Bobby Sherman – Bobby Sherman (1969)

One Christmas vacation, when I was around fifteen years old, I was digging through an upstairs closet at my grandparents’ farmhouse when I came across a small treasure!  At the bottom of the closet there were some long forgotten records! Ah ha!  Jackpot!  Now it wasn’t a large stash.  Actually, it was only two records and a 45 rpm.  The records were Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and the “Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack” featuring the pulsating beat of the Bee Gees, and the 45 rpm was Bobby Sherman’s 1971 hit “Julie Do Ya Love Me.”  I remember what they were, because all three records currently reside in my collection today.  I’d later find out that they had once belonged to my Aunt Grace.  I wonder if she knows I have them?  I hope she doesn’t want them back.

Anyways, while the two LPs were two of the most important albums of the 1970’s, despite having no idea who Bobby Sherman was, it’d be the 45 rpm that had the more profound effect on me.  You see, that year I had met a girl at school named Julie, and I fell totally head over heels in love with her.  She was a really nice girl who looked a bit like Angela Cartwright, or Olivia Hussey, and I thought she was the sweetest girl in the world.  In fact, I thought she was way too sweet for me.  But honestly, I didn’t have any idea how to talk to girls back then.  I hadn’t even been on a date with a girl, let alone had ever kissed one.   Well, although everybody, including Julie, knew I had a crush on her, I’d hang around awkwardly and walk her home from school, although she didn’t remotely live anywhere near me.  As for Julie, , I wasn’t necessarily the boy of her dreams, but apparently she liked the fact that somebody liked her, but I don’t think her parents even let her date much anyways.  As childhood romances went, it was very inncocent, although as a kid with a tendency for overdramatics, it seemed unnecessarily heart wrenching at the time.  For the most part, I was cripplingly shy, and she was sort of coy and most of the time we just left things unsaid, which left me in a constant state of prepubescent torment.  As Lorenz Hart once wrote, “Unrequited love’s a bore, and I’ve got it pretty bad.” 

Well, I don’t remember when I actually got to hear “Julie Do Ya Love Me” for the first time.  It wasn’t at Grandma and Grandpa’s farmhouse because I don’t even remember them having a record player.  With Julie always on my mind, I think I slipped the 45 rpm into my luggage and brought it home.  But when I got it home, that song became like an anthem for me.  I mean, it was absolute bubblegum compared to the music I was consuming at that time.  I was in the earliest stage of doing serious deep dives into rock music, and cutting my teeth for the first time on artists such as The Doors, Janis Joplin and The Jefferson Airplane.  But, as corny as the song was, Jim Morrison had never written anything that hit as close to home as what Bobby Sherman was laying down:

“Bein’ alone at night makes me sad, girl
Yeah, it brings me down all right
Tossin’ and turnin’ and freezin’ and burnin’
And cryin’ all through the night

Whoa-oh
Julie, Julie, Julie, do ya love me?
Julie, Julie, Julie, do ya care?
Julie, Julie, are ya thinkin’ of me?
Julie, Julie, will ya still be there?”

These lyrics, written by Tom Bahler (who I covered extensively in my article on The Love Generation), may not have been the kind that would move an entire generation, but Bobby’s pleas of uncertainty for a girl named Julie hit hard, and stirred something very deep in me.  That day I became a fan of Bobby Sherman, and I’ve stayed a fan ever since.

If you ask me who the ultimate teen idol in the history of the niche industry is, I’ll always say Bobby Sherman immediately.  Although he wasn’t necessarily the most famous or culturally important teen idol of all time, Bobby Sherman was made out of pure uncut concentrated bubble-gum.  Nobody played that part better.  Bobby was a good-looking guy with bright eyes, a killer smile, a friendly face complete with dimples, and he had that perfect head of hair.  He didn’t look like a boy, but he wasn’t exactly a man either.  He had some sort of ageless youthful appeal which was about the same age as someone’s older brother, but not as old as someone’s Dad. Full of natural charisma, genuine good nature and exuding positivity, Bobby was a good singer as well as a working actor which made him one of the rare genuine cross over talents that wasn’t jammed into an entertainment medium he wasn’t comfortable in.  But most of all, he was likeable and nonthreatening and by all accounts an actual nice solid guy.  There wasn’t anything unlikeable about Bobby Sherman.  If you didn’t like him, you probably hated puppy dogs and Ice cream too.

