THE OSMONDS - LOVE ME FOR A REASON

LOVE ME FOR A REASON

THE OSMONDS

SONGWRITERS: BRISTOL JOHNNY WILLIAM & BROWN WADE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: LOVE ME FOR REASON

LABEL: UNIVERSAL RECORDS

GENRE: POP MUSIC

YEAR: 1974

 

           The Osmonds are an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid- 1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group has comprised siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.

                The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, both of whom enjoyed success as solo artists. With the addition of Donny, the group became known as the Osmonds; performing both as teen idols and as a soft rock band, their peak lasted from 1971 to 1975. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973, both as a solo artist and as Donny's duet partner. By 1976, the band was no longer producing hit singles; that year, they transitioned into television with Donny & Marie, a popular variety show that ran until 1979.

            A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in country music, and both Donny and Marie separately made comebacks in their respective fields in the late-1980s. The Osmonds have sold over 77 million records worldwide. The quartet continued to perform through their 50th anniversary in 2007, at which point Alan and later Wayne retired due to health issues; Jimmy was recruited after Alan's retirement, with the group performing as a trio until Jimmy suffered a stroke and retired in 2018. Alan's son David Osmond performed with the group in 2019. On October 14, 2019, the original Osmond Brothers quartet reunited for CBS' The Talk for their sister Marie's 60th birthday, billed as the last appearance for the lineup. The brothers performed "The Last Chapter," written as a farewell song and introduced in 2018. Donny & Marie ended an 11-year Las Vegas residency on November 16, 2019. Merrill and Jay continue to perform and tour, as does Donny as a solo artist.

              Love Me for a Reason is the sixth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1974. The album peaked at Nº 47 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Two singles were released from the album: the title track "Love Me for a Reason" (Nº 1 UK, Nº 10 US) and "Having a Party" (Nº 28 UK).

            After a string of three albums (Phase III, Crazy Horses and The Plan) in which the Osmonds performed mostly their own material and focused on rock music, Love Me for a Reason consisted mostly of the work of professional songwriters, most prominently H. B. Barnum, who arranged all of the songs on the album and co-wrote three. The title track in particular was aimed at the easy listening market, continuing a string of easy listening hits for the quintet (it peaked at Nº 2 on the Billboard easy listening chart). The retrenchment, reuniting with former producer Mike Curb, and focus on pop was an effort to regain some popularity the group had lost in 1973, driven by brief but intense competition from The DeFranco Family, Donny's voice changing, and the less commercially friendly content of The Plan. 

Girl when you hold me

How you control me

You bend and you fold me

Any way you please

 

It must be easy for you

To love the things that you do

But just a pastime for you

I could never be

 

And I never know, girl

If I should stay or go

Cos the games that you play

Keep driving me away...

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

 

Kisses and caresses

Are only minor tests, babe

Of love turned to stresses

Between a woman and a man

So if love everlasting

Isn't what you're asking

I'll have to pass, girl

I'm proud to take a stand

 

I can't continue guessing

Because it's only messing

With my pride, and my mind

So write down this time to time

 

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

 

I'm just a little old-fashioned

It takes more than a physical attraction

My initial reaction is

Honey give me a love

Not a fascimile of

 

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

(Repeat to fade).