B-side "Mixed Emotions" Format 45 RPM Genre Traditional pop | Released April 1960 Recorded 1960 Length 2:49 | |
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"Paper Roses" is a popular song written and composed by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre. It first was a top five hit in 1960 for Anita Bryant with Monty Kelly's Orchestra and Chorus. Marie Osmond later covered it in 1973 and took her version to number one on the US country chart.
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Anita Bryant version
Anita Bryant's version of "Paper Roses" was originally released in 1960 as a single b/w "Mixed Emotions" (Carlton 528) and was the opening track on her 1961 album Hear Anita Bryant In Your Home Tonight! (Carlton STLP 12/127), recorded in "Provocative Stereo." "Paper Roses" was Bryant's biggest hit on the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at No. 5 in 1960. Bryant continued to release singles following "Paper Roses"' success. Although Bryant had hits that reached the Top 40 again, she never had another hit as big as "Paper Roses."
Background
In 1973, Marie Osmond's brothers, The Osmonds, were already well-established as stars in the pop music world and as teen idols (especially Donny). The Osmonds' management convinced Marie Osmond to try her hand at singing as well, and soon she was performing with her brothers on tour, but not officially as a member. When she began to record, she took a different tack from her brothers musically: she decided to try to make it big in country music. Osmond was soon signed to MGM Records in Los Angeles, California.
Mike Curb, who had overseen Donny Osmond's solo hit covers of oldies like "Go Away Little Girl," "Puppy Love," "Sweet and Innocent," and "Hey Girl," used the same approach with Marie Osmond. According to Curb in the book Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits by Fred Bronson, when Curb was looking for country songs for her to record for her first album, Sonny James suggested that Osmond sing "Paper Roses."
Release
"Paper Roses" was the first song recorded by Osmond, and also her first single release. The single was released in August 1973. MGM promoted the single first to country radio, and received a favorable reaction to the song from radio stations and disc jockeys. Soon the song became a hit for Osmond, going all the way to number one on the country charts. Before long, the song crossed over to pop radio as well, becoming a number 5 Pop and number 1 Easy Listening singles hit. The album and single both received Gold certifications in the United States.
Upon reaching No. 1, Osmond became -- at less than one month after her 14th birthday -- the youngest female artist and youngest overall solo artist to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, a record that still stands as of 2015. In the United Kingdom, where Osmond-mania was just as strong as (if not stronger than) in the United States, "Paper Roses" climbed all the way to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Osmond followed up the success of "Paper Roses" with a cover of another Anita Bryant hit from 1960, "My Little Corner of the World," but it didn't fare as well, reaching only number 33 on the country-music charts, and bubbling under the pop charts.
She re-recorded "Paper Roses" with the same producer and in the same studio for her 1990 The Best of Marie Osmond greatest hits album on Curb Records because her record label at the time did not have the rights to include the original recording. Paper Roses has been adopted by fans of the Scottish football team Kilmarnock FC as the club's anthem and is played at major games throughout the season.