Bobby Sherman first landed on the pop culture radar in 1964 when, after performing at a Hollywood party held by his mentor Sal Mineo, he secured an agent through the help of Jane Fonda and Natalie Wood and was hired to be a regular on TV’s newest rock n’ roll showcase,  “Shindig!”  One of the best rock n’ roll programs of the era, the show was heavy on genuine guests, but when “Shindig!” couldn’t get some of the big acts to come to LA to film the show, a stable of regular performers were on hand to sing the current hits for the TV audience.  This talented roster of performers included Donna Loren, The Blossoms (featuring Darlene Love), The Wellingtons and The Eligibles, and whenever a male soloist was needed to pop out a big hit, Bobby Sherman was given the task.  For two seasons Bobby Sherman, with his big smile and perfectly coifed duckbill haircut, came into living rooms via the wildst rock n’ roll party on television with unlikely performance such as “She’s Not There,” “I’m Into Something Good” and “You Really Got Me” while a troupe of censor defying go-go dancers did the shimmy and the frug behind him.  It was pure gold, and is still an exciting program to watch today!  Yet, while the regular performers from the show were all gifted musicians in their own right, for some reason none of them had any major Billboard hits during their tenure on the show.  Although Bobby had been releasing singles as early as 1962, none of them became hits, and they continue to live in obscurity today.

After “Shindig!” left the air in 1966, Bobby seemed to turn his back on music and gave acting a try with  guest spots on “Honey West,” “The FBI” and, most memorably, a great role as a fading beach film teen idol named Frankie Catalina (an obvious parody of Franie Avalon) in an early episode of “The Monkees.”  The gag was that The Monkees, as the reigning top teen idols, had replaced the suddenly square and irrelevant Avalon.  But, only a few years later, once the Monkees were cancelled, it’d be Bobby Sherman who would replace them in the top banner of the teen magazines.  That journey to the top of the teen dream scene began in 1968 when Bobby was cast as a regular in the frontier dramady “Here Comes the Brides.” 

 “Here Comes the Brides” had an unlikely premise inspired by historical frontier senator Asa Mercer’s campaign in the 1860’s to move eligible young women from the East Coast for resettlement in Seattle so they might meet, marry and eventually populate the area with the lonely loggers and workers in Washington.  Taking a cue from the popularity of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” the producers brought together some strapping men and pretty girls and packaged it in a family friendly series full of comedy, romance and occasional adventure.  The series’ main protagonists were the Bolt Brothers – oldest brother Jason, played by hunky actor Robert Brown; middle brother Joshua, played by new comer, and future 70’s icon and Billboard hitmaker, David Soul, and youngest brother Jeremy, played by Bobby Sherman. “Here Comes the Brides” wasn’t a huge hit for ABC-TV, but it found its own dedicated audience and is still fondly remembered by vintage television fans today.  It was via the role of the sweet and shy youngest Bolt brother that Bobby was launched into teen dream orbit, leading to his first real foray into the teen magazines.

Alongside the likeable and attractive cast, “Here Comes the Brides” also had a banger of an opening them song which eventually became better remembered than the series itself.  Titled “Seatle,” the theme was written by Hollywood soungsmith Hugo Montenegro, with lyrics by Jack Keller and Ernie Sheldon, and was performed by The Ron Hinklin Singers and The Wrecking Crew for the show’s opening credits.  A highly singable theme with a western flair, the song exuded optimism, and the potential of it becoming a crossover Billboard hit was realized immediately by record producers.  Soon after the show premiered, crooner Perry Como had a minor Billboard hit with his take on “Seattle,” and country singer Connie Smith put out a spirited version.  But the producers of “Here Comes the Brides” wanted to capitalize on the song with one of their own stars performing it, and with his proven ability as a singer and past experience in recoding studios, Bobby was sent to record his own version.  Now slicked up as  a modern pop song complete with a massive horn section behind it, and being accompanied by the original performers, The Ron Hicklin Singers as his back up singers, Bobby put a fresh fast paced spin on “Seattle,” which was released on his 1969 self titled album. 

Surprisingly, “Seattle” didn’t get picked by producers to be the album’s first single but instead picked the album’s completely original opening song “Little Woman” instead.  Well, they obviously knew what they were doing, because “Little Woman” soared to the number three spot on Billboard and was an international hit in multiple countries.  With his special brand of high energy positivity and friendly refrain, Bobby seemed to speak directly to his pre-teen fans with a message that would penetrate their wildest dreams:

