One Bad Apple

"One Bad Apple" was written by George Jackson, a staff songwriter at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The Osmonds were a young family group from Ogden, Utah, and made a name for themselves performing at Disneyland and on The Andy Williams Show. When they signed with MGM records in 1970, the label sent them to FAME in an effort to duplicate the success of The Jackson 5. George Jackson had written this song with The Jackson 5 in mind, and with production by FAME owner Rick Hall and vocals by 13-year-old Donny Osmond, it sounded very much like a Jackson 5 record. It performed like one too, spending five weeks at #1 in the US. Rodney Hall, who took over operations at FAME from his dad, told Songfacts how Rick discovered The Osmonds: "My dad heard them in Vegas. Mike Curb flew him out there to see them and said, 'I'm not going to tell you who it is, because you won't go if I tell you who it is,' because they'd done The Andy Williams Show, but they hadn't had a hit or a big record. So he flew out there and he dug 'em and decided to cut them like the Jackson 5. He told George to write them a Jackson 5 song and that was it. I've heard the rumor that Barry Gordy sent my dad a Western-Union that said, 'Stop stealing my f--king music.'"

In this song, The Osmonds are singing to a girl, trying to convince her that one bad experience shouldn't dictate her behavior, and that he deserves a chance because he's not like the guy who hurt her. It's a similar sentiment to "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5.

Most people think of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as a place for soul music, since Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett and many other soul legends recorded there. Many white acts recorded there as well - Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, Cher - and they don't get much whiter than The Osmonds. When the group came to town, it caused a particular stir in the young girl population of Muscle Shoals. Rodney Hall told Songfacts: "All the 12-year-old girls weren't crazy over Clarence Carter, but they were crazy over The Osmonds, and they’d come and hang out. One time my two brothers and Donny got on their bikes and they went around the block. By the time they got back around the block there were girls chasing them down the street. We had to have a 10-foot tall double boarder all the way around the fence, because the girls would come up and look through the peepholes in the backyard. It was pretty crazy."