I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still...

I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still...

By Lisa Daily

My first true love was Shaun Cassidy.  I was ten, he was twenty, and I plotted endlessly in my head about how when he was thirty I would be twenty and we could get married.

 I was certain he would wait for me.

I planned my whole week around the Hardy Boys, and anxiously awaited the show.  (And occasionally might have been brought to tears when it was a Nancy Drew week.)   I followed his every move in the pages of Teen Beat, memorizing his favorite foods and tennis shoes, poring over his every word searching for clandestine meaning that would prove for once and for all of fourth grade that we were destined to be together.

I put a poster next to my bed, and endlessly, earnestly sang duets with him to Hey Deanie  and DaDooRunRun and Hey There Lonely Girl  and That's Rock -n-Roll  until my mother was ready to soundproof my room or declare a moratorium on all things Shaun Cassidy.

And then the TV show ended, and his third album wasn't as catchy as the other two and I started thinking that twenty was a little too early to think about marriage.

And I figured, if he'd wait until I turned twenty, he'd surely wait until I turned thirty.

But then he'd be forty, and probably not nearly as cute.

And so it was.  My love affair with Shaun Cassidy came to a tragic but quiet end.

We parted amicably.

What had me thinking about my doomed Shaun Cassidy crush is the fact that Zac Efron's new movie 17 Again came out this weekend. 

It's rated PG-13 and my not quite 6 year-old daughter, High School Musical addicted daughter is heartbroken that I won't let her see it.

She knows every song from all three (G-rated)  High School Musical films (in which Zac Efron plays Troy, the dreamy, singing basketball star of the East High Wildcats) and can frequently be found in her room, serenading her Troy and Gabriela dolls with You Are the Music in Me at full volume, or staring mooney-eyed at the High School Musical poster that hangs on her wall.

I know just how she feels.

Lisa

Comments

[Josh]

Shaun Cassidy attended the boarding school that my sister attended in New Hope, but the semester before she started there. He was a famous (David's brother, after all), greasy-haired, pimply 16-year-old, and the other boys, doped-up poor little rich kids from NYC, reveled in throwing him into the pond in front of the upper campus "every day." Or that's how the story was told to me when I was in 8th grade, in 1976.

The only person I know who has a "thing" for Zac Efron, OTOH, is the best man from my wedding. (My daughter at 14 has always been waaaaaay too cool to be into HSM.) Zac's appeal is apparently magnetic among middle-aged men of a certain persuasion. I love it.

[Nancy Martin]

For me, it was (very briefly) Prince Charles. (Creepy now, huh? But it was his access to horses that got to me, I'm sure.) Then my teeny bopper hormones kicked in, and it was Mark Lindsay, of Paul Revere and the Raiders. So I'm not among those sneering at the Zac Ephron phenomenon. Just---does anybody know if he's related the THE Ephrons?

[Kathy Sweeney]

Michael Jackson. That's right, kids, he wasn't always a freak show. At one time, he was an adorable boy who sang great songs.

Many of my friends went for Donny Osmond. Frankly, his teeth scared me. They just didn't seem natural.

We won't talk about my Patrick Swayze thing, because I was way too old for a crush by then.

Josh - did you see the SNL where Zach Ephron hosted and one of his most fervent fans was a middle-aged guy? Spot on and hilarious.

Great blog, Lisa!

[Kathy Sweeney]

P.S. Nancy - ew. Not enough horses in this universe.

[William Simon]

As most readers have heard me discuss the Diana Rigg Obsession that fueled my puberty and teenage years, I won't repeat myself. Suffice to say, any photo of her, as Mrs. Peel or not, adorned one wall of my room. TV Guide, move magazines, newspapers, nothing was safe from getting sliced up and taped to the wall....

[JanetLynn13]

Lisa, I never got the Shaun Cassidy thing. I watched the Hardy Boys religiously for Parker Stevenson! Those blue eyes got me even then!

Whatever happened to them? I'm off to IMDB.com....

[ArkansasCyndi]

Nancy - I'm dying here...Mark Lindsey - the LOVE of my teenage life. My room was COVERED with pictures of Mark Lindsey! I used to plan elaborate stories on how we would meet, our gazes would lock, and he would KNOW I was THE ONE. LOL

Then when I lived in Memphis, I found out the HE lived there. SIGH. Unfortunately, I was now in my twenties and I'd left Mark in my teens. Besides, he didn't look the same, if you know what I mean! :)

[Kathy Sweeney]

Hey William- is it true that The Boss finally made you take those posters down last year? HAH!

