Timeline 1972: Ecology, Heavy Riffage and... the Osmonds!
By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor
There must be something in the air aside from Canadian smoke as we sit here in 2023, (and don’t blame Geddy and Alex, they only stop for the best). It's barely July and there have been two cover versions released this year, of the 1972 Osmonds’ classic 'Crazy Horses'.
A few weeks ago, Cleveland proto-punk pioneers Pere Ubu, released their own unlikely Avant-garage singed version and last week, we were treated to a take by the one and only Dictators, CBGB punk legends who recently reformed. Who knew the wrath of the Osmonds was coming down so heavy in 2023?! So, what brought the Dictators around to covering this song in 2023? "We wanted a true hard rock version," Dictators' guitarist Ross The Boss told the Summit. "The Osmonds’ version wasn’t heavy enough for us. We fixed that!"
For those not paying attention, in 1972, the Osmonds released the album 'Crazy Horses'. All songs were self-penned, performed and produced by the brothers. The album and single both hit No. 14 on the Billboard charts and made Top 10 elsewhere around the globe. From the opening stomp and signature shriek (often thought to be a Theremin but in actuality was a setting on Donny's keyboard!) straight into the almighty heavy riff of the song, it was clear the boys meant business.
"Before that, my brothers and I had been what's now called a boy band: all our songs were chosen for us by the record company," recalled Merrill Osmond in a 2018 interview with Billboard Magazine. "But now, having been successful, we wanted to freak out and make our own music. We were rehearsing in a basement one day when Wayne started playing this heavy rock riff. I came up with a melody and Alan got the chords. Within an hour, we had the song."
Freak out indeed! The entire album is loaded with what can only be described as 'heavy rock' songs. From the Zeppelin-ish riff of 'Hold Her Tight' to the boogie stomp of ' Hey Mr. Taxi,' it's a long way from 'One Bad Apple' in a very short period of time. Another interesting footnote, the album was co-produced by Michael Lloyd, one time member of underground psychedelic band the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and baroque garage/pop group, October Country.
The song looms large among underground music enthusiasts as it is so out of character for the Osmonds. It's one of those records you can play for someone, tell them who it is, then watch their face drop in disbelief. These new cover versions; however, are only the most recent. There have been several over the years. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band put their stamp on it back in 1976. We've also had versions by the Goth popsters the Mission, metal mongers Tank, industrial merchants KMFDM, and LA rock legends Redd Kross (under the moniker Revolution 409)
The funny thing here is, no matter how good some of these cover versions are, not one of them captures the power and glory of the original! “We had a wall of Marshalls in the studio. It was so loud that you couldn't even walk in the studio,” Donny recalled in 2021 in Songwriter magazine. The original had the exact right groove, tempo and production to push it over the top, hence, the reason we're talking about this ode to ecology over 50 years later.
"'Crazy Horses' was way ahead of its time," Jay Osmond told The Guardian in 2017. "It's a song about ecology and the environment: those 'crazy horses, smoking up the sky' are gas-guzzling cars, destroying the planet with their fumes. We shot the record sleeve in a junkyard, surrounded by big old cars."
The Osmonds next move on the road to establishing their own presence away from boy band terrain, was a concept album called 'The Plan,' but that dear friends, is another story for another time.