Growing up in the shadow of his brother David, Shaun Cassidy began singing at the age of fourteen, but no one took him seriously until, at eighteen, he landed a role as cleancut teen sleuth Joe Hardy in The Hardy Boys Mysteries (1977-79), alongside Parker Stevenson’s Frank. The plots were simple: sleuthing, a touch of danger, followed by jokes and dazzling smiles, with ample swimsuit and shirtless scenes and the camera lingering lovingly on the teenage bodies. Endless teen magazine pin-up spreads followed.
Joe was frequently thrust into peril, tied up in old barns, menaced by madmen, in need of rescuing and subsequent hugging by his older brother or some other hunk. In a two-parter, wealthy rescuer Jocco Halsey (Kevin Brophy), invites Joe to move in with him.
And Joe rarely expressed any interest in girls. In “Campus Terror” (May 1978), guest star Valerie Bertinelli says “I love you,” and Joe responds dryly: "You've had a long day.” What gay boy could afford to miss such a revelation?
Unlike many Tiger Beat fave raves, Shaun actually had a brief singing career; between 1977 and 1979, his albums went platinum, and his singles topped the charts. A surprising number of his songs were gender-ambiguous, and "You're Using Me" even alluded to a relationship with a boy.
The cover of the album Room Service (1979) shows Shaun in a hotel room, smiling invitingly at the voyeur who peers through the Venetian blinds. The voyeur's gender is ambiguous (though, if you look very carefully, you can see sharp fingernails). Shaun seems to be openly acknowledging the romantic interest of both male and female teens.
See also: Trying to Escape Church
I think it's supposed to be a girl on the cover of Room Service -- notice the pointed fingernails, as if they're kind of long. But I agree, the image is ambiguous.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter what they're supposed to be -- the ambiguity is enough to destablize the text and allow for a gay reading
DeleteLos invito a visitar "Mi página de Shaun Cassidy", en BLOG y FACEBOOK. Fotografías extraordinarias!
ReplyDeleteIn the first episode of season three of The Hardy Boys Mysteries, Joe is about to get married when his fiancée dies. So Joe showed some hetero interest in the series.
ReplyDeleteShaun was my first crush.knew I was gay and in love for sure the first time I saw him in 77 at age 11.still think he is a fox and have my pin ups of him.
ReplyDeletehmmm i remember spending the weekend at the home of this girl i was dating their place was like a revolving door of huge named celebrities most to see the dad he was a major western art sculpture in LA but i recall that a limo was on the way to pick up her brother and i thought a limo? she said Shaun Cassidy has the limo pick up bruce and off the limo would go and have no idea what where they went or what they did but bruce was a popular guy
ReplyDeleteI thought all 70s teen idols had a bulge. Only in the 90s did the bulge REALLY become taboo. Which is dumb; I covered it, what else can I do?
ReplyDeleteThe gigantic bulge was common for all male actors in the 1970s, not just teen idols. I don't remember seeing a lot of bulges in real life, though. Maybe it was so common that it wasn't noteworthy.
DeleteOmg Shaun is still hot.I grew up with a dad who hated gays and in a area where it could get you really messed up.but because X
ReplyDeleteShaun was one of the Hardy boys(it was a good show) I could get away with having a couple of his pictures up and a couple of his albums.Was solo in love with him,and he is still looking very good.
For a while, his older brother, David, was my main celebrity crush---especially his barefoot pictures. My best friend from kindergarten and I, as we entered adolescence, often talked about making out, mostly naked, with David' until we discovered that we could make out, again mostly naked, with each other. Then, later, I found out about Shaun---and began to collect his pictures (from teen magazines, mostly marketed to girls, and for the purchase of which I often had to face quizzical or judgemental looks from grocery store cashiers), especially his barefoot pictures. He was succeeded by Leif, Peter, and some others: until I had reached the age where I could buy magazines like "Stars" and "Freshmen" that featured beautiful young models, slender, swimmer's builds, long-haired, mostly naked; but, damn, I still had to face those cashiers' rather quizzical looks. They looked at me worse than they looked at the other guys who were buying the heteronormative porn.
ReplyDeleteFor me Shaun is one of the most beautiful Men of ALL human history and being bisexual makes him wonderful!!
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