Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974

Osmonds

The Plan

Charting in the year of 1973, on the 19th of August, is The Osmonds with the album The Plan.

There are certain pieces of music,..

…or artists, which dive right back into the depths of my living memory.

One such example is this album by the Osmonds.

Again, my eldest sister’s influence here. She had the album ‘The Plan’ and swears to this day that it’s one of the best albums ever made by anyone.

It is certainly an ambitious project…

…and it’s certainly an ambitious album.
Based upon their Mormon beliefs from the miracle of one’s creation at birth, to the enlightenment and return at the end of one’s days. Moulded with compassion and love, just as is depicted on the cover with the hand of God holding the ball of clay (which had become, not just a logo for their own record business, but more as an emblem for everything they stood for).
That’s a lot to accomplish on two sides of a vinyl record which lasts less than an hour. But they gave it their best shot.

In my opinion, with the stigma that the media gave to them, they had so many ideas, so many styles, that the critics in the end didn’t know what to do with them.
So they do what critics do, they criticised them.

I joined the Osmonds life story after they’d been the Osmond Brothers, the squeaky clean barber shop set-up, and when they’d added Donny to the line up and became The Osmonds.
With this album they were now just “Osmonds” in an attempt to distance themselves even further from their “One Bad Apple” days, where the music was chosen for them, and they were just a vehicle for somebody else’s songs (I tend to think of it a little like the ‘Jackson 5’ becoming ‘The Jacksons’).

They were now not just performers but songwriters and composers too.

So, to me, they were an extremely close, loving, talented, and extraordinarily entertaining family.
They played their own instruments.
They had fantastic ideas, and with this effort, they put them all in there; and that’s probably why everyone got confused.
One minute they’re heavy, the next they’re schmaltzy. Another moment they’re playful, then serious.
For me personally, it maybe because it lacked a coherent musical theme, that it didn’t get to where it initially should have been.
If they’d made a box set and had a different style for each side, then that may well have worked. But either they, nor the record company, weren’t going down that road.
So in the end you’ve got something that sounds to me like a highlights album from an epic (and unrealised) 4 hour production.

On the subject of highlights,..

…to publicise it, they performed a 10 minute taster focusing on a selection of the songs.
You can tell they were immensely proud of this work. And, I think the fans either loved it or hated it – ok hated is a bit strong, probably more like felt more uncomfortable with it.

Even back then, my sister would discuss anything Osmonds with anyone, including me. I always think of her, when I was young, as around 15 when in fact at this stage she was only 10.

She was the one whom I found out that they were all brothers, as I knew Donny was his own star, but he was also in the band.
The subject of brothers was one that, even back then, something (or someone) I yearned for. But strangely back then, it wasn’t a younger brother but an older one that I missed.

My sisters favourite was Merrill, and to me I can see why, with a fantastic voice that could really punch.
Due to the big brother thing, I was drawn to Wayne. I felt a little envious that they had him as a brother.

But yeah, the songs they made for this album went straight into me too. In fact “Movie Man” gave me the creeps a little. It used to make me think even I was in trouble (well, I was around the age of 2, so go easy on me).

But, for them, this really was their most personal album as a family unit, which they truly and seriously put everything into, including their hearts, souls, and beliefs.

The album hits the U.K. Album Chart…

on the 19th of August 1973, crashing into the Top 10 at No.7.

By the following week it will hit it’s peak position, one place higher at No.6, and sit there for a couple of weeks.

After one further week in the Top 10, where it goes back to No.7, it will settle further back in the mid-chart positions during the months of September and October.

A further wave of attention will edge it back into the Top 10 by mid-November for a week, before it eventually settles just outside of it during December and it continues into January 1974, before falling away from the chart altogether after the 12th of that month.

After a short rest, it will enter back into the lower end of the Top 50 from the 20th of the same month, and stick around for a further 4 weeks before leaving for good after the 16th of February. Just a few days before my 2nd birthday.

To me, it’s not so much an album,..

…as more a movie soundtrack, or an event, and having given it some thought, I would have used this album as a basis for a West End (or Broadway) musical.

Abba did it. Queen did it. You’ve got Michael Jackson’s Thriller out there, Whitney Houston, and so many others too.

There’s loads of them out there, Why not the Osmonds?

The Musical.

The Event.

“The Plan”.

I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.