't stand Cassidy, he was one who you love to hate, as the girls adored him. I embraced Alice Cooper , and being pretentious as only a 15 year old could back then in gentler times I heard Emerson, Lake and Palmer. You know, "real" music. Ah yes, ELP. Succinctly and accurately described by the late John Peel (at their very first concert no less, so he had an inkling of what the next few years held in store) as "A complete waste of time, talent and electricity".
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Post by ripper on Nov 28, 2018 13:52:06 GMT
I read somewhere that the original idea was for someone else to do the vocals for DC during the songs in The Partridge Family, but he persuaded the producers that he was good enough to do them for himself.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 28, 2018 23:47:41 GMT
As a young one I couldn't stand Cassidy, he was one who you love to hate, as the girls adored him. From the taped interviews in the documentary It seems David Cassidy disliked 'David Cassidy' even more than you did. He wanted to be in a proper band like Alice Cooper or Led Zep, but his teen idol past always stood in the way. I embraced Alice Cooper , and being pretentious as only a 15 year old could back then in gentler times I heard Emerson, Lake and Palmer. You know, "real" music. Ah yes, ELP. Succinctly and accurately described by the late John Peel (at their very first concert no less, so he had an inkling of what the next few years held in store) as "A complete waste of time, talent and electricity". Gr**nsl*de with even more knobs on.
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Post by pulphack on Nov 29, 2018 16:01:52 GMT
ELP and Gr*&$%lade are the reasons why prog rock has a bad name. No-one remembers Hatfield And The North (apart from Jonathon Coe) do they? Slight exaggeration. But years of explaining you like prog rock when you mean Fairport Convention and Faust, and not Emerson Laker And Farmer (imagine a Brazilian footballer, an airline owner, and Ted Moult as a band - splendid) can make a grown man slightly surly on the matter.
I don't read books any more, sadly. Hence the long silence. But get me on prog...
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Post by dem bones on Nov 29, 2018 21:54:12 GMT
Lovely to hear from you, Mr. Hack. I was hoping the magic expletive might tempt you from the wilderness.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 17, 2019 7:29:23 GMT
Paul W. Fairman - The Partridge Family #4: The Ghost of Graveyard Hill (Curtis, 1971) Blurb: The Partridge's rockin' with the Ghost-town blues ... Would you believe the Partridge clan staging a rock concert for a Nevada desert town full of nothing but ghosts? Would you believe lovely Mom, Keith, Laurie and the rest of the gang threatened by a mysterious phantom? If you know these Partridges, anything can happen to them - and this time almost everything does!It might not be a bad idea! Maybe the band wouldn't get into so many dangerous situations if they lost a little of their rock n' roll edge - but then they wouldn't be the Partridges we know and love! The problem is - and I know they'll not thank me for saying this - Mom Shirley, Keith (i.e., the Cass), Laurie, and the rest of the brood CARE TOO MUCH about their fans. So conniving Reuben Kincaid has thoughtlessly arranged for them to play Red Rock in the middle of the desert? Fine. They'll jolly well board the psychedelic bus and drive right on out there, and to Jiminy Cricket with the inconvenience of a 300 mile overnight hike! It is always 'Fans first!' with them. Fans Fans Fans Fans. 'They're the greatest! What can we do to thank them?' It is all they ever think about. And where has it got them? Stranded in a Ghost Town on the eve of the big gig, that's where! Not another living soul around for miles. Or so they thought. Until Mom briefly glimpsed a ghastly disembodied face leering at her through the bus window!The Cass and Laurie explore the decrepit Devil's Flat Hotel. A dust-free, freshly made bed in an upper room confirms Mom's belief that there's someone lives here! But who are they, and what are their intentions toward the Partridge Family? To be continued. Stay tuned, hip cats.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 17, 2019 15:16:27 GMT
The Cass is right. This is no laughing matter and, quite frankly, to say I'm disappointed is to put it mildly. I expected better of Laurie. I know she's scared. We're all scared. But making light of a sticky situation doesn't help, and if that's all she has to contribute, well, I suggest she stick to wittering on about boys and leave the serious thinking to grown ups. Anyway. Turns out the Ghost Town is not quite as abandoned as first appeared. It's being used as a base by a three man gang of counterfeiters - none of whom sleep at the hotel! Leader and brains behind the operation is Sam Barton, a fifty-something career petty criminal "highly experienced in venal ways and methods." Barton has recruited "pathetically retarded" Johnny Harp - his was the beardie weirdie face at the window gave Shirley Partridge such a fright - and Nick Tate, "mid-twenties, hairy as a spaniel ... a non-professional with ethics as elastic as grandfather's suspenders." Rides a motor-sickle. Can pass for a Hells Angel when necessary. Johnny Harp is both "moron" and artistic genius in the one body. Pathetically eager to please Sam, one of very few people to have shown him kindness, Johnny has designed two plates identical to those used by the Government to produce $10 bills. Obviously, the forgers want the pesky Partridges out of Devil's Flat before a police rescue team shows up and ruins everything. That's if Johnny doesn't blow their cover first. When last the family checked out the Hotel they found a charcoal sketch of Mom stuck on the wall! Nick, masquerading as 'Ben Johnson,' nomadic biker, rides in from the desert, explaining that he had a minor prang last night, took a wrong turning and wound up lost as they are. A skilled mechanic, he offers to take a look at their bus. Annoyingly, the fuel line's been ripped out. No chance of a quick patch-up job, send them on their way. Laurie is smitten - anything in trousers - and to be fair, it's reciprocated. Nick-Ben's kinda taken with the "pretty little chic" who thinks of him as a second (I'm so psychic!) " Then Came Bronson" (!) Keith being otherwise engaged (he's taken his guitar out into the desert to concentrate on The Ballad of Badlands), it's left to Danny to figure this genial "Ben" a phony. How comes he didn't ask for water if he's been riding long as he says he has? Not that there's any around. Once the Orange zip runs out, they've had it! Meanwhile, Tracy, baby of the clan, finds a brand new $10 note - and goes missing.
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