Things You Didn’t Know About This Favorite 1970s Family, As Told By Mark

"Hello world, hear the song that we're singin'. Come on get happy..."

Those were the words that opened the Partridge Family sitcom that ran on Friday nights from 1970 to 1974.

And even at an early age, I had an interest in music. And this was one television show that my sister and I both liked.

The show was loosely based on the real-life family band, the Cowsills. They had hits like Indian Lake, The Rain, The Park and Other Things, and Hair.

So the Partridge family consisted of Shirley Jones as Shirley Partridge (the mom). David Cassidy, as the oldest son Keith. Susan Dey as the oldest sister. And Danny Bonaduce, who has turned that show into a huge reality show stardom, as Danny, who played bass. But only Cassidy and Jones actually sang.

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And their tour bus, which was an old school bus, was painted very uniquely.

The show was a hokey comedy with laugh tracks, punctuated by some songs that actually got radio airplay. "I Think I Love You" was number one for three weeks.

Then the marketing. The Partridge Family had their own board game, books, comic books, and tee shirts. They were huge.

They even won "Best New Artist" at the 1971 Grammys.

The show also made a superstar out of David Cassidy. He would film episodes of the show during the week. Then fly around the country and do sold-out concerts singing to mostly teenage girls. I remember seeing his face on every cover of every heartthrob magazine. In fact, Tiger Beat gave him his own magazine, that came with a Partridge Family album.

Were you a Partridge Family fanatic back in the day?