Glancing at old Tiger Beat, Teen Beat and 16 magazine covers on Pinterest, I couldn’t help but remember all my pre-teen and teen crushes back in the day. I’ve listed my top five, but of course I had other passing fancies as well. Honorable mentions go to Andy Gibb (younger brother of The Bee Gees), Greg Evigan (BJ And The Bear) and Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Gallactica), whose pictures also graced my bedroom walls at some point in the mid to late 70s. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would write an ode to my first loves. So please enjoy A Feast For The Eyes: Hot Teen Idols Of The 1970s.
5. David Cassidy
In 1972, David Cassidy was quite possibly one of the hottest men on planet earth. He was my first teen idol crush, at the tender age of seven. I was so innocent back then – I used to dream about him pushing me on the swing in my grandparent’s backyard. When I heard he would be performing in Toronto, I begged my mother to go see him in concert. I was told a very firm no, as you can imagine.
On the same weeknight The Partridge Family aired (directly following The Brady Bunch) I had gymnastic lessons. Those were the days before VCR’s and PVR’s, so in order to see the show, I came up with some excuse to get out of gymnastics. It wasn’t all that difficult, however, as I couldn’t even do a cartwheel, much less flop around on balance beams.
Cassidy passed away from liver failure on November 21, 2017 at the age of 57. Watching the A&E special about his final days was heartbreaking, to say the least.
4. Shaun Cassidy
Preteens are so fickle, and I was no exception. After the Bay City Rollers broke up (more on that crush later), I became enamored with Shaun Cassidy. He was a singer like his half-brother David and starred in a popular TV series based on the series of books The Hardy Boys. I went to see him twice in concert, both times at Exhibition Stadium.
The first Shaun Cassidy concert I attended, the place was sold out and I had seats in the nosebleeds. The second time I saw him, with Carrie McIntyre, we had seventh row floors. I looked back at the sparse audience behind us and told Carrie we better enjoy this show because it would be the last time we’d ever see him in concert. Poor Shaun was forgotten, as I had almost grown up. But I still had at least one more teen idol crush in me. Continue reading “A Feast For The Eyes: Hot Teen Idols Of The 1970s”
