Music Friday: 'The Streets of Heaven Are Paved With Gold' in The Partridge Family's 'Love Must Be the Answer'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you nostalgic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today's edition takes us to the mythical town of San Pueblo, Calif., where the musical siblings of The Partridge Family are performing "Love Must Be the Answer."

Featured in a Partridge Family episode that aired on October 13, 1972, "Love Must Be the Answer" — which includes the key phrase "I don't know but I've been told / The streets of heaven are paved with gold" — highlights the climactic wedding scene of biker Snake and his beloved Penny. This Season 3 episode focuses on Snake's failed marriage proposal, but in the end the couple weds on the Partridge Family's front lawn. (See the clip at the end of this post.)

Oldest brother Keith (played by David Cassidy) sings lead vocals, accompanied by his TV mom (and real-life stepmom) Shirley Jones. While Cassidy and Jones actually performed on The Partridge Family recordings, other cast members, including Laurie (Susan Dey), Danny (Danny Bonaduce), Tracy (Suzanne Crough) and Chris (Brian Forster, who replaced Jeremy Gelbwaks after Season 1), were simply lip-synching. The show was based loosely on The Cowsills, a real-life 1960s band composed of six siblings ages 8 to 19 and their mother, Barbara Cowsill.

"Love Must Be the Answer" was the ninth track of The Partridge Family Notebook, an album that was released less than a month after the show aired. The album met with moderate success, reaching #41 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The Partridge Family is said to be the 1970s successor to The Monkees, a wildly popular show that ran from 1966 to 1968. Both shows treated their fans to a weekly dose of original pop music. Critics often mocked the groups for their lack of actual musical talent. Los Angeles session players, known as The Wrecking Crew, provided the magic for both The Monkees and The Partridge Family.

Nevertheless, The Partridge Family has remained a cultural icon more than 40 years after their last show aired in March of 1974. In total, the group is credited with selling more than 25 million records and building a legion of fans that spans the generations.

Please check out the clip below of David Cassidy performing "Love Must Be the Answer." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Love Must Be the Answer"
Written by Johnny Cymbal, Peggy Clinger and Wes Farrell. Performed by The Partridge Family.

La la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la,

I don't know but I've been told,
The streets of heaven are paved with gold
Someday I may find out for myself,
So will you. But till that day,
I've got to say (ooh)

Love must be the answer,
I've searched high and low,
I know love must be the answer,
Got it (you) get it (now)
Let me be your guide, get it (ya) got it (now),
Let some love inside

Are you searchin for the key,
Just take my hand and follow me,
Bring along a little love to share,
It'll get you there. Why be lonely,
You'll know only (ooh)

Love must be the answer,
I've searched high and low,
I know love must be the answer,
Got it (you) get it (now)
Let me be your guide, get it (ya) got it (now),
Let some love inside
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,

Love must be the answer,
I've searched high and low,
I know love must be the answer,
Got it (you) get it (now)
Let me be your guide, get it (ya) got it (now),
Let some love inside

La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer,
La la la la la la la la la, love must be the answer.

Credits: Partridge Family image by ABC Television [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Kim Kardashian Gets Flawless 20-Carat Stunner to Complement Her 15-Carat Engagement Diamond

Kim Kardashian's new flawless 20-carat emerald-cut diamond ring adds megawatt symmetry to the reality star's jewelry wardrobe. The $8 million sparkler, which was gifted to her by hubby Kanye West, nicely complements the 15-carat cushion-cut diamond engagement ring he gave her back in 2013. That ring was reportedly worth $1.3 million.

Designer Lorraine Schwartz revealed on her Instagram page that the diamond boasts a D color and has an impressive clarity rating of Type IIa. Diamonds in this category are chemically pure and often show extraordinary optical transparency. Famous Type IIa diamonds include the Cullinan, Koh-i-Noor and Lesedi La Rona.

Schwartz posted a short, somewhat blurry, Snapchat video of Kardashian flaunting both rings. The video is captioned, "Guess who just got another #dflawless #perfect #type2a diamond ring??? #20carat #emeraldcut #omg #lorraineschwartz diamonds."

