Crazy Horses
| "Crazy Horses" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Osmonds | ||||
| from the album Crazy Horses | ||||
| B-side | "That's My Girl" | |||
| Released | October 14, 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | June 23, 1972 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 2:40 | |||
| Label | MGM | |||
| Writer(s) |
Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Wayne Osmond | |||
| Producer(s) |
Alan Osmond, Michael Lloyd | |||
| Certification | Silver (UK) | |||
| The Osmonds singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Crazy Horses" is a 1972 hit by The Osmonds reaching number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100[1] and number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[2] It is a heavy rock style which was a major stylistic departure from the type of music for which The Osmonds were known; it is also unusual in that Jay Osmond sings lead vocals on most of the track (with Merrill Osmond, the band's usual lead singer, singing the short choruses, and Donny, the usual co-lead, having no vocal parts on account of his voice being in the middle of changing due to puberty). The record was co-produced by Alan Osmond and Michael Lloyd, who had previously been in psychedelic rock group The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.
The song is claimed to be a protest about the amount of pollution created by cars, and several 1970s-vintage automobiles spewing smoke appear on the single's and album's cover artwork.[3] It is one of their best known hits and has been covered by numerous other bands including The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Mission, Tank, Lawnmower Deth, Neal Morse, The Frames, KMFDM, Electric Six, and Lifescreen. Westlife covered the song live in 2003, and even performed the song alongside Donny Osmond. English band Pop Will Eat Itself sampled the record on their 1988 single Def Con One. The song was also covered by Tigertailz on the 2010 live album Bezerk: Live...Burnin' Fuel. The song was also covered by Mat Sinner on the solo album Back to the Bullet 1990. Donny Osmond recorded a new version of the song as a hidden bonus track on his 2002 covers album Somewhere In Time[4] and performs the song frequently on his tours. He did not sing on the original record.
Chart performance
| Chart (1972/1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[5] | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles[6] | 12 |
| Dutch GfK chart[7] | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 1 |
| France (IFOP)[8] | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart[9] | 17 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[10] | 5 |
| UK Singles Chart[2] | 23 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[1] | 14 |
References
- 1 2 "The Osmonds > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic.
- 1 2 "Chart Stats - The Osmonds - Crazy Horses". Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "Crazy Horses by The Osmonds Songfacts". Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "Donny Osmond". Ink19.com. Retrieved 13 December 2002.
- ↑ The Osmonds, "Crazy Horses" Belgian Chart Position Retrieved February 21, 2015
- ↑ "RPM Volume 18 No. 16, December 02 1972". Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "dutchcharts.nl - The Osmonds - Crazy Horses" (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
- ↑ "irishcharts.ie search results". Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "The Osmonds - Crazy Horses - hitparade.ch" (in German). Retrieved 13 August 2009.
| Preceded by "Ich hab' die Liebe geseh'n" by Vicky Leandros |
Dutch Top 40 number-one single December 16, 1972 – February 2, 1973 (7 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Block Buster!" by The Sweet |