Donny Osmond – ‘Young Love’

6 September 1973

We’ve already seen one of the teen-idol dreamboat boys of the early ’70s at the top of our charts, David Cassidy with ‘How Can I Be Sure’. Now here’s his rival for your affections. I like to imagine both sets of fans fighting pitched battles on the street, trashing the others’ favourite haunts and trolling each other viciously on the social media of 1973, which I believe was called “Jackie magazine”.

Donny Osmond seems to have avoided all the pop-idol pitfalls that befell Cassidy. His prominent Mormonism probably guided him past those, while turning him into a clean-cut figure of fun, though it also puts him on the conservative wing of social issues. That squeaky-clean image, air of ridicule, and innate appeal to grannies make Donny Osmond a ’70s Daniel O’Donnell. ‘Young Love’, which isn’t his better-known song ‘Puppy Love’, shows that a comparison to wee Daniel extends to their choice of material; it’s a country-pop doo-wop ballad that’s astonishingly old-fashioned, sentimental and saccharine. The spoken-word second verse is especially simpering and schmaltzy. I hope the Cassidy stans ripped Daniel O’Donny to shreds for this one on the letters page of Jackie.