In the video, the new ring is on her left hand and her engagement ring is on the right. Video link is here...

Apparently, Kardashian had been wearing the new ring for more than three weeks. The rapper gave it to her just before the MTV Video Music Awards in New York last month, but the paparazzi and fashion press didn't catch on until she wore BOTH rings at a Harper's Bazaar party on September 9. The ring styles are nearly identical, except for the size of the center stone.

The power couple was famously on the magazine's September 2016 cover.

Fashion bloggers wondered if the ring was a belated push present. Kardashian gave birth to the couple's second child, Saint West, back in December of 2015.

Kardashian's newest jewelry will take its place in the pantheon of the most famous diamond rings of all time.

These include the 35-carat gem Mariah Carey received in January from Aussie billionaire James Packer, the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond, which Richard Burton famously gave to Elizabeth Taylor in 1968, the 30-carat diamond Taylor received from Michael Todd in 1957, the 24-carat canary yellow diamond Paris Hilton accepted from Paris Latsis in 2005, the 20.5-carat solitaire Kardashian got from Kris Humphries in 2011, the 20-carat diamond Christina Aguilera received from Jordan Bratman in 2005 and the 18-carat diamond Beyoncé got from Jay-Z in 2007.

Credits: Instagram/TeamKimye, Instagram/LorraineSchwartz; Harper's Bazaar; Instagram/KimKardashian.

TV's Hottest Stars Step Out in Cool White Platinum at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards

TV's hottest stars stepped out in cool white platinum at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Among the A-listers preferring platinum as their accessory of choice were Emmy nominees Viola Davis, Maura Tierney and Heidi Klum. As usual, the extraordinary designs of Harry Winston, Fred Leighton and Lorraine Schwartz were front and center on the red carpet. Each designer chose platinum — the naturally white precious metal — to truly enhance the brilliance of the diamonds and colored gemstones in their head-turning creations.

Viola Davis, an Emmy nominee in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, looked stunning in a vibrant pink gown by Marchesa. Her jewelry by Harry Winston included cluster diamond chandelier earrings (16.39 carats), Secret Combination diamond bracelet (68.75 carats) and Traffic diamond ring (1.43 carats). The talented actress was nominated for her work on ABC's How to Get Away with Murder.

A nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Affair, Maura Tierney wore a gown by Christian Siriano and embellished it with vintage platinum jewelry provided by Fred Leighton. Her ensemble included 1930s-era diamond-and-aquamarine earrings and a 19th century rose-cut diamond cluster ring.

Project Runway's Heidi Klum, who was nominated in the category of Best Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program, delighted her fans in a sultry, cut-out gown by Michael Kors and platinum jewelry by Lorraine Schwartz. Dangling from Klum's ears were pear-shaped diamonds boasting a total weight of 32 carats. She also wore two diamond rings, with a total weight of 10 carats and 2 carats, respectively.

Making a big splash on the red carpet was Kristen Bell, who will star in NBC's The Good Place this fall. The actress wore a champagne bouffant gown by Zuhair Murad and accessorized it with breathtaking platinum jewelry by Harry Winston. Among her accessories were chandelier diamond earrings (9.2 carats), marquise cluster diamond bracelet (44.35 carats), round brilliant diamond ring (3.69 carats) and a diamond band (1.04 carats).

The Hollywood stars connected with their red carpet jewelry with the help of Platinum Guild International (PGI USA) and StyleLab as part of its Emmy Suite. Style expert Michael O'Connor was on hand to match celebrities with curated platinum pieces from renowned brands.

Other celebrities who chose to wear platinum jewelry for their Emmy appearances included Kirsten Dunst, Emmy Rossum, Lili Taylor, Allison Janney, Lara Spencer, Priyanka Chopra, Lilly Tomlin, Joanne Froggatt, Olivia Culpo, Anika Noni Rose, Michelle Dockery, Alexandra Billings, Connie Britton, Angel Parker and Charissa Thompson.

Credits: (Outside Source) via Getty Images.

