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Donny Osmond: Making Old New Again

Donny Osmond turns 50 later this year, but not before releasing an album of '70s love songs — titled, appropriately enough, Love Songs of the '70s.

The disc, out today, finds Osmond casting his gaze back to beloved — some might say reviled — hits, including "I Can See Clearly Now" (audio), "How Deep Is Your Love" (audio), and a song Barry Manilow made famous: "Mandy" (audio). Osmond crafted these songs not in a recording studio, but in a dressing room, in between performances of Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

Some skeptics might consider these songs — not to mention the artist performing them — the antithesis of cool in 2007. But think about this: Several of the songs Osmond performs on Love Songs of the '70s have been performed recently by the would-be teen idols on American Idol, making everything old officially new again.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
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