Donnie Osmond Set Me on the Path of Music Rightousness
Part One of Buffalo and Little Bean's Big Music Adventure
In the fall of 1977 I was ten and my aunt bought me a pile of albums. Earlier that year, for my birthday, my mother - responding to my burgeoning interest in that crazy rock and roll music - bought me one of those plastic, carry around turntables. Light blue.
(She also hired a music teacher to teach me how to play guitar, but that’s a topic for another column.)
I can’t put into words how much I loved my Aunt Florence, or Auntie Flossie as I called her. My dad’s sister and my Uncle Freddy lived next door to us and her house was always open to me and my little sister. I still own her teddy bear cookie jar, the one I often stole cookies from when I was little.
Anyway, my Auntie Flossie presented me with four albums to begin my collection, adding the disclaimer that she had listened to them all to make sure they were appropriate for me. Those four albums are presented below for your pleasure. I still own two of the four.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, I see where his obsession with classic rock came from. After all, nearly 45 years later, I’d find myself dancing in my kitchen with my six-year-old to “Whole Lotta Rosie,” an AC/DC song I’d been jamming out to and a band over which I had lost most of my hearing decades ago.
But at that time at least, you’d be incorrect. That first year, I listened nearly exclusively to Donny Osmond. Really. I can’t tell you how much I loved that album.
Don’t laugh.
Remember this was right in the middle of the Donny & Marie show mania, and the album itself (which was released in 1973) was a collection of cover tunes of some of the most famous songs in music history, including “Unchained Melody,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and most important of all, “A Time for Us.”
A little background: “A Time for Us” is otherwise known as the “Love Theme of Romeo and Juliet” and was written by Henry Mancini as an instrumental. That song was so popular that it knocked the Beatles “Get Back” off the charts in 1969. A couple years later, Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder, two lyricists known for working on the Godfather and with Frank Sinatra added some words, Donny Osmond picked it up, and the circle was complete.
In 1977, a little ten year old boy from a suburb of Buffalo, New York played “A Time For Us” on his cheap, light blue, plastic turntable, sung by a popular and squeaky-clean TV personality, written by Henry (F-ing) Mancini for Shakespeare with words by the same dudes that gave us “Strangers in the Night” on an album given to him by a beloved aunt.
That was it. Celebrity. Writing. Literature. Composition. Family connection.
All of it, in a three minute and fifty second song.
Here’s that song. Utter perfection: “A Time For Us”
Eventually, Donny would take a back seat to classic rock and to such bands as the Electric Light Orchestra, who, only a month or so after these gifts from my aunt, would release “Out of the Blue” and change my life forever.
But it’s not much of a leap to suggest that Donny Osmond and that song set me on the path of music appreciation that I remain on today. It was the perfect, coincidental coming together of life and art and family.
After that day, I just wanted more. My parents had Polka albums and big band music. Disco was just becoming a thing and I was immediately drawn to ABBA. My mother sung Beatles tunes all the time, I can still hear her voice when I play “Hey Jude.” All that would lead to going to concerts - my first was Beatlemania. Then following bands around. Then road trips to see music.
I still remember the first time I heard Thelonious Monk, standing on the stairs of a record store in Philadelphia. Or the moment I heard Ravi Shankar inside a Borders Books and Music. (Or the moment my wife told me Nora Jones was Ravi’s daughter.) That day in his VW that my friend Alan popped in a cassette of The Talking Heads. How I screamed during the “Purple Rain” solo with Prince up on that riser only a few feet away from me. Or the day I felt my daughter kick in my wife’s belly when we put on Bob Dylan.
Or the day my dad stuck his head into my room because he couldn’t believe I was jamming to Louis Prima. (I still do!)
Then there was that time in Toronto when I went to see Paul McCartney and even though I had nose bleed seats, when he stood alone on stage and played “Yesterday” I cried like a baby.
And now, my latest moment, that first time I played this TEDx talk on YouTube by the band we’ll be seeing next week, The Warning, and felt all those emotions wash over me again - emotions I hope my daughter will feel as well.
Music can define our lives, create core memories and leave way-markers on our soul. Is this projection on my part when it comes to Little Bean? Maybe. But there’s only one way to find out. Stay tuned.
Tomorrow: We begin preparing for our concert and a chance to meet the band. Little Bean has many, many ideas.
Housekeeping: Welcome all! We’ll be going on a week long exploration of music, music history, classic rock, first time concerts and whatever other music-related topics I can think of. Along the way, my daughter and I will be preparing to go to Boston to see Mute Choir and The Warning live and meet both the bands.
After that, we’ll begin gearing up for a big four day trip to Saratoga Springs to see Pentatonix.
I hope you’ll come along for the ride, and perhaps, share some music experiences of your own. A big thank you to all of you who shared your concert going experiences with us yesterday! I loved hearing about them. Keep sharing - do you remember your first live show? Do you still follow favorite bands? Do you play?
And are there any current bands or musical styles your listening to these days?
If you’re new to Day By Day, you can find out more about me and my books at my bookstore here: Dan’s Bookstore.
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One last thing - I encourage you all to visit the bands and artists we’re writing about. Making music is hard work. Give them some love!
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Ready? Onward we go!
I'm not sure this counts, but my first live show wasn't a concert; it was a performance of "The Nutcracker" ballet at The Palace Theater in Manchester. My little sister and I were taking ballet lessons at the time. My mom bought tickets for herself, her mom (my grandmother), my sister and me. I think I was about eight years old and loved the show. My sister was three, I think, and not as attentive. (She fell asleep near the end!)
I can’t judge you for listening to Donny Osmond unless I judge myself for the Osmonds album I had as a kid. I, too, was a fan of the Donny & Marie show, and whichever album it was (don’t remember anymore) came up in the Columbia House record club listings back when that was the only way I could find albums.
Music was always a part of my family, mostly singing. My dad loved show tunes, my mother loved jazz and swing. The younger of my two older brothers played loud late-50s music in his bedroom, my sister took me to the ballet and to see Chuck Mangione at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. I sang in the school choirs from 3rd grade on. And all these years later, Dan and I have published 4 CDs and one EP of our own original music, and are currently recording our next album. I hope Little Bean has a fabulous time! I know you will. :) I’m especially excited to hear what she thinks of Pentatonix -- I love them!