Pattow says the idea clicked in his head during the summer of 1993 – shortly after Nickelodeon began airing the television show on its "Nick-At-Nite" cable channel. "It was confirmation that the time was right to put the tribute show together and get it going." So without wasting time, he placed advertisements in a local music industry magazine, and quickly found that a lot of other people were interested in the project as well. Pattow soon hooked up with Brian Yaskulka, a gifted singer-songwriter and arranger. Together, they laid the ground work for the project, picking songs and working out arrangements. This isn't some garage band pumping out cheap renditions of old songs. As Pattow puts it, "I want people to be able to close their eyes and say, "That sounds just like The Partridge Family!" Pattow and Yaskulka carefully listened to the songs chose for Sound Magazine's initial set. They painstakingly recreated the exact dynamics of the arrangements: the lush strings, the piercing horn sections, flowing flute lines, and especially the gorgeous, layered vocal harmonies. In addition to recreating the sound of "The Partridge Family," Sound Magazine recreates the look of the television show. The band members wear maroon velvet outfits with wide-collar shirts just like their TV counterparts. A backdrop painted in the Mondrian design of the Partridge bus hangs behind the band as well. The final product, in essence, brings "The Partridge Family" to life right before the audience's eyes. (In November 1999, ABC television aired the two-hour television docu-drama, "Come On Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story.") The Sound Magazine show consists of five
musician/actors, singing and performing. The band's instrumentation includes guitars,
bass, keyboards and drums. The live instrumentation is augmented by the orchestration
tracks, which are digitally recorded.
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Richard De La Font Agency,
Inc.
Sound
Magazine is a band that reproduces the songs of "The Partridge
Family" in their full production. The music, which has mostly been unheard
since the 70's, has been making an amazing comeback in the last few years, thanks to the
70's nostalgia craze that has been sweeping the nation. And after all these years, the
music still sounds fresh and appealing.
The show was formed by Howard Pattow, the band's
producer and guitarist, who counts the music as an early influence and inspiration to
pursue music as a career. "I believe if people could hear those songs again –
performed live with all the production of the original records – then people would
realize just how good they were," says Pattow. "And they were
good – and still are!"
