Actually, scrub that, I can drive, in that I know how (sort of), just not legally on my own, and certainly not safely, accompanied or otherwise.
Like Dr Sheldon Cooper, I don't drive.
As luck would have it I have free transport to work each and every day. I walk.
It's just over a mile. When the kids were younger I used to have to walk back and forth for hours (I once covered 8 miles in one day). I honestly don't have a problem with that , although there are times I feel like it's a huge waste of time when I could be home and getting on with the ironing.
To pass the time, usually in the mornings, I listen to my lovely shiny electric pink iPod Nano.
This isn't always a good idea, as I tend to suffer from bad ears and I suspect it lessens my hearing ability these days ... but what the heck. Trust me, if you want to walk fast, a quick burst of Chelsea Dagger will have you quick stepping down the road.
Anyway this morning I put the trusty Nano (she really needs a name after all our time together) on and there he was, on Songs/Shuffle: Donny.
Donny Osmond.
I was barely at infant school when I first saw him on Top of the Pops . Absurdly young I admit. Before the advent of videos there existed promo films and there he was in this one, reclining in a field of daffodils, singing Puppy Love . And he was singing it to ME.
Before long my infatuation extended from Donny and his cover versions of songs from the Fifties, to his beautiful long haired sister Marie (Oh how I wished I was named Marie and not Susan!) and eventually to a real appreciation of the talent of the Osmond brothers, which I feel is overlooked to this day.
The Osmonds were a band of brothers , under the iron rule of their father, who had a real collective singing talent, possibly nurtured by their religious roots. The youngest brother soon emerged as the star.
Remind you of another group from around the same time ?
I joined the Osmonds fan club. I knew their hobbies ( Donny loved electronics; Wayne flew Cessnas). I knew their favourite colours and appreciated the inserted colours in their flared trousers in the Love Me For A Reason appearance on Top of the Pops.
It was deeply uncool to like The Osmonds, and even between the ages of 4 and 8 I understood this. The advent of The Bay City Rollers (YUCK!) only served to undermine their brilliance.
The Osmonds wrote and produced their own tracks, I don't think many people realise that. I challenge you to listen to Let Me In without shedding a tear.
I stopped listening long before I left Primary School but I never forgot. I never forgot the vinyl LPs I got for Christmas, or the smell of that very first cassette recorder and the tape of the Love Me For A Reason album and the associated huge excitement on my birthday (Christmas Eve).
Which is why I guess, I still have an Osmonds playlist on my iPod.
But there is also this...
That was Donny back in the day.
That's Justin Bieber now.
Imagine if Twitter had been invented back then. Osmond fans would have been trending every little detail of Donny's life and no doubt having on-line spats with the Roller's Tartan Army.
I've been as guilty as the next person of judging young Justin's ability and so on but ... given my Donny crush, and Osmond-mania, and all that went with it, who am I to judge ? Plus ca change, as the French say, plus c'est la meme chose....
But I bet he doesn't look as good as Donny still does when he is 54.
Susie (One Bad Apple Don't Spoil A Whole Bunch Girl) Sue
x
PS if anyone knows where I can find the Osmonds track Gabrielle I'll be very grateful...
ha yes, great post! but part of our job description as semi-old people is to disprove of the music of the youngsters otherwise where is the fun for them? :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post but surely the problem with Biebelivers is that they are over 10 indeed some over 13 so should be old enough to know better! oh Donny was too clean cut for me, my crush was David Cassidy
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