I was saddened to learn of his passing. He was my wife's all time number one pin up when she was a teenager and a little part of her formative years has gone forever - she's quite upset. Back in early 70s UK the big rivals for teenybopper girls' affections were David Cassidy or Donny Osmond. You could like both, but usually had a stronger allegience towards one over the other. In my wife's case, it was Cassidy whose poster adorned her bedroom wall. We lads hadn't much time for either, although I reserved a particular loathing for Donny Osmond and would always leave the room when he came on TV. Cassidy was more tolerable, but back then we were either team Slade or team Sweet. You could like both (as I did) but again, that curious tribalism always prevailed, and it was Slade all the way for me.
I remember reading many years later that Cassidy felt very indebted to a certain older pop star who had rather taken him under his wing behind the scenes and helped him with advice on how to cope with the crazy adulation; he'd been through it on a grand scale himself. That star was none other than John Lennon, whom David recalled as being very wise, supportive and kind. John had class which sometimes slipped under the radar.
