Long Haired Lover from Liverpool

"Long Haired Lover from Liverpool"
Single by Little Jimmy Osmond
B-side	"Mother of Mine"
Released	1972
Length	2:15
Writer(s)	Christopher Kingsley (credited as Christopher Dowden on the U.K. release)
Producer	Mike Curb and Perry Botkin Jr
Music video "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" on YouTube

"Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" is a pop song by Jimmy Osmond.

Written by Christopher Kingsley (somehow credited as Christopher Dowden on the U.K. release) and produced by Mike Curb and Perry Botkin Jr, "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" was a UK number one single for Jimmy Osmond. Riding high on the popularity of The Osmonds, Jimmy (the youngest sibling) had a massive hit with the song, in the process becoming the youngest person to ever reach number one on the UK singles chart aged 9 years 8 months.

A UK number one for five weeks in December 1972, it was the Christmas number one that year, and has since sold over a million copies in the UK. It also reached #2 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) and #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. Kingsley's 1969 version was an unsuccessful single, played by then-popular MOR station KMPC, Los Angeles.

However, Kingsley's record distributed by MGM, where the Osmonds recorded, was where Jimmy's mother first heard "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" and thought it would be a great song for the youngest member of the Osmond family. Mike Curb, president of MGM and producer of the Osmonds agreed and recorded Jimmy. The timing couldn't have been better, as Osmond-mania was sweeping the UK and the Osmond family was embarking on a major UK-European promotional tour. Politics at the UK record company almost stopped the record from being released as a single, but through the efforts of Virgin Ear Music (a Richard Kaye Publishing Company - worldwide copyright owner of "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool") and his UK sub-publishers the Little Jimmy Osmond record was released and "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" rocketed to number one on the UK charts becoming a certified million seller and the biggest selling single of its release year.

References

Preceded by "My Ding-A-Ling" by Chuck Berry

UK number one single December 23, 1972 for five weeks

Succeeded by "Blockbuster!" by The Sweet