Yesterday, I happened to watch a video of an Osmond Brothers' special from 1978. It's pretty hideous, particularly since Jay appears to be sporting a bad perm. In that special, they featured a group of five boys called the Knudsen Brothers. There are actually ten brothers in the family-- and yes, they are LDS-- but only the oldest six sing (I guess #6 was too young for this show). The other four work behind the scenes for their act in Branson. Anyway, this was their TV debut. They sang barbershop, which seems hokey even for 1978.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlQ0kKZT1SI

Also appearing are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (although they are called the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders), Andy Gibb, Crystal Gayle, Bob Hope, and Jimmie Walker. It's pretty cringeworthy, although the Knudsen Brothers can sing.

Has anyone seen them perform in Branson? Or know them personally?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2018 08:46AM by knotheadusc.

I was attending BYU at the time. One of my closest friends became good friends(male) was quite chummy with the Osmond clan, especially Jay who was sporting a perm at the time. Perms were in for whatever reason. Even Marie had her hair appear "permed" at times. I had a method for "perming" my bangs by making scores of tiny pin curls in damp hair. When removed, it looked like an actual perm but would wash out. Shortly after my friend saw what I had done he requested I "perm" his hair as well. (He liked the idea that he could look like Jay without the expense). I recall this because it took a LOT of pinning to "perm" an entire head of hair. And I had to do it more than once since it washed out.

Memories. So weird.

I had perms when I was a lot younger. They were popular in the 70s and 80s. It surprises me that Jay would get one, though. It looks ridiculous.

Perms. Disco. Ugly clothes. No wonder I’m not nostalgic about my teenage years.

The Knudsen family resided in my ward in Utah County. We always had free entertainment from them at ward parties. Their home was quite modest and small and I always wondered how in the world they housed 12 people.

Mrs. Knudsen died of cancer years after we moved into the ward.

That was quite the walk down memory lane to see them perform. It was at the Osmond studios in Orem, I believe. I remember going to at least one taping of some Christmas special at that studio.

And, yes, perms were popular in the late 70's. I got one. My grown daughters never fail to ask me "mom, what were you thinking?" whenever they see old pictures of me with that hairdo!

I honestly had never heard of them until yesterday. They were impressive singers, especially for being so young.

The best perms ever back then were the home ones my step-sister gave, by Ogilvie. Very soft and natural looking. She wasn't a beautician but enjoyed giving them to family and friends. She was so pretty herself she used to be a runway model in our hometown, with a killer personality to match. She still has that inner beauty all these years later, and is still a looker. She didn't remarry after her husband died decades ago. He was her only love.

:)

What? You trying to make us glad it's 2018? Well, it's working.

Luckily by the time the Osmonds were on I had moved onto other things and only caught their show a couple of time on visits home to see parents. Mormons were so proud of the Osmonds. When they built the studio on Orem my father used to talk about how they had been driven out of Hollywood. Persecution.

I got a perm in the seventies that I was talked in to. I had doubts but everyone was getting one. My doubts were confirmed when everyone in the salon looked at me in horror as they tried to say how great it looked--I looked like a six foot two inch Sophia from the golden Girls. All photos were destroyed about the same time I burned my mission diary.

OMG... the image of a 6'2" Sophia is killing me!

Branson = hell on earth

Here's SIX singing "God Bless The USA"... I think I liked their barbershop better, though this isn't that bad. I've heard worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb4DOJ5-WXw

Be kind about the perms. My hair is like that, naturally. Most of my children and grandchildren have inherited this. They are blonde.

One of my "rebellions" when I left the cult was to let my hair grow long, and stop ironing it straight. The curls lengthened into waves. The Mormon hairstyle at the time was straight short hair with a shaved neck. Ugh--I regretted conforming to that hairstyle. My TBM brother-in-law wouldn't allow his wife or daughters to grow their hair longer than the back of their neck. They ended up rebelling in every way they could, when they got older.

I only mentioned the perm because I know Jay's hair is not naturally curly and it looked silly on him. Or... at least I have never seen him with curly hair, except in this video.

Having naturally curly hair is a totally different ballgame.

Looking back, I think he had a crush on her. National Lampoon did a spoof news article about David and Karen Carpenter getting married, with Donnie as best man and Marie as maid of honor.

As the 1970s ended, one of Gary Trudeau's "Doonesbury" characters surmised, "What can you say about a decade whose greatest cultural achievement was a 50s revival?"

That's funny... I believe Karen Carpenter once dated Alan Osmond. There was a picture of her with the Osmond Brothers in the book The Carpenters: The Untold Story by Ray Coleman.

I can't even imagine how iced tea loving Karen would have dealt with the whole Mormon thing.