“Little Woman” was pure intoxicating bubblegum gold, and soon Bobby moved to the top of the teen idol world, for a while anyhow.  With the Monkees now being officially over, and David Cassidy not yet appearing on the scene, Bobby was a cross over star with mass appeal and as the 60’s moved into the 70’s, Bobby Sherman became the first major poster boy of the era.  Between 1970 and 1971 Bobby’s smiling face would be printed on dozen of fan magazines covers,  bubble-gum cards, lunch boxes, love beads and paperback books of every size and even got his own comic book series.  One of the cooler bits of Bobby Sherman memorabilia were little records pressed on pieces of cardboard that were put into Post Ceral boxes such as Honeycomb and Sugar Crisp.  Meanwhile, he released an additional five albums, including a particularly good Christmas album (you can read my Vinyl Story on it at Bobby Sherman – Christmas Album (1970)), meaning more singles were released, with three additional top 10 hits on the Billboard charts including “La La La (If I Had You),” “Easy Come and Easy Go,” and, of course “Julie Do Ya love Me.”

Bobby’s star power as a poster boy and pop star got so big that when “Here Comes the Brides” was cancelled in 1970, it barely put a dent in Bobby’s career or visibility.  Bobby’s popularirty with his teen fans stayed stable despite his disappearance from weekly television, as well as getting serious heat for the top spot from David Cassidy when he made his debut later that year.  The magic of Bobby was his pure likeability.  He had that great smile, a positive personality and there wasn’t anything shady or insidious about him.  Even compared to his teen mag contemporaries, Bobby was completely infalliable.  David Cassidy had a raw sexuality to him, could be dismissive to his fans, and was widely reported as resenting his teen idol status, while Donny Osmond’s religion kept him trapped in purity culture and it was widely known that he wasn’t even allowed to be alone with a girl.  But Bobby Sherman was the kind of older boy that a girl could fantasize about who would talk with her, listen to her, meet her emotional needs and, most of all, respect her.  Bobby Sherman was the kind of boy you actually brought home for your parents to meet, and he was really groovy!

It also should be noted that Bobby’s music is pure saturated unapologetic bubblegum music written especially for twelve-year-old girls, and that is all it is.  Although his first album contained covers of songs written by Boby Dylan and Bacharach and David, it also contained some of the earliest recordings of bubble-gum standards such as “Make Your Own Kind of Music” and “Sweet Gingerbread Man.”  After it became clear who his audience was, producers didn’t stray from Bobby’s winning formula of basic emotions with winning hooks. There is a chaste innocence in Bobby’s songs, things rarely get emotionally deep and there is never any hint of sex.  Meanwhile, Bobby’s vocal delivery is completely unpretensious.  While he was a good singer, sometimes his vocal performances didn’t completely hit the mark, and nobody went out of their way to hide it.  Bobby Sherman songs are what they are, and his audience loved them as much as they loved Bobby.

On March 19, 1971, ultimate teen dream nirvana was achieved when Bobby Sherman guest starred on the first season finale of “The Partridge Family” in an episode titled “A Knight in Shining Armour.”  When the Partridges find an aspiring young musician named Bobby Conway in their garage studio making some killer tracks, they introduce him to an eccentric young lyrcist named Lionel Poindexter, and the pair join forces to try to take on the pop music world from behind the scenes.  Bobby played Conway and Wes Stern played Lionel, and the episode was set up as a “backdoor pilot” for a spinoff series called “Getting Together.”  Well, in one memorable scene the two biggest heart throbs in the world, Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy, had a genuine  jam session on guitar and piano to the delight of the record audience that tuned in for that very special episode.  Although it may not go down in history as being as important as The Beatles on Sullivan or the final episode of MASH, for a certain demographic of teenage girls, this was a defining television moment.

“Getting Together” was green lit and made its series premier in September 1971.  While “The Partridge Family” was inspired by real life pop stars The Cowsills, “Getting Together” was based on the real life songwriting team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.  Screen Gems had high hopes for the series, releasing tons of tie in material and products, including dedicating Bobby’s sixth studio album, aptly titled “Getting Together,” to be the unofficial soundtrack which contained all the original music from the series.  However, what no one suspected was that ABC-TV would put “Getting Together” on during the same time slot of another new series that would become one of the most important and groundbreaking television series of all time.  “All in the Family” was airing it’s first season over on CBS, crushing all its competition in the same timeslot and,  as a result, “Getting Together” was cancelled after only fourteen episodes.  Although there was a letter writing campaign organized by young fans to attempt to save the series, as Bobby himself would often tell people later on, he knew the show was dead in the water because even he was at home watching Archie Bunker while his show sunk  in the ratings.

