1972 David Cassidy: How Can I Be Sure?

After The Osmonds, the 'other' famous pop family of the early seventies were The Partridge's, a fictional clan of musicians in which David Cassidy played Keith Partridge and was one of the few family members to actually play on their records. Cassidy had always thought of himself as more your traditional rock star than the role suggested and was resentful of the bubblegum tunes the family recorded. Tackling a song as mature as 'How Can I Be Sure' was his 'Big Statement', a bid for credibility and a marker that put clear ground between himself and Donny Osmond.

Wistful in tone ("How can I be sure, in a world that's constantly changing") and very much a singer's song, 'How Can I Be Sure' has proved an incredibly popular tune to cover since The Young Rascals original in 1967; Harry Nilsson, Dusty Springfield and Gloria Estefan (amongst others) have all had a crack, but while their individual interpretations brought something new to the song, it's fair to say that Cassidy's plain and flat voice, although workable enough when singing some of the bubblegum associated with his TV family, is badly out of it's depth here.

Not that that's intended as stinging criticism - after all, you wouldn't have a go at Frank Sinatra for not being able to sing 'Ace Of Spades' like Lemmy, but the lyrics demand a lightness of touch that Cassidy can't provide and he (over) compensates for his shortfall in traditional style by layering on the vibrato in the hope the emotion will shine through. But it doesn't, and it's not helped by this heavy handed approach extending to the backing music too until it's almost dueling with Cassidy's voice for prominence, a battle that only destroys the song's inner sense of confusion and uncertainty - nothing this forceful can be give the aura it's unsure of where it's going.

Bottom line - by no means a disaster, it's a decent enough stab and Cassidy's heart is in the right place. But to modern ears the only lasting value is one of kitsch, and Dusty's version remains the one that everybody reaches for.