"Carol of the Bells" (also known as
the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally
composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych.
Throughout the composition, Leontovych used a four note motif as an
ostinato which was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's
chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk" [the Generous One]
One Must Remember Not all Pagans were worshipers of the Devil or Satan per say they were supposedly Unaware of GOD as their Father. Are as Many of us So Called "Christians of today" are today! We Know not OUR Father and have forsaken-ed HIS Only Begotten Son. Do You Know Who God is and do you Know the difference between GOD and the God of this Our world our Earth?
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s.
From an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business,
singing and performing on national television. Osmond debuted as part of
her brothers' act The Osmond Brothers on the The Andy Williams Show when she was three, but generally did not perform with her brothers in the group's television performances through the 1960s.
Marie Osmond
Osmond with a custom guitar covered in Swarovski Crystals built by Ed Roman Guitars.
Aside from her two older brothers (who are deaf), Marie was soon the
only family member not involved in the music business. After the initial
success of The Osmonds in 1970, Marie's older brother Donny was gaining success as a solo artist on the Pop Music charts and was becoming a teen idol.
The Osmonds' management convinced Marie to try her hand as well. She signed with the family's record label, MGM Records and began making concert appearances with The Osmonds. Her style was more directed towards country music, in contrast with her brothers' pop music.
In 1973, Osmond cut her first single as a solo artist, "Paper Roses". The recording became a No. 1 country hit, reached the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart, and achieved crossover success. The song earned a gold record as did the album of the same name.
Osmond released another single, "In My Little Corner of the World", and a same-name album in 1974, with both entering the Billboard Top 40 in 1974. The title song on her next album Who's Sorry Now, released in 1975, went to No. 20 the month after its release.
The title song from Osmond's final solo album of the seventies, This Is The Way That I Feel, reached No. 39 within two months of its 1977 release.
In 1974, Osmond had two pop music duet hits with brother Donny: "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" and "Morning Side of the Mountain." The former song was a Top 20 country hit.
Source: Wikipedia
TTFN
Happy Holidays
When you Know Christ Our Lord Jesus! Everyday is a Holy Day!
See You Soon! Live Life and do so more Abundantly!
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol.
Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and
author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame
as The Osmonds on the long running variety program, The Andy Williams Show. Donny went solo in the early 1970s covering such hits as "Go Away Little Girl" and "Puppy Love".
For over thirty-five years, he and younger sister Marie have gained fame as Donny & Marie, partly due to the success of their 1976–79 self-titled variety series, which aired on ABC. The duo also did a 1998–2000 talk show
and have been headlining in Las Vegas since 2008.
Between a highly
successful teen career in the 1970s, and his rebirth in the 1990s,
Osmond's career was stymied during the 1980s by what some have perceived
as his "boy scout" image. Osmond stated on the May 1, 2009 Larry King Live show that longtime friend Michael Jackson
suggested he change his name and also bleach his body to boost his
image. Osmond's agent even suggested that spreading false rumors about
drug arrest charges might recharge his career.
Osmond felt such
allegations would have familial ramifications, and couldn't reconcile
how lying to create a nefarious drug image could be explained to his
children, nieces and nephews. In 1989, Osmond had two big-selling
recordings, the first of which, "Soldier of Love", was initially credited to a "mystery artist" by some radio stations.
Starting in July 1992, Osmond played Joseph at the Elgin Theatre's Toronto production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The musical then toured North America until 1998. Creator Andrew Lloyd Webber, impressed by Osmond's talents and the show's successful six year run, chose him for the 1999 film version.
Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the seventh son of Olive May Osmond (née Davis) and George Virl Osmond. He is the brother of Alan, Jay, Jimmy, Merrill, Wayne, Marie, Tom, and Virl Osmond. Alan, Jay, Merrill, Wayne, and Donny were members of the popular singing group The Osmonds
(also known as The Osmond Brothers, which later included tracks with
youngest brother Jimmy as well).
Donny was raised as a Mormon in Utah
along with his siblings. Osmond later traced his family ancestry back to
Merthyr Tydfil in Wales; his journey was documented in a BBC Wales program, Donny Osmond Coming Home.[1] On the BBC's The One Show a plaque was unveiled in the town commemorating 'the ancestors of Donny Osmond'.
Williams initially had reservations about featuring children on the
program, however, encouraged by his father to try them out, they proved
in a short period of time to become an asset to the program, and soon
became regulars on the show and gained popularity quickly.
Donny made
his debut on the show at the age of 5 singing "You Are My Sunshine".
The brothers continued to perform on the show throughout the 1960s
along with a few visits from their sister Marie. In the early 1970s, the
Osmonds, via recording and virtually constant touring, sold over 80
million records in a single 12-month period, making them the most
successful, and fatigued, of the early Seventies touring groups.
Donny became a teen idol in the early 1970s as a solo singer, while continuing to sing with his older brothers. He, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy were the biggest "Cover Boy" pop stars for Tiger Beat magazine in the early 1970s.[2]
In the 1980s, Osmond re-invented himself as a solo vocal artist and
abandoned the earlier television show image crafted to appeal to young
viewers. He made an unlikely appearance as one of several celebrities
and unknowns auditioning to sing for guitarist Jeff Beck in the video for Beck's 1985 single "Ambitious", followed in 1986 by an equally unlikely cameo in the animated Luis Cardenas music video "Runaway".[3]
He spent several years as a performer, before hiring the services of
music and entertainment guru Steven Machat, who got Osmond together with
Peter Gabriel to see whether Machat and Gabriel could turn the TV
Osmond's image into a contemporary young pop act. They succeeded with
the hit song Soldier of Love, returning Osmond to the US charts in 1989
with the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 song "Soldier of Love"
and its top twenty follow-up "Sacred Emotion".
The campaign to market
"Soldier Of Love" received considerable airplay with the singer being
presented as a "mystery artist", before his identity was later revealed.[4] Launching an extensive tour in support of the Eyes Don't Lie record, he enlisted Earth Wind & Fire and Kenny Loggins guitarist Dick Smith along with keyboardist Marc Jackson.
Donny was often reluctant to perform his earliest songs, in
particular "Go Away Little Girl", but was convinced to sing the song
live for KLOS-FM's Mark & Brian Christmas Show
on December 21, 1990. Now he embraces his initial recording period with
fondness, and recognizes that his many fans around the world are always
excited and appreciative to hear his earliest chart successes.
He also sang "I'll Make a Man Out of You" for Disney's Mulan. [5]
In the 2000s, he released a Christmas album, an album of his favorite
Broadway songs, and a compilation of popular love songs. In 2004, he
returned to the UK Top 10 for the first time as a solo artist since
1973, with the George Benson-sampling "Breeze On By", co-written with former teen idol Gary Barlow, from the 1990s UK boy bandTake That, reaching number 8.
In early 2011 he is scheduled to record a new album, his 56th, with legendary producer Todd Rundgren.
Donny & Marie in Las Vegas
Following Marie's stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2007, the pair teamed up for a limited engagement in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Beginning September 2008, Donny and Marie began playing the 750-seat showroom at the Flamingo Hotel. "Donny & Marie"
is a 90-minute show. The singing siblings are backed by eight dancers
and a nine piece band. Donny and Marie sing together at the beginning
and end of the show, and have solo segments in between.
