Crazy Horses



"Crazy Horses" was a 1972 hit single by The Osmonds reaching number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The song has since been covered by numerous other performers.

Recording and content
Singer Merrill Osmond said of the song, "Before that, my brothers and I had been what’s now called a boyband: all our songs were chosen for us by the record company. 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. I had always been the lead singer, but I sang Crazy Horses with Jay. The line “What a show, there they go, smoking up the sky” had to be sung higher, so I did that and Jay did the verses because his voice was growlier, and this track was heavier than anything we’d ever done." Merrill Osmond also added that the record company initially were sceptical the song would be successful but relented when the song performed well in the charts (particularly in the United Kingdom, where the song proved to be a breakthrough for the quintet, as well as much of the rest of Europe).

Jay Osmond said, "The song was recorded at MGM in Hollywood and we added that distinctive “Wah! Wah!” intro sound afterwards. Alan had written the lyrics, which talked about horsepower, and he said: “It’s got to sound like a horse somehow.” We tried everything, then finally found something on Donny’s organ that sounded like a neighing stallion.

Donny, the usual co-lead, had 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. Jay Osmond said, "Crazy Horses was way ahead of its time. 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 song was initially banned in France when authorities believed the lyric “smoking up the sky” was about drugs.

Cover versions
It 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 and performs the song frequently on his tours. He did not sing on the original record.

In 1995 UK electronic music group Utah Saints released a remixed version of the song, which reached number 50 in the UK singles chart. This version was reissued in 1999 and peaked at number 34.