Neanderthals Finally Credited With Making the 40,000-Year-Old Jewelry Discovered in France 67 Years Ago

Back in 1949, archaeologists discovered a trove of human-like bones and ancient jewelry in the Grotte du Renne cave in France. The artifacts dated back 40,000 years, during a time when modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals in that area.

The jewelry items were fashioned from animal teeth, shells and ivory. The elements were likely strung and worn as a necklace.

While the evidence seemed to connect the Neanderthals to the jewelry, the scientific community didn't believe Neanderthals had the capacity to express themselves symbolically. Our archaic cousins, they argued, simply didn't have the brain power to design and create items of adornment. Some scientists reasoned that the bones from the oldest layers of the excavation probably got mixed up with more recent ones by mistake.

The doubters were silenced recently when a team of European scientists, led by Matthew Collins, a bioarchaeologist at the University of York in the United Kingdom, reanalyzed the tiny bones found along with the jewelry. While they were unable to do conventional DNA testing because of the age and size of the bone samples, the team, instead, conducted a chemical analysis of the protein in the bones and compared them with known human and Neanderthal samples.

The results were conclusive. The samples were, indeed, Neanderthal.

This cutting-edge protein analysis pointed to the likelihood that the Neanderthals designed and fabricated the jewelry found in the cave. The evidence is also helping to change the way the scientific world has viewed Neanderthals. They were likely far more sophisticated and intelligent than scientists ever imagined.

Critics still hold out the possibility, however, that the Neanderthals may have simply taken the jewelry from humans or received the items as gifts from humans.

Scientists agree that Neanderthals and modern humans did interact socially during a time when humans were migrating across Europe and the Neanderthals, who had lived there for hundreds of thousands of years, were on the verge of dying out.

Credits: Jewelry by Dr. Marian Vanheren. Neanderthal man by Tim Evanson [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Visitors to NY's Guggenheim Museum May Take a Private Moment With a Fully Functional 18K Gold Toilet

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's 18-karat gold toilet at New York's Guggenheim Museum is giving the notion of "sitting on the throne" a whole new meaning.

Visitors who pay the museum's $15 admission fee are encouraged to stop by the unisex washroom on the fourth floor, where they can take a private moment with a fully functional commode fit for a king or queen. The exhibit opened on Thursday.

Gothamist.com estimated the value of the potty to be somewhere between $1.4 million and $2.5 million, and a Guggenheim spokesperson affirmed that it will be cleaned with special wipes every 15 minutes. Reviewers are cautioning, however, that the seat is very heavy to lift and, of course, one might be slightly uncomfortable with a security guard standing just outside the door.

The exhibit called "America" offers the visitor "unprecedented access to something of unquestionable value,” according to museum curator Nancy Spector. “In a gallery environment where visitors are constantly being told, 'don’t touch,' this is an extraordinary opportunity to spend time completely alone with a work of art by a leading contemporary artist."

The Guggenheim Museum noted on its website that the exhibit “offers a wink to the excesses of the art market but also evokes the American dream of opportunity for all.”

Cattelan told the The New York Times that he was happy that his work was not on a pedestal. "It’s not in a gallery. It’s in a little room, just waiting for you whenever you need it,” he said, adding, “When I saw it in there the other day for the first time, I cried. Well, almost.”

"This is 1 percent art for the 99 percent,” he told the New York Post.

On its Twitter page, the Guggenheim Museum posted a lighthearted notice about the opening of the irreverent installation: "Are you sitting down? Maurizio #Cattelan: "America" opens tomorrow, 9/15, in one of the museum’s public restrooms."

Catalan's artwork has generated a buzz throughout traditional and social media. CBS News' "Sunday Morning" ran a segment about the exhibition yesterday and the The New York Times posted its review last Thursday.

Lucky Times writer Randy Kennedy got to preview the facilities on opening day and reported the following: “As a formal matter, I’ll say that the sculpture really looks its best when in use, sparkling so much it’s almost too bright to look at, especially during the flush, which may be a new postmodern sublime.”

Kennedy noted that the "America" exhibit will remain in place and in use indefinitely.

Credit: Image via Twitter.com/Guggenheim Museum.