The Cowsills

The real-life inspiration behind the hit television series The Partridge Family, the Cowsills -- comprised of teen siblings Bill, Bob, Barry, John, Susan, and Paul in tandem with mother Barbara -- were one of the biggest pop acts of the late '60s, scoring a series of hits including "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" and "Hair" with their angelic harmonies and sun-kissed melodies. The band's clean-cut image obscured the fact that the Cowsills were superb harmony singers and capable instrumentalists (as evidenced on the 1994 collection The Best of the Cowsills), while Bill and Bob Cowsill were talented songwriters and fine producers, especially on their late period albums II x II (1970) and On My Side (1971). They reunited in the '90s, and released a solid comeback effort in 2022, Rhythm of the World, that married their trademark harmonies to a mature version of their melodic sensibilities. .