[judy merrill larsen]

For me it was Bobby Sherman. It was soooo easy to change the lyrics from "Julie do ya love me?" to "JUDY do ya love me?' I knew that was a sign.

He was even the subject of my first rejection letter--a submission to Tiger Beat magazine detailing "My Dream Wedding" to Bobby. I also recall entering a contest to win one of his dog's puppies.

[Harley]

Lisa, it's true, it's the kindergarten crowd that loves him the most. My 3rd grader professed to be over him and not to want to see HSM 3 but when I yelled, "But I want to see it!" she relented. We anxiously await the DVD.

And she absolutely does want to see "17 Again." So maybe, as long as Zak continues to grow artistically . . .

[William Simon]

No, Kathy, not at all. In 1971, I put those childish things away.... as I'd seen LIVE AND LET DIE with Jane Seymour...:)

Diana Rigg - Then
Jane Seymour - Still
Cate Blanchett - Now

I'm seeing a pattern here....

[Kathy Sweeney]

Hmmm, tall, thin Brits - why do you hate America, William?

(THAT's a JOKE, people, just in case you don't watch The Colbert Report/Daily Show).

[Joyce]

My sister and I were glued to the TV on Sunday nights, too. She loved Shaun, and I loved Parker.

[Nancy Martin]

Judy, I want to read that article about your dream wedding. C'mon, girl, let's see it!

Cyndi, I knew we were soul sisters from 'way back.

[Josh]

What has Parker Stevenson been up to?

See this posting from The Smoking Gun. It's from his divorce proceeding with Kirstie Alley:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/alley1.html

[judy merrill larsen]

Oh, Nancy, if only we'd had computers back then--I don't even know if I typed it on our manual typewriter . . . more likely I wrote it in my 10-year old cursive (probably in purple ink!). I do remember getting ideas for my gown by reading the wedding notices in the newspapers--back when they talked about "beaded bodices" and "ivory lace trains".

[Karen in Ohio]

And "going-away outfits"! Remember when they described those, along with the wedding gowns, in the society pages? I started my dress designing ways back then, filling up pages of notes for outfits.

No, Kathy--William likes willowy, cool Brits. It's all in how you say it. :-)

William, I was thinking about you last week. We have THIS TV here, which my husband is addicted to, sadly. They play old movies (some real stinkers, too) most of the day and night, and there was one that Diana Riggs starred opposite William C. Scott. He was a surgeon at a hospital where things were running amok; she was the daughter of a patient who had been the victim of the hospital's laxity, and they "fell in love" within 36 hours and were nekkid on the couch in his office.

As for crushes, mine were of the Lone Ranger, Tony Curtis, and Gene Wilder. Please don't analyze this list too carefully. LOL

[xena]

Soooo....Teenage crushes...where has the time gone?
Mine was David McCallum/Illya Kuryakin. Not only was he the cool blond from U.N.C.L.E. he had that fabulous accent!
Accents have a tendency to blind one, no Nancy? (And horses...I'd have gone for that too!)
And yes I had a huge poster of him over my bed and sang to him and and and.
To this day he is just so cute! The only show I really want to see and will wait 'til the re-runs is NCIS. Well and Mark Harmon is nice to look at too. There was an episode where Ducky was on a hit list and the young brunette assigned to baby sit him asked Jethro what Ducky was like when he was younger and he replied Illya Kuryakin. Only us over 50 old timer folks got that. Ha!
So I dream my dreams. Still.
Just saying.

[William Simon]

Oh yes, Karen! THE HOSPITAL: George C. Scott, Diana Rigg, 1972...or '71?

There was a serial killer stalking the halls of the hospital while Scott was going through some Meaning of Life nonsense. Dame Diana helped him rise to the challenge.... so to speak....:)

Xena, I remember that episode of NCIS well! I laughed so hard over that joke, I missed the next ten minutes of the show....

[paulabuck]

My first true love was Luke Duke. (What was his real name? Tom Wopat?) Although when my best friend and I played "boyfriends" she always got Bo (she was older and a little bossy), so maybe Luke was my true love by default...

And then a seriously unhealthy New Kids on the Block obsession in my teen years. (Oh, the money I would have now if it hadn't all gone to Teen Beat and Bop!)

[Laura (in PA)]

Tom Selleck - then and still.

and Sam Elliot's voice.

[Karen in Ohio]

Wait, I also had a crush on David McCallum! And I also saw that episode of NCIS and caught the joke.

And yes, The Hospital. In which GC Scott whinges on and on about being impotent, whilst slugging back gallons of scotch, without seeing the connection. Hello. Physician, heal thyself. Duh.

