One Bad Apple was written by George Jackson- the same soul musician- songwriter who wrote Old Time Rock And Roll which was covered later in the 70’s by Bob Seger. Jackson wrote One Bad Apple with The Jackson 5 in mind but The Jackson 5 wisely decided on ABC instead.
The Osmonds had been kicking around for a while without any pop success – ten singles and none of them made the charts- anywhere- until One Bad Apple. One Bad Apple was released on November 14, 1970, entered the charts in the first week of January 1971 and took over the #1 spot on February 13, 1971 and topped the charts for an incredible five weeks. As the b-side The Osmonds decided to murder The Hollies hit “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” The Osmonds would go on to have ten Top 40 hits in the first half of the 70’s- this is not counting other Osmond projects. One Bad Apple was the only #1 The Osmonds had.
To prove even the worst artists can come up with something decent- in the 80’s- check out Jeff Beck’s video “Ambitious” Donny does a fine job there.
Anyone remember The Osmonds cartoon? One Bad Apple was used as the theme to the cartoon.
Here is something to make you shake your head- the oldest Osmond- Alan is 69.
slicethelife 
Oh, this is funny. I hate this song! But–check this out–my husband likes it! I’m not kidding. Now I’m not going to totally throw him under the bus. He loves Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Humble Pie…You get the idea. I guess we’ve all got our guilty pleasures. I actually like Jeff Beck’s Ambitious. In fact I like the whole album “Flash”.
I love the video for Ambitious- and Donny clearly had a sense of humor about himself to do that… One Bad Apple- would be a very guilty pleasure! lol
Yeah, Ambitious is written by Niles Rodgers. I think he’s boss.
Ok. So I’ll throw myself under the bus just a bit…I “kind’a” like Puppy Love…Yeah, I know…It’s bad.
Oh…And this Osmond’s song is probably THE WORST song ever…Crazy Horses! It is Sooo Bad that it’s Spinal Tap good. You must check it out. The Osmond’s foray into hard rock! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXO7-aAzUO4
Crazy Horses was on an American Top 40 replay a few weeks back- it was like “What is this?” I couldn’t believe it was The Osmonds. They were probably under the influence of chocolate milk when they recorded that one.. Yes so bad it was fascinating.
What the….. words fail me here. 😀. This is beyond parody even. I mean the outfits the one guy doing what I assume is supposed to be Mick Jagger moves. And to think these guys are actually clean cut Mormons!
Ohhhh…flashbacks from my sisters bedroom…wall to wall Donny.
Hmmmm never heard that before. Quite awful…singers can’t really hit the notes, bit late to put it down a key
That was a fun read!
Thanks.
I bet you can hear me cackling from here. Unreal it held #1 for 5 weeks. I don’t think I have the courage to go out there and listen to what they did to the Hollies song. Ack. Weren’t the Osmonds and The Jackson 5 in competition at one point? Osmonds are Jackson 5 Lite. lol. Hans, I love your new addition to the lineup 🙂
The Osmond’s were the wonder bread entry against the Jackson’s.. I can see the Jackson’s in that song but of course they rejected the song. Strange that the guy who wrote Old Time Rock and Roll– wrote One Bad Apple… I guess it did put a few meals on the table for him.
The world of songwriting and music making is a vast, sometimes mysterious, and wonderful place isn’t it 🙂
“One Bad Apple” is one of my most hated songs of all time. https://eclecticmusiclover.com/2017/06/10/ten-huge-hits-i-hate/
Interesting list- you hate American Pie though? I could see the Madonna version though… I have already written up my entry for today- not to give it away but it is on your list too!!
I have to say – The Osmonds have never been on my list of ‘listenable’ music…. So pleased to be able to ‘get that off my chest’… 🙂
Don’t really remember the Osmonds as much as Donny and Marie and the variety show. This is quite awful – the video really makes them look like Jackson 5 wannabes- I think the Jackson 5 were wise to go with ABC.
Same here the Donny and Marie Show is more fresh in my mind than The Osmonds- I was aware of them and all but Donny and Marie -well they were a little bit country and a little [very little] bit rock and roll…
🤣🤣
Love this new feature by the way
Thank you!