The 20th of February 1972 to the 19th of February 1973
Ok so I’m not even 1 yet. What do I know about music at this stage of my little life?
Now, I suppose I could have heard the next few songs via osmosis or something but when I hear them again there is something that I get from somewhere. Could’ve been years later on the radio I suppose but they were released in this year. Sooo, for this and probably the next year too, I’m taking it that they went in there somehow when I was on my way to my first birthday.
The Osmonds
Crazy Horses
My sister was a huge Osmonds fan…
…so I probably picked this one out as she had the album by the same name and no doubt constantly played it.
To me, it was a completely different sound to anything I’d heard, from the moment the Wah Wah sound kicks in, and onwards into the track itself.
Before this, the brothers Osmond were a clean cut group…
…who were told what to do and what to sing.
This though was their first stab at being let off the reins (pun intended) and given full artistic freedom to make their own music and write their own songs, and it shows.
With that sort of excitement emanating through them, you can feel the energy exploding onto this song. Maybe that’s what I picked up on as an infant, but something clicked, and it still gets to me when I revisit it even now.
The single itself enters the U.K. chart near the end of 1972,…
…at No.27, on the 5th of November.
Guy Fawkes night here in England. Fireworks, Bonfires, quite an apt day for this single.
A week later it will be into the Top 10 at No.7, and by week 3 it will hit No.2, only denied the top spot by Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-a-ling”!
It will stay at No.2 for 3 whole weeks, but each time will be outsold by that single, which, in my opinion, is just criminal.
What it will do is stay longer in the Top 10 afterwards than Chuck, staying there for another 6 weeks.
In that time, while slipping back down the chart, they’ll meet their little brother Jimmy going the other way up the chart, on his way to hitting the No.1 position with “Long Haired Lover from Liverpool”!
Again, and I’m sure they are very happy for him, but for me, that is a cruel blow.
Eventually, Jimmy’s big brothers…
…will stick around with “Crazy Horses” until the beginning of Spring 1973, leaving after the 10th of March, and finish with an impressive 18 weeks on the U.K. Chart.
In the end, history has been far kinder to this single than the previously mentioned other 45’s which hit the top of the chart, and deservedly so.
So, whereas others’ first impressions of the Osmonds were as the clean-cut group, my first experience of them was this amazing song.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Video Promo:
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Listen to “The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th February 1972” Playlist here:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me…
What is it…?
Why am I…?
How do I…?
When am I…?
