David Cassidy — one of the classic teen idols — has
February 21, 2017
"Cassidy’s revelation follows a roller coaster of personal ups and downs that the actor has faced in the past decade..."
"... including a show in Agoura Hills, California, this past weekend where Cassidy repeatedly struggled to remember lyrics to songs he had been singing for nearly 50 years."
David Cassidy — one of the classic teen idols — hasAlzheimer's disease dementia.
David Cassidy — one of the classic teen idols — has
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He said "dementia." I don't think he said Alzheimer's (not that it's much comfort).
"I Think I Love You" turned out to be prophetic then.
Alzheimers can only be conclusively diagnosed by autopsy.
Shame. Being in my 70's myself now, it hits a lot closer to home.
I wish Cassidy the best, but...
Darrell beat me to saying they'll have to add a question mark at the end of "I think I love you?"
The fact is many singers use lyrics or TelePrompTers after their 40s (so-call "stageheimers").
But, then again, most of those singers do have more extensive repertoires than David Cassidy.
His immediate problem seems to be alcoholism, which to me seems a more fitting explanation for recent events at his shows which can be seen online. There's also a grimly exploitative video of him online conducting a remote interview with a UK show where he is clearly completely hammered.
And, as has been pointed out, nobody said anything about Alzheimer's. There are several causes of dementia, including alcohol related dementia.
I'm sorry, and I don't wish him any ill will. I'm amazed to hear that he can still sell tickets!!
A little research shows he charges $38 to $58 for tickets.
His wiki page is a little bleak. He filed for bankruptcy in 2015. His third wife divorced him in 2016. I can't imagine being in his shoes.
Sad.
"I think I love you,
if I can remember you,"
This just isn't in any way funny.
My Dad left to pick up some stuff at Safeway and ended up in Mexico. Laughs all 'round.
Not remembering lyrics is not a regular precursor of dementia. Tony Bennett does it all the time in converts but he has not so far been diagnosed as having dementia.
Both Elton John and Billy Joel will bring notebooks of songs THEY WROTE and have performed hundreds of not thousands of times over decades. In fact, Elton amd Billy both messed up on a Jay Leno performance a few years ago. It's the volume of info that becomes overwhelming, not the shutdown of the brain.
"I'm amazed to hear that he can still sell tickets!! A little research shows he charges $38 to $58 for tickets."
There are so many old artists — not just from the 70s like him, but from the 50s and 60s — who give concerts and their old fans just love them.
I know people who go to concerts like that frequently and just love them. I haven't done that in a long time but maybe the best concert I ever saw was Dion some time in the 1990s. I also saw Smokey Robinson (in Las Vegas) in the early 00s. I don't think these people found it hard to sell tickets. And they got lots of love from the audience.
Dion acted sheepish about singing "Teenager in Love," because he was so old. He made the audience of non-teenagers sing the line "Why must I be a teenager in love?"
My first wife is dying of early onset Alzheimer's. She's 59, but began showing symptoms when she was 52. She's non-verbal now, fading away. Cassidy has a long journey ahead. It's a journey my current wife and I have sworn not to take, or to inflict on the other.
When I was about 10 or 12, I decided I need to grow my hair like David Cassidy. I thought it would look cool. When my father noticed my hair curling at the collar, however, he rounded me up and to the barbershop I went. Oh, I was so angry.
As an example of how incompetent--and cruel--the press can be, a few days ago the music website Pollstar published an item saying that Cassidy was drunk on stage. Then, of course, it printed the true news yesterday.
Of course, as of this morning, both stories were still up on its website!
(It is also possible that Cassidy was drunk, too.)
My wife has an aunt with dementia. It progressed slowly for a few years, but about a year ago, the memory loss became dramatic. A conversation with her keeps circling around the same three or four subjects. Ask her what she had for lunch half an hour ago, or what her first job was, she can't remember.
But she's more cheerful now thanks she's been in a long time, so there's that.
David's father, Jack Cassidy, did not end well, either.
At 70 years of age, I'm pretty sure that I have Allenzheimer'S.
The word "Alzheimer's" began to be used ... I don't remember when. I don't remember (oh dear, not me!) hearing "dementia" either. The word we used then, and is seldom heard anymore, was senile. Even back then "senile" had a negative connotation, so it is not surprising more benign words were adopted. You can't just be forgetful any longer; it is now "early signs of Alzheimer's or dementia." No, goddamn it, you're senile! If you want a second opinion, you're stupid, too.
The next worse thing to suffering yourself from senility, is to hire an attorney with the condition. In my case, the attorney fooled me by being rather glib, such that he was, more or less, mentally fine. There were signs all over the place that he wasn't fine, i.e., he never once demonstrated a true understanding of the facts of case. But what was I to do? I needed a lawyer, and was on my last fool attorney after a string of greedy-fool attorneys, or so I thought.
The proof of his mental illness became evident when he drafted a hopeless Opposition to an MSJ (Motion for Summary Judgment). Unbelievable, he was quoting defense attorneys' lies, and alibis, as though they were telling the truth. The judge said his Opposition was incompetent and worthless. Into the trash it went. (Ironically, the judge, who was biased for the defendants, and easily fooled, was also incompetent.) I know that being incompetent and demented are not the same thing, but trust me, this idiot was demented. He was also an angry son of a bitch.
Frankie Valli is still plugging away. Amazing!
But his dentition is too blindingly white.
One of the ugly things about modern times, is that everyone ruins a concert by holding their cell phones up in the air and recording it. It's a sickness. I mean, you are never going to watch those videos, people.
Then some of these idiots post their videos to youtube. The audio is crappy, the video is jerky and panning all over.
The worst part, is the old singer is ugly and can't sing. A shocking reality that keeps me from ever paying to see a nostalgia act.
The last concert I went to, was at the state fair last year, and it was teens playing in polka bands. Now that was entertaining. I think we paid $3 a couple, but you could enjoy it for free if you didn't want to dance in the pit.
There are so many old artists — not just from the 70s like him, but from the 50s and 60s — who give concerts and their old fans just love them.
Eventually, all bands become cover bands of their old material.
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