Jilly's Blog: The long awaited Osmonds Blog (copy)

The Osmond’s

Own up who remembers the Osmonds and Donny?? I was a true Osmond’s fan, I particularly loved Donny. I was 12 years old in 1972 when I got my first Donny record which was Puppy Love. That was Donny’s first solo success in the UK and his first of many number one hits

The Osmonds of course had already had a couple of hits over here, such as “One Bad Apple”. However it was their first single release of 1972 “Down by the lazy river”, which finally broke the group in the UK. Their British fan base exploded overnight. The media coined the phrase “Osmania” and the young teenagers were referred to as “Teeny Boppers”.

From that point on I was hooked. I loved them all, but Donny…well…..I was going to marry him one day! I knew every single fact there was to know about him and the entire family. I joined the British fan club, bought all the magazines and every record.

I confess that the magazines are languishing in boxes in my loft and the records are still in my collection in my living room. Never played now because although we do still have a turn table we never use it. I do have some CD’s though and some MP3’s on my computer and yes, I confess…………………………I do still listen to them sometimes!

It was through the Osmond’s fan club that I was put in touch with my friend Ali. She lived in Newmarket in those days and was an ardent teenage fan just like me. We corresponded regularly for years, then as we got older and married, our correspondence dwindled to a card at Christmas. Ali emigrated to New Zealand and a few years back we exchanged email addresses and well the correspondence was up and running once more.

As a teenager, I never got to meet Ali, although I did meet Sarah who was another pen pal from the Osmond’s fan club. Ali and I finally met a couple of years back when she and her husband Howard and little son Thomas came to the UK for a holiday. It was lovely to finally meet after so many years and to reminisce. I have to say that Ali is a traitor, she has not remained loyal. She prefers Bruce Springsteen nowadays. Ok, ok, I can hear you all saying…..what about me and Robbie??

Well I do love Robbie but Donny was my first, OK!!

Saturday mornings and Thursday nights were highlights of my week back then. Thursdays for Top of the Pops and Saturdays for the Osmond Family Cartoon which had One Bad Apple as its theme tune. It was cool.

My bedroom was decorated in purple and the walls were covered in posters. I wore purple clothes because it was Donny’s favourite colour! Wow, those were the days. My very first concert was at the Rainbow theatre in Finsbury Park, London. My Mum went with me on the train to queue up for the tickets. I actually went to the concert on my own in the end. I was going to go with my cousin Wendy (an Alan fan, if I remember correctly, although no doubt she’ll deny it now) Unfortunately, Wendy had not long had an operation and had both legs in plaster so was not allowed to go.

For those of you that are wondering, yes I did manage to stay for the whole concert!!! I do remember though that at times, even back then I found it a little scary! I mean girls were collapsing all over the place and the screams were ear shattering. I guess that even then I was a reserved concert goer and would have preferred everybody to have sat nicely in their seats!!

Today Wayne, Merrill and Jay still perform as a trio mostly in Branson, Missouri. Alan no loner performs due to having multiple sclerosis. Jimmy occasionally performs alongside his brothers. Donny however is still going strong and tours regularly. He continues to release singles and albums which although they no longer reach the dizzy heights of the number one spot are still successful. And yes, I do still listen to them and enjoy them. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a Donny fan! He’s still very handsome and seems to have better dress sense now! No more purple!