Oh, Laura--I forgot about Sam Elliott. I'm a major fan of his; not just the voice, but also the mustache. LOL He's married to Katherine Ross, though, that lucky. Did you watch The Yellow Rose, back in the 80's? He was the star, opposite Cybill Shepherd, and I mourned the network yanking it off the air for years.

[Ramona]

Who says the posters ever need to come down?

For instance, if I had Blond-Bond-emerging-from-the-sea hanging in my office, it would be there as a conversation starter.

[ArkansasCyndi]

Laura (in PA) Sam Elliot's voice - Oh Baby! That voice sends me straight to heaven (well, my thoughts probably AREN'T exactly heavenly)

And Lisa - I am SO PISSED at you right now. DoRunRun is in my head. I CAN'T GET IT OUT. Ear Worm. HELP!!!!

I in the "over 50" group who howled at the Illya Kuryakin joke

[Luce]

For me it was a trio - Bobby Sherman, Mark Lindsey and Michael Cole from Mod Squad. Though the latter maybe because I spotted Cole's silver Jag (as seen in Tiger Beat)on the Hollywood Fwy - with him driving! My sister was driving and I made her drive along side so I could drool.

[Kathy Sweeney]

Oh, Ramona. Perhaps if you had it on the wall, instead of the ceiling...hah!

[Laura (in PA)]

Lol, Cyndi, DaDoRunRun has been in my head all morning.

Yes, Karen - the mustache too. But the voice. Jeez. As you can imagine, I was in heaven when both Sam and Tom Selleck (and Katherine Ross, for that matter) were together in those TV movies based on Louis L'Amour novels.

I caught the Illya Kuryakin reference on NCIS too. Love that show.

[Karen in Ohio]

How fun would that be, to be in a movie with Tom and Sam, AND to ride horses in cool, old-timey Western get-ups? My dream job!

[Marcia in OK]

Oh - Tom and Sam. I just re-watched The Shadow Riders again on Encore this weekend.

I refuse to name the celebrity crush from my youth. Way past embarrassing. But, I will say that Parker was my favorite Hardy Boy.

[ArkansasCyndi]

Marcia in OK - Your boyhood crush was more embarrassing than Prince Charles? NO way! LOL

[Josh]

I don't think I had a shadow crush. As a teen, my fantasies were less marriage-related and more, "Hi, I ran out of sugar, and the other seven centerfolds living next door to you and I need a cup of it so that we can make (I don't know) cake, or brownies, or whatever, and by the way, we are feeling bad about breaking up will all of our boyfriends and could you come over to give us a shoulder to cry on and by the way, too, we happen all to be wearing baby dolls or something like that. No corsets, because I was respectful.

[Josh]

Close quotes before the last sentence. The "respectful" comment was from me about the whole situation.

[Dot in Illinois]

I too spent many hours wondering how I could meet Shaun Cassidy, first it was David, but he got so uppity dating all those bimbets. But Shaun, he was perfect. Spent hours looking into those eyes, writing Mrs. Shaun Cassidy, practicing the signature. Singing his songs at the top of my lungs, knowing our voices would blend perfectly...uh, perfection is not what people told me I sounded like. This went on for several seasons of the Hardy Boys. Then, I notice something, Shaun's hairline. Yike! It appeared to be receding. Now, it's not that I don't like bald or balding men, I do...see my addiction to Patrick Stewart (sweet, sexy and a damn good voice). But I imaged all that long blond hair with a balding top. Suddenly, Shaun lost some of his appeal.

[Mary Eman]

Nancy and Arkansas Cyndi - it's great to learn I'm not the only one who had a thing for Mark Lindsay and Paul Revere and the Raiders (Fang was a cutie). I still have their albums.

I also thought Gene Pitney was just darling. Or, as one of the local radio DJs used to say "Lean Gene Pitney from Rockville, Connecticut".

[hollygee]

I was a serial crushette. Richard Chamberlain, yes! David McCallum!, Davy Jones, …years pass… David Ogden Steirs (I know, weird -- but I contend that MASH improved immensely once they got rid of idiotic Frank Burns and got a worthy foil in Charles Emerson Winchester) and Patrick Stewart.

I had fantasy boyfriends/lovers 'cause I dint have no real ones. Until now. So much better.

[Lisa Daily]

Arkansas Cyndi--

Sorry! I have THAT'S ROCK AND ROLL in my head after watching the YouTube video last night.

PaulaBuck--

I was a fan of Luke Duke myself :-) When I was my daughter's age, I was madly in love with Randolph Mantooth (what a name!!) from EMERGENCY (he played John Gage, paramedic) which fueled a crush on firefighters that lasted well into my early twenties.

