So my dear friend Morgan has a special place in her heart for Shaun Cassidy. That only cements even more my love and admiration for her. Her "Cool Factor" is off the charts.
Here's something you may not know about him (and why would you)
Since his teeny bopper days he has gone on to be fairly prolific in terms of developing television series (which have generally met with moderate at best results) He seems to be infatuated with darker subjects, as evidenced in the following series he has produced:
American Gothic
The Agency
Invasion
But wedged ever so slightly between his teeny bopper records and his acting/television production career is an obscure record he recorded with my musical hero, Todd Rundgren.
The time was 1980, In an attempt to radically change Shauns image, Todd Rundgren and Utopia were recruited to reinvent the teen idol for the new wave 80's. The album was called WASP.
They wound up essentially remaking Rundgrens "Faithful" album with lesser known cover songs, looser arrangements, and Shaun on lead vocals. WASP is an eclectic selection of covers, mixed with a few Rundgren originals, all delivered with adventurous, uniformly fine vocals from Shaun. When released it went nowhere, Shaun didn't tour to support it and so it stands as the last recordings he ever made.
Being a fan of Todds productions I immediately fell in love with the record. To me it was a Utopia record with a guest vocalist.
Track list:
Rebel, Rebel - Bowie Cover
Cool Fire - Rundgren Original and my favorite song on the record
The Book I Read - Talking Heads cover
Pretending - Rundgren Original
Shake Me, Wake Me - Motown Classic
It's My Life - Animals Cover
So Sad About Us - Pete Townshend cover
Wasp - Rundgren Original
Selfless Love - Rundgren Original
Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Ian Hunter cover
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