Donny Osmond - Love Songs of the `70s

gather.com asked me to take a listen to a preview copy of Donny's new collection, Love Songs of the `70s, (in stores April 24th) possibly because I'm the only one of the Merry Music Correspondents there old enough to have been listening to something besides The Banana Splits and Schoolhouse Rock back in the`70s. That's a base canard (also known as the bottom duck in a pyramid of ducks) against my colleagues of course, but I couldn't resist. Anyway, I chewed on it for a bit, and figured that between Donny and the `70s I could find enough to write about even if I found I didn't like the CD, so I told them to send it on. And we put it on the player one snowy afternoon and sat in front of the fireplace and listened.

And you know what? It's more than good. It works as a strong, representative collection of `70s music - the good and the bad - and it works as a showcase for Donny's voice, which after his various turns on Broadway, has become much stronger than it was back in the days of Donny & Marie.

The thing about doing covers is - that to do them right - you need to remind people both of the original while somehow making the song your own. It's not an easy thing to do. One of my favorite podcasts is Coverville, produced by Brian Ibbott, which as the name implies, is a 30-40 minute radio-like show featuring covers of songs. Some famous songs, some obscure. Some famous cover artists, some unknown indies. Some of the covers are excellent, driving me to find the song or complete album on iTunes or Amazon. Some of the covers are just too weird or so rejiggered that I can't make it through the complete track.

Based on the measurement of "making it your own while evoking the original," Donny Osmond gets his covers mostly right with Love Songs of the `70s. The CD tracks include...

I Can See Clearly Now - originally done by Johnny Nash
Sometimes When We Touch - originally done by Dan Hill
Let's Stay Together - originally done by Al Green
Laughter In The Rain - originally done by Neil Sedeka
When I Need You - originally done by Leo Sayer
How Long - originally done by Ace
Mandy - originally done by Barry Manilow
You Are So Beautiful - originally done by Joe Cocker
Will It Go Round In Circles - originally done by Billy Preston
How Deep Is Your Love - originally done by the Bee Gees
Alone Again (Naturally) - originally done by Gilbert O'Sullivan
If - originally done by Bread

Now, I can pretty much guarantee you that if you've listened to any AM radio over the past three decades all these songs will be familiar to you, even if you don't immediately recognize them from the title or artist. If you're of the right age, some of the songs will trigger memories of trips to the beach, cruises down summer streets, furtive puffs on a cigarette, darkened cars, and long, slow kisses with your first love. A few may make you wince, and make you wonder what the hell became of the music scene during the `70s. What became of it - incidentally - was the war between disco and punk, and soul evolving into rap, but that's a rant for another column.

Some of the covers on Love Songs of the `70s work better than others. I think Donny hits the mark with the more soulful stuff than the pop fluff, which was a surprising discovery because of what turned out to be my mistaken perception of what I thought a good Donny Osmond vehicle would be. Let's Stay Together, How Long, and Joe Cocker's old ballad, You Are So Beautiful are all standouts. Less successful are the more shallow pieces. I'd personally prefer a steady diet of monkey manure than have to listen to any version of the saccharine Alone Again (Naturally) too many times. But that's why God invented the Advance button.

But you know, love 'em or hate `em, the songs you grow up with become part of your life, as firmly entrenched as any family. They become part of the music you never forget.