Thanks for all the great comments everybody :-)

Lisa

[hollygee]

Ooooo Lisa,
I went to Santa Barbara City College with Randolf Mantooth. Yes, he was cute. Couldn't act much, though.

[Laura (in PA)]

Ooh - I forgot about Randolf Mantooth! He was seriously cute. I loved Emergency!.

[gaylin in vancouver]

The blonde Duke brother, whatever his name is . . . pretty cute in the olden days.
I did have a big crush on Brian May, guitar player in Queen, oooooh those curls. Seeing them in concert in 1978, awesome.
And a brief crush on Rick Springfield - I even watched a soap opera to see him.
I also have a very 'happy' male friend in his early 30's with a big crush on Zac Ephron . . .

[Pam aka SisterZip]

I knew this was the place that I would meet friends after my own heart.

Mark Lindsey was to DIE for. That ponytail...even then I went for the 'bad boys'. Bobby Sherman, David McCallum, Davy Jones.

I was already married when I developed my useless crush on Richard Chamberlain. THORN BIRDS! OMG, that kiss on the beach was better than From Here to Eternity.

My junior year in HS (1971-72) we sold magazine subscriptions, posters and other assorted junk to make money to pay for the Jr-Sr Prom. I bought myself a poster, in black & white, of Robert Redford as Sundance. It was over my bed and I dreamed about him every night. I paid to see that movie 3 times. That version of Robert stayed with me until The Way We Were was released. Then I had the image of him asleep, at the bar, in his uniform. It can still make me sigh.

I totally agree that Sam Elliot is great for all 100% of him...not just the voice. I would practically swoon over Conagher.

Another voice I can swoon over is James Earl Jones. THIS is CNN. Wow.

[Ramona]

For the Richard Chamberlain fans, I recently saw him as King Arthur in "Spamalot." He was fantastic! Lovely voice, and a good sport about the whole silly thing.

[Joyce]

For anyone who gets the Retro TV Network, you can watch Magnum PI every night at 9 and the Hardy Boys on Sundays at 8. Not that I watch them or anything...

Sam Elliott looks pretty darn good in the movie "Gettysburg" too.

[Laura (in PA)]

Joyce, my husband is addicted to "Gettysburg", and I love that one part that Sam is in. It's fairly small, but I enjoy it anyway. :)

[Nancy Martin]

Cyndi, if you're going to make fun of my Prince Charles obsession (It was BRIEF. It involved HORSES.) we are no longer soul sisters.

[Rita Scott]

I really can't remember any teen-age crushes. I remember the actor they called 'the kid' on
Rat Patrol (?) yeah, I liked him alot, think his name is William Peterson, CSI!!!
No posters in our house, they would damage the plaster walls or tape would pull the varnish off the doors, oh well.....

[-V-]

In no particular order of era:
Donny Osmond (favorite color purple)
Tony DeFranco (lesser known family band)
Bobby Sherman
Mark Lindsey
Shaun Cassidy
David Cassidy

Still do it for me:
Tom Selleck
Sam Elliott

I am not quite 50 and I caught the Ilya reference. Loved to watch that show when I was a wee lass. Might have started me on the love of mysteries of all kinds.

[Kathy Sweeney]

Nancy - I'm with Cyndi. I don't care how you try to explain it. That man is just butt ugly AND a creeper.

If you liked horses, why not one of the guys from Bonanza or something? Geeez.

[Pam aka SisterZip]

oooooo, I liked Adam on Bonanza. Then when he left, I drifted to Hoss. I have always been leary of the "pretty boys" like Little Joe.

I like 'em dark, mysterious, and just a wee touch bad.

Except for Robert Redford.

[Joyce]

Laura, we've seen Gettysburg so many times we have it memorized. My husband likes to turn the volume up so high on the surround sound that the floors shake when a cannon is fired.

[Karen in Ohio]

Just a cotton pickin' minute, there, Missy. Prince Charles was half a stud when he was young, especially when he was on a polo pony, which he was, most than he was on terra firma. Clearly, he recognized how much more attractive it made him to be on a horse and in a helmet.

Geez, Pam, we keep doing the same things, this is weird. I always liked Adam best, too!

[Karen in Ohio]

Argh, I mean "more" than he was on terra firma.

[Pam aka SisterZip]

I actually think Prince Charles has aged fairly well. I think since he is finally happy in his personal life, he is much more attractive.

And William isn't aging well, at all.

[Amy]

Hmm, for me it was Cubby from the Mickey Mouse Club. Never mind I was not yet in school and watching reruns. Donny Osmond came next, then Gary Burghoff, Ricky Schroder, and that guy from Cheers who played Sam Malone. What's his name again?

I think one reason I didn't get into Shaun Cassidy was that ALL the girls liked him. I had to be different.

The Dukes--one of my friends was Tom Wopat's cousin, so that kind of killed any crushes there. And royalty? I'm a distant cousin of Diana, so the boys are off limits. Darn.

An adult crush I shouldn't admit to--Adrian Paul. Hello! He can polish his sword at my place any time.

[gaylin in vancouver]

Mark Harmon - who else watches NCIS just to see him?

[Laura (in PA)]

Amy - Ted Danson was Sam Malone.

I don't watch NCIS JUST for Mark Harmon, but it certainly doesn't hurt. :)

[William Simon]

Met her on a Monday and my heart stood still
(da do ron ron ron da do ron ron)
Somebody told me that her name was Jill
(da do ron ron ron da do ron ron)

Oh.

Sorry....

[Josh]

Amy: I actually saw Cubby in concert last summer. He was drumming for Bernadette Peters, who did a concert of old standards at the Mann in Philly. One of our law firms took me. (I didn't rate Springsteen.)

[Laura (in PA)]

Dammit, William!

[Cheryl S.]

I have the first Shaun Cassidy album . . . yes, vinyl. But my two biggest crushes were Mark Shera on the tv series S.W.A.T. and Dean Butler who played Almanzo Wilder on Little House on the Prairie. My 14-year-old self even sent a fan letter to Dean Butler and I actually got an autographed 5X7 photo back from him. I thought I was so special. lol.

[ArkansasCyndi]

Damn it William. I had phone numbers lined up for all your British hotties, but forget it!

Nancy!!! NO!! You can't kick your soul sister out. I'll leave Prince Charles to you.

[storyteller Mary]

I used to tell my jr. High students that their papers would be graded over the weekend unless Tom Selleck called . . .for Christmas they took up a collection and gave me a tv tray with his picture on it -- I still have it!
I think I already shared my evolving Bonanza crushes: Little Joe when it was first aired, then later Adam, and much later, "If Ben could just get those boys out of the house . . . "
(Karen, I hadn't realized how long I'd been silent. I remember thinking how impressed the authors must have been with your daughters -- but I guess I ran out of time before writing it).

[Karen W.]

My first love was Bobby Sherman, and then I moved on to Donny Osmond for many years. (Still love them both, though. Good memories.)

[Cinema Dave]

13 years ago, I could take a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio to my 7th grade class and the female students would become very quiet.
It was a good trick for school teacher.

Now- I could do the same trick except I would use a picture of Twilite's Robert Pattison.

[SisterZip]

There was a show in the late 60s early 70s called The Immortal, starring Christopher George. Man, was he good looking. Dark, rugged, mysterious.

[Avis]

I'll skip over the short-lived first crush on the undeserving Burt Ward (Robin to Adam West's Batman), and go to my next and longest-lived crush - yes, the frequently mentioned David McCallum/Illya Kuryakin. What did it matter that he was (and still is) my mother's age? I still swoon for him.

Then there was Michael Nesmith from the Monkees, about whom I had my first "naughty" dream about age 13... Him sitting on the ground, leaning back against a big old tree trunk in a big field, and me leaning against his chest. Yeah, tame... but there were feelings there that I'd never felt before. Sigh.

What's the female equivalent of "bro-mance"? Because I sure had one of those on Diana Rigg/Emma Peel...

Millions of crushes followed those, but David McCallum is still right up there.

[Avis]

I forgot a recent and totally inappropriate, wistful mini-crush on the interestingly named Sean Biggerstaff... who played Oliver Wood, Harry Potter's Quidditch team captain...

http://bloghogwarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sean-biggerstaff.png

[Rita Scott]

Karen - the reason Prince Chas looked better in his polo outfit....the hat pinned back his dumbo ears!
I guess I did kinda have a crush, on Gregory Peck! In 7th grade French class I took the name Veronic, cause that was his wife's name (I flunked anyway LOL)
William - about your dorunrunrun
some days Superman................

[Karen in Ohio]

Avis, that would be a "girl crush".

Oh, Rita, Gregory Peck!! He was a truly manly man.

[Amy]

Laura (in PA), thanks for the reminder. What a duh to forget Ted Danson's name.

Josh, I am giddy just thinking about seeing Cubby in concert! With Bernadette Peters, no less! Wow!

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