Osmonds - Osmondmania: Osmond Family Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Osmondmania: Osmond Family Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: It wasn't cool to like this when I was a kid, but.........
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm a 70s child, but at the time it wasn't considered cool to like the Osmond brothers.
At the time, Black kids and White kids at my Elementary school argued and fought over who was better-the J5 or the Osmonds. If you were Black, you were expected to like the Jackson 5. I did (and still do), but I also liked the Osmonds-but in secret. Now that I'm grown, I've since come out of the closet-I'M BLACK AND I LIKED THE OSMONDS AND STILL LIKE THEIR MUSIC! I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!
Now with that off of my chest, on with the review.
This is a fine compiltation with much of the stuff that the casual Top-40 AM radio listener of the early 70s (as well as fans of their 1972 cartoon show) will remember. If "One Bad Apple" sounds "Jacksonesque," there was a reason-Berry Gordy turned down this tune that was originally intended for the J5, and Michael himself has said that many of their own relatives thought they did "One bad Apple." Either way, it's a great tune. Love the organ and flute in the hook. "Sweet and Innocent" was too juvenile for me even when I was 7 (the whistle in the middle of the chorus was a bit much). "Just Like a Yo Yo" was charming and catchy. The line that begins "Turnin' turnin' love keeps a burnin'" has some clever wordplay.
"Down by the Lazy River," is just a piece of good time fun. Guaranteed to make you pat your foot and smile.
Donny's solo versions "Puppy Love" and "Too Young" are a bit on the cutesy side, but "The Twelfth of Never," recorded shortly after his voice changed, is a really mature and pleasant piece of work. This came out around the same time as Marie's "Paper Roses," which proved she was a competent country singer who had a future in the genre. Nothing special, but not bad for a start.
Hardcore fans and the now 40 and 50ish women who swooned over them as teenagers will lament the absence of lesser-known album cuts. But the casual fan of the group wiill enjoy this. Heck, after listening to this again I might even try "The Plan." Wonder what today's Justin Beiber "Beleibers" would make of this set?
Free Music Review: How to get rid of everybody in your house within 10 minutes or less!
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm at the age where I still like to have parties on weekends with my friends and even sometimes many friends will just come over (many at once) on a weekday evening after work. They bring over the beer and wine, and a few of their CD's to play on my bass-intense stereo system in my pool table and bar room.
I'm of the 45+ crowd, and my kids, and my friends kids, have all grown up and moved on so we like to get together and play our favorite songs from the 1970's. Songs that the radio doesn't play anymore is our main format. Sometimes we'll have early 80's parties too.
But, I've noticed that I'm getting to bed too late on some weekdays and it's making me groggy at work the next day. I can't seem to get people to leave early enough at night when they come over, but then suddenly, I discovered a fabulous tool to get people to leave rather quickly. Instead of me trying to softly, verbally, encourage people to leave for the night, I've recognized that if I put on this "Osmondmania!" CD, by the time it gets to the third song ("Double Lovin" just after the atrocious "Sweet and Innocent"), more than half of my friends are already grabbin' their coats and purses and are heading for the door. So now, they are in the awkward position of trying to be softly verbal about why they need to leave so suddenly. Usually, by the fifth song ("Yo-Yo"), everyone's already gone. This has been a fact, three times now. This CD is my saving grace. A powerful tool to promote mass exodus to get people to leave! I only bought this CD because I'm rather a completist and I try to own everything that represents the early 1970's pop culture. Who would have thought that it could be a friendly-fire dispersal weapon too?
So, if you're the host of your many of your own home parties, and if you can't get people to leave soon enough, get this CD. Believe me, it works!!
Free Music Review: Osmond Anthology!
Hit: 4 Stars
With a majority of the Osmonds biggest hits from the 70's comes this 28 song collection in cronological order. Although the the sticker says all of their charted hits from the 70's are here, 18 charted hits (UK and US) are still missing in action! Missing are all of Jimmy's hits including the top 40 hit Long Haired Lover From Liverpool. Marie's last top 40 hit, This Is The Way That I Feel, Donny's hits I Have A Dream (Top 50 US hit) and You've Got Me Dangling On A String (US #109 hit, his last in the 70's), and We Can Make It Together was a #68 hit in 1972 for The Osmonds featuring Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, have never seen the light of day on CD! However, Donny's hit remake of I Knew You When is included for the first time.The sound quality is good and the information provided by Robyn Flans is interesting, but I still would like to know what the original offensive lyric was for Love Me For A Reason! Most of the pictures are black and white except for the awesome colored inlay pic of all the Osmonds!
With all the collections that are out there, including a Box Set, this one is great. Most of the tracks have been released several times for several different collections. I hope there will be a follow-up collection with the "rarities" including the tracks mentioned and perhaps The Donny & Marie themes May Tomorrow Be A Perfect Day and A Little Bit Country. I could think of at least 22 Osmond tracks!
Free Music Review: Concise and Well Done
Hit: 4 Stars
This was the one I was willing to spring for; the inclusion of Joe South's "I Knew You When" made the difference. A single disk collection has to include all of the key hits from their primary chart run. This one does. It also leaves off material from the lower rungs of the charts that would be better suited to a more in-depth compilation. While this won't fill the gaps in the catalog for those who want a comprehensive series of reissues, you won't find a better single disk compilation of the Osmonds. Unlike some of the earlier cheapie compilations the packaging is as well-done, informative and respectful as anything you might find on the Rhino label. One small detail that makes me smile - the typeface used on the booklet song listing is reminiscent of the typeface on the cover of the Osmonds' self-titled debut.
Free Music Review: Great, but could be even better...
Hit: 4 Stars
This is a great overview of The Osmonds' careers. My only beef with the set is that it does not include any Jimmy Osmond solo tracks. At the very least, "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" should have been included. Jimmy is pictured on the cover! It also would have been nice if Polygram had leased "Soldier of Love" (Donny), "There's No Stoppin' Your Heart" (Marie) and at least one of the brothers' country hits from the 80's. Osmond fans and those interested in the group, BUY THIS, but also go to The Osmond Family website and purchase Jimmy, Jay, and Wayne's new CD "LIVE BY REQUEST," which is absolutely incredible!!!! That CD proves that The Osmonds are still as great today as they were when these original tracks were recorded!