As “Getting Together” faded from the airwaves, Bobby’s time in the spotlight began to fade as well.  A teen idol’s time at the top only lasts a few years when the girls who hang the pictures on their bedroom walls graduate to real life boys, and the next generation made up of their little sisters start crushing on new idols of their own.  Once again, pop culture was making another shift, and a now older Donny Osmond moved up the ladder to the number one position, and soon other cute boys like The Bay City Rollers, Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett would completely replace Bobby in the hearts and minds of the fickle audience.  Bobby released one final album, “Just for You,” in 1972 (this is the only Bobby Sherman album I have yet to find for my collection) but, for the most part, he stepped back from the spotlight.  Insiders said that Bobby was burnt out from his once  hectic schedule and was tired of the isolation that came with stardom.  However, with two young sons at home, Bobby also wanted to step back and to try his new role of being a Dad.  But well into the 1980’s Bobby kept one foot in the Hollywood scene taking guest starring roles on dozens of shows, including “The Mod Squad,” “Emergency!”, “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” and “Murder She Wrote.”  His last acting role was in a 1997 episode of “Frasier” where he appeared as himself.  He would make occasional musical appearances as well, but never attempted making a musical comeback of any sort.

So, what does a former teen idol do when the spotlight goes out?  Well, Bobby Sherman reinvented himself to become a real-life hero in what would become the most important act in his life.  When his sons were young, Bobby began to wonder how effective he’d be if his boys had an accident, and he took a class in first aid and CPR.  Bobby excelled in the training, and continued learning life saving techniques, and as he saw the results of people being helped, he continued gaining certifications and eventually began working with the LAPD as a paramedic and teaching EMT classis to the department as well as civilians.  Bobby would often work out on the field, helping people during medical emergencies and even delivered at least four babies during the line of duty.  Can you imagine being a woman going into labour unexpectedly and suddenly Bobby Sherman shows up to deliver your baby?  Man, that’d be groovy!

Teaching first aid became Bobby’s life’s passion, and he not only become a spokesperson for EMT education but devoted his life to aiding people in need.  While we’ll probably always remember him for his pop music and teen idol status, Bobby Sherman spent far more years being a real-life hero who trained countless amounts of people in life saving procedures.  In interviews Bobby would state that his dedication to EMT is what he considers to be his true legacy.

Over the last twenty years or so Bobby hasn’t done many public appearances.  He would give the rare interview and did an occasional autograph show, but for the most part he preferred to focus on his career as a paramedic and EMT educator.  I know on good authority that while always kind and friendly to fans that he encountered, Bobby really didn’t like to talk about his time as a teen idol.  But in our tabloid hungry culture who always love a juicy story of a former celebrity gone bad, I think a real testament to Bobby Sherman is that we have never heard anything bad abouthim.  Bobby Sherman has never been the part of a public scandal or bad press.  One of the nicest guys in the business, Bobby Sherman is still as groovy today as he ever has been.

So, we were talking about “Julie Do Ya Love Me.”  You might be wondering whatever happened with my real-life Julie.  Well, like most childhood crushes, within a year or so it became pretty clear that Julie and I couldn’t have been less compatible with one another.  Julie went to church; I hung out with a crowd downtown.  Julie listened to contemporary Christian music; I listened to The Velvet Underground.  She was one of the nicest girls I had ever met in my life, but I began to gravitate toward goth girls.  She and I really just had different interests and existed on completely different worlds.  She wasn’t going to come into my world and leave her world behind, and I didn’t really want her too.  Julie and I stayed friends through high school, but by the time university rolled around we lost contact with one another.  I had heard rumours that she became a preacher’s wife, which sounded on brand to me.

But a number of years ago I was in a dollar store when a woman stopped me in the craft aisle.  I didn’t recognize her at first, until she told me that she was Julie.  She had grown up from being that naive little girl who lived in my memories to becoming an extremely well put together and poised lady.  She gave me a big hug and flashed that recognizable smile, and I could recognize the kid I knew in her soft eyes.  She was with her little girl, who was probably around the same age as Julie was when I first met her.  Julie introduced me as an old friend, and I wondered if her daughter had a boy who followed her home from school but was to shy to ask her for a date.  We didn’t talk much, but we exchange contacts and said maybe we’d meet up again for lunch and have a proper visit, but we never did.  I haven’t seen her since, but it’s okay.  I honestly don’t think about Julie that much.  She was one of my early childhood crushes but wasn’t necessarily one of the love stories of my life.  But every time I hear “Julie Do Ya Love Me” she pops into my head, and I suspect that she’s living a good life.  That’s just the kind of person she was.  But that’s the magic of Bobby Sherman’s music.  It is the sound of childhood romance and young love –, innocent, chaste and smelling of bubble-gum.

Peace, love and Bobby Sherman forever!