Dawn of a new Donny
First, let’s clear up one Donny-related misconception right away: Donny Osmond is not strictly an oldies act.
The youngest of the original Osmonds has a new hit song, “Breeze On By,” which is No. 22 and climbing on the Smooth Jazz charts (“smooth jazz” being radio’s Kenny G-style format). The song has already made it into the Top 10 in the U.K. pop charts.
So, compared to some of those other ‘70s chart-toppers on the summer concert circuit, Osmond is hardly skating by on fumes from the Ford administration.
There’s one more unusual thing about “Breeze On By”: Osmond wrote it.
In fact, he wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on his new album, “What I Meant to Say.”
Until now he has never written his own songs, even though he has been continuously recording and performing since age 6, when he first appeared on the “Andy Williams Show” with his brothers.
Why make that creative leap now?
“I’m 47 and it’s about time,” Osmond told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter at the beginning of the tour which brings him to the Spokane Opera House on Friday.
“I wish I had a better answer. And I wish I would have started years ago.”
After seeing the Billboard magazine review of the album, he probably really wishes he had started sooner.
“Memorable melodies and pure, unaffected singing,” said the Billboard reviewer. “… An inspired effort from a performer who has been working his magic for an astonishing 40 years now. And he has never sounded better.”
His present reincarnation is just one of many reinventions over Osmond’s career.
He began as the youngest of the five Osmond brothers, who wowed ‘em on “Andy Williams,” then went on to hit the charts with “One Bad Apple” and “Yo-Yo” in 1971.
Osmond broke out on his own almost immediately, with solo hits such as “Go Away Little Girl” in 1971 and “Puppy Love” in 1972. He became a teen idol of the most clean-cut and innocent kind.
By 1974 he was teaming with his sister Marie Osmond on hits such as “I’m Leaving it (All) Up to You.” The duo hosted their own musical variety show from 1976 to 1978.
They even starred in their own movie, “Goin’ Coconuts,” a kind of tropical crime-caper, in 1978. It was a flop, presaging a relatively lean time commercially for Osmond, who was outgrowing his teen-idol-hood.
In 1982, he tried something different: starring in a Broadway musical revival of George M. Cohan’s “Little Johnny Jones.”
It closed after one night.
Osmond’s recording career made a comeback in 1989 with what is now one of his signature songs, “Soldier of Love.” It hit No. 2 on the pop charts.
Yet he was determined to get back to Broadway and redeem himself for “Little Johnny Jones.” He took acting lessons and began to learn the craft of musical theater.
It paid off. In 1991 he was hired for the role of Joseph in the touring company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” It was a smash and so was Osmond. He stayed with the show for six years and starred in the PBS film version.
Now, he seems to have found a comfortable new niche as a jazzy balladeer. In previous tour stops, he has done material stretching all the way back to “Go Away Little Girl.” Yet the Salt Lake Tribune reported that he performed his new material from “What I Meant to Say” with “easy confidence.”
He’ll be on stage with his four-piece band and 40 years of material. How many other 47-year-olds can say that?