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| "Paper Roses" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byAnita Bryant | ||||
| from the album Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight! | ||||
| B-side | "Mixed Emotions" | |||
| Released | April 1960 | |||
| Recorded | 1960 | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop | |||
| Length | 2:49 | |||
| Label | Carlton 528 | |||
| Songwriters | Fred Spielman,Janice Torre | |||
| Producer | Monty Kelly | |||
| Anita Bryant singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Paper Roses" is apopular song written and composed byFred Spielman andJanice Torre. It first was a top five hit in 1960 forAnita Bryant.Marie Osmond recorded it in 1973 and took her version to number one on the US country chart.
Anita Bryant's version of "Paper Roses" was originally released in 1960 as asingle, backed with "Mixed Emotions" (Carlton 528). Monty Kelly provided the orchestrations. It was the opening track on her 1961 albumHear Anita Bryant In Your Home Tonight! (Carlton STLP 12/127), recorded in "Provocative Stereo." "Paper Roses" was Bryant's biggest hit on theBillboard Pop chart, peaking at No. 5 in 1960.[1] Bryant continued to release singles following "Paper Roses"' success, and although some reached theTop 40, she never had another hit as big as "Paper Roses."
| Chart (1960) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (CHUMHit Parade)[2] | 1 |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parades)[3] | 3 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[4] | 24 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[5] | 5 |
| USHot R&B Sides (Billboard)[6] | 16 |
| USCash Box Top 100[7] | 7 |
| "Paper Roses" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byMarie Osmond | ||||
| from the albumPaper Roses | ||||
| B-side | "Least of All You" | |||
| Released | August 25, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | June 7, 1973 | |||
| Studio | Columbia (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | Country pop | |||
| Length | 2:38 | |||
| Label | MGM 2006 315 | |||
| Songwriters | Fred Spielman, Janice Torre | |||
| Producer | Sonny James | |||
| Marie Osmond singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In 1973,Marie Osmond's brothers,The Osmonds, were already well-established as stars in the pop music world and as teen idols (especiallyDonny). 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 incountry music. Osmond was soon signed toMGM Records inLos 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 bookBillboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits byFred Bronson, when Curb was looking for country songs for her to record for her first album,Sonny James suggested that Osmond sing "Paper Roses."
"Paper Roses" was the first song recorded by Osmond as a solo performer, 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.[8] Before long, the song crossed over to pop radio as well, becoming a number 5Pop and number 1Easy Listening singles hit.[9] Coincidentally, on the pop charts, it peaked at the same position as Anita Bryant's version. 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 theUnited 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 theUK 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 1990The Best of Marie Osmond greatest hits album on Curb Records because herrecord label at the time did not have therights to include the originalrecording.
Her "Paper Roses" has been adopted by fans of the Scottish football teamKilmarnock F.C. as the club's anthem and is played at major games throughout the season.[10]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
"Paper Roses" became an oft-covered song internationally in 1960, asBillboard magazine reported in its 6 June 1960 issue that no fewer than 33 different versions had been released in various European countries, including four versions in the UK and six in Germany alone. It also reported that the song was thought to have infringed on the copyright of a number of songs in Germany, the UK and the US.[28]
