Blast from the Past: Bobby Sherman & the 5th Dimension?

I found this curiosity while travelling the tubes of the internets, and decided it was worth sharing. Anybody who lived through the 1970s (or ever watched That 70s Show) would have difficulty explaining many things about that garish decade. Ugly cars, ugly clothes, ugly furnishings, carpet and appliances. . .most of it can only be loved with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

And one of those curiosities was the squeaky clean "teen idol." There had been idols before, of course, but they were mostly of the dangerous variety like Elvis, or the foreign kind like the Beatles (or both, like Mick Jagger). But in the early 70s, every teen-aged girl was all moony for the saccharine: Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson, David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman.

Years later, I get Donny Osmond, who even in his 50s is something of a hottie. David Cassidy? No mystery there either. Michael is a little trickier, but remember in the 1970s he was still black. But Bobby Sherman? I can't figure that one out. And this video doesn't help.

Here, white bread Sherman sings with soul superstars, The 5th Dimension. Calling it incongruous would be a kind way to put it. And Bobby? I don't know, maybe it was the hair? Absolutely would never have made it--at least not as a sex symbol--in today's world.