The Twelfth of Never by Donny Osmond

The Twelfth of Never

1973

Donny Osmond

As 1972 became 1973, it occurred to a slew of people that Donny Osmond had been kinda absent from the charts over the last several months...he hadn't been seen or heard from on the Billboard Hot 100 since he took  'Too Young' to #14 back in June, and his fans were wondering just when they might see a new single from him. They, if I remember correctly, became downright strident in their pleadings for a new single. So, in order to keep the peace (And make the money) he (And MGM) decided to oblige them. And, as they tended to do with all of his hits, MGM picked an oldie but goodie for him to cover.

They went back to 1957, when a gent named Johnny Mathis released a little tune called The Twelfth of Never' as the 'B' side to his hit 'Chances Are'. 'The Twelfth of Never' was a classic and beautiful love song written from the viewpoint of a guy trying to explain to his lady just how much he loved her.  As all truly classic love songs should be, it was a ballad...slow and sweet and smooth, the kind of song that every girl loves because she truly hopes that it mirrors her guy's true feelings for her. It was...and is...a genuinely beautiful little tune, and it should have charted way higher than the #69 it scored on the Billboard Magazine Chart (The Hot 100's predecessor).

Fast forward sixteen or so years. Donny's young female fans are growing up with him, and I have a feeling his label wanted to try for a sound that was just a scosh more mature for his next single, so they made the arrangements for him to cover this classic, and when they did, they had the good sense and foresight to leave it all but unchanged save for some minor tweaking. Mike Curb co-produced it with Don Costa, and Donny took it into the studio, made a couple of adjustments of his own to fit his voice and style, and pretty much nailed it to the wall, taking it way further up the charts than Johnny Mathis did with the original...Donny's version cracked the Top 10.

It debuted on The Billboard Hot 100 on March 3^rd, 1973, and kinda took it's sweet time climbing the chart...it didn't break into the top 20 until it clocked in at #18 on it's fifth week in, and just barely cracked the Top 10, at #10, two weeks later on April 21^st. It peaked at #8 on April 28^th, 1973, hung on there for a pair of weeks, then dropped off the charts pretty quickly, disappearing on May 19^th.   This would also be his very last Top 10 hit as a solo artist for a decade and a half...he wouldn't crack the Top 10 again until June, 1989, when he'd take 'Soldier of Love' to the Billboard Hot 100's runner-up spot.

The Twelfth of Never was, IMHO, probably Donny's prettiest solo single. Even though he's considered the king of Bubblegum by many, this one, well, wasn't. It was a ballad, as well as a classic love song, and a truly lovely one at that. It was also just about made for Donny Osmond's voice and singing style, and he recognized this and made it his own. While it's been covered by over two dozen artists, including Olivia Newton John and Barry Manilow, Donny's version not only scored the highest chart position by far (Admittedly on the strength of young girls buying the single), from comparing his version to the other covers I've listened to, IMHO it was also the best of the bunch by miles.
 
I gotta admit, I don't remember hearing this one on the radio (Then again, I wasn't a fifteen or sixteen year old girl in '73) and it's, sadly, become one of those songs that you almost never hear on the Oldies stations any more. And that's too bad, because it really is that pretty.

So enjoy...Donny Osmonds best love song. The Twelfth of Never, by Donny Osmond.  The Graphics for this one absolutely rock.


And as a bonus...Johnny Mathis' beautiful original version of the tune. This was a truly classic Love Song in every sense of the word.