Do You Believe In Magic: Shaun Cassidy
The stars will be dancing like diamonds in the moonlight Friday when 1970s teen idol, bubblegum singer and TV star-turned-Hollywood writer and producer Shaun Cassidy takes the stage at Spokane’s Bing Crosby Theater.
Shaun Cassidy: Family Man
Shaun Cassidy was born in September 1958, the son of actor and singers Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones. Shaun’s half-brother, David Cassidy, was eight years older and became a pop star in the early 1970s thanks to a featured role on “The Partridge Family.”
Jones — David’s stepmother — also starred in that series, playing David’s widowed mother. Shaun’s rise to fame in recording and TV came three years after that show ended its run.
David, Shirley and Shaun in 1961. Photo taken from the Library of Congress.
The real Partridge Family:
Shaun Cassidy: The Pop Singer
Cassidy was still in high school when he was signed to a contract with a subsidiary of Warner Bros. records. His first single releases, “Morning Girl” and “That’s Rock ’n’ Roll,” were hits in Europe, Australia and Japan in 1976. This encouraged Warner to issue an album in the U.S.
That self-titled album, released in June 1977, contained Cassidy’s version of the old Crystals hit from 1963, “Da Doo Ron Ron.” It would become a No. 1 hit. Warner followed that up with a U.S. release of “That’s Rock ’n’ Roll,” which then peaked at No. 3.
Cassidy’s second album, “Born Late,” was released just four months later. Unlike Cassidy’s debut, he wrote or co-wrote about half the songs on the album. The lead single, “Hey Deanie,” gave Cassidy his third consecutive Top-10 hit.
His third album — “Under Wraps,” released in July 1978 — joined his first two in achieving platinum sales status. But his fourth, released in 1979, failed to chart. Light “bubblegum” pop music of the type Cassidy was performing was fading in popularity and Cassidy’s efforts to gravitate toward harder rock didn’t catch on.
But by then, Cassidy was in great demand in Hollywood ...
Cassidy's Five Charting Singles
Shaun Cassidy: The TV Star
In late 1976 — just as Cassidy’s recording career was taking off — ABC commissioned a weekly series adapting the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew children’s books.
Producer Arlene Sidaris said their wish for the younger Hardy Brother, Joe, was “a David Cassidy type.” So it’s perhaps not surprising they hired David’s brother, Shaun, for the role.
Parker Stevenson and Cassidy in “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries." Photo credits belong to Glen A. Larson Productions
Cassidy and his co-star appeared in seven of the 14 Season 1 episodes in 1977, alternating with Pamela Sue Martin, who played Nancy Drew. For Season 2, the Hardy Boys appeared in 19 episodes while Nancy Drew was featured in 11.
For Season 3, Drew was dropped completely and the series was renamed “The Hardy Boys Mysteries” until it was canceled in January 1979 after 10 episodes.
In November 1980, Cassidy played the lead role in a TV series adaptation of the movie “Breaking Away.” The series lasted only seven weeks, canceled the following January with one episode unaired.
Cassidy continued to play occasional TV roles, appearing in 11 episodes of the daytime soap “General Hospital” over the summer of 1987 and then in a two-part episode of “Matlock” the following February.
Cassidy also appeared in stage productions — most notably the Broadway run of the musical “Blood Brothers,” which ran for 840 shows from April 1993 to April 1995 and also co-starred Petula Clark and Cassidy’s half-brother, David. That show was nominated for six Tony Awards, but, alas, no Shaun or David awards ...
Shaun Cassidy: Hollywood Producer
It was during the Broadway run of “Blood Brothers” that Cassidy wrote his first television pilot, “American Gothic,” about a small Southern town where an evil sheriff dominates residents with his supernatural powers.
CBS bought the show and ran it for 22 episodes starting in September 1995. In addition to creating the series, Cassidy was a co-producer and wrote four episodes by himself and co-wrote another four.
“American Gothic” lasted only one season but it was enough for Universal Television to keep Cassidy under contract, creating and writing more television projects over the next three decades.
Selected TV Series That Cassidy Either Created, Produced, Or Wrote
In addition, Cassidy worked on a number of unsold TV pilots, made-for-TV movies and on single episodes of TV series created or produced by others.
Interestingly, 2009’s “Ruby and the Rockits” allowed Cassidy to use autobiographical elements: The show is about a former teen singing idol whose attempt to settle down into a quiet family life is turned upside down when a former bandmate shows up with his own teenage daughter. David Cassidy starred in the show along with Shaun’s brother, Patrick. Their youngest brother, Ryan, worked as a crew member on the show.
Cassidy's 'The Road to US' Tour
In September 2025, Cassidy launched his first arena tour as a singer since 1980.
“It was going to be purely a storytelling show,” Cassidy told AARP magazine. “I wasn’t going to sing anything, but people said, ‘They’re going to get pissed and yell “Do ‘Da Doo Ron Ron!’ ” while you’re trying to tell some funny or emotional story. So I found a way to weave pop songs and theater songs into a narrative.
“My dirty little secret is, this thing is more like a Broadway show than I would ever advertise it to be,” he said.
Cassidy’s show begins at 8 p.m. Friday. Find ticket info here: