The Partridge Family

TV's Partridge Family was based on the real-life '60s pop group the Cowsills, a family band of mother and children who recorded and toured together. Lead singer David Cassidy, who became a massive teen idol, really sang, as did his real-life stepmother Shirley Jones. Otherwise, the albums and TV shows were all a Monkees-style studio creation. Nevertheless, the songs were written and played by top-flight songwriters and musicians and still stand up today as classic pop tunes. The phenomenal success of the show in the early '70s ensured it a permanent place in the pop culture pantheon.