By the time Donny Osmond's first solo single, 'Puppy Love', hit Number One in the summer of 1972, the 14-year-old was already a veteran of TV and Las Vegas. Part of the hitmaking family The Osmonds, and famed for his duets with sister Marie, with whom he went on to make the hugely popular series The Donny & Marie Show, Donny Osmond was THE teen pin-up of the 1970s. But after punk, the clean-cut approach wasn't so popular, and record companies felt that there would be no interest in the grown man.;In this revealingly honest memoir, Donny Osmond reveals how he kept faith, how he battled against a debilitating social phobia and made a hugely successful comeback, not just as a recording artist, but also as a star of stage in a record-breaking musical. He continues to tour regularly and remains hugely popular to his fans around the world. This book shows how he kept on going, and will be an inspirational read to all.

Ancient China faces invasion by the barbarian hordes of Shan-Yu, and calls all able bodied men to arms to defend their Emperor. Young girl Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) disguises herself as a boy and joins up in her aged father's place, accompanied by her protectors: guardian dragon Mushu (Eddie Murphy) and lucky cricket Cri-kee. Mulan trains under the handsome Captain Shang (B.D. Wong, with Donny Osmond handling the singing), with whom she is soon falling in love, and shows herself to be a capable warrior. When Mulan is wounded in battle, however, the secret of her gender is discovered and she faces exposure and disgrace.

Packaged together as part of the 7Ts label's series of Osbros two-fers, Donny Osmond's fifth and sixth albums maintain the lightweight sheen that characterized their predecessors, but does one sense things toughening up around the edges? You bet. Old enough by now to have a loud say in the kind of songs he was recording, and steering further away from the lackluster ballads that he was handling so adroitly earlier in his career, young master Osmond turns in more genuinely heartwarming performances here than at any time in the past -- his version of "Twelfth of Never" is all but definitive, "Young Love" and "Tears on My Pillow" likewise. And then there is his vision of "Unchained Melody," which may not deviate from any previous version but does prove the power of the Osmond vocal chords, even as you're still recovering from his glorious hijacking of "Are You Lonesome Tonight." Of course, you can have too much of a good thing, and whoever handed him "Hawaiian Wedding Song" to croon through was not doing listeners' ears many favors. But 20 songs slip seamlessly by and, of all the albums Osmond recorded while fame was all around, these two are probably the best. ~ Dave Thompson

Susan Boyle returns with an album of songs from the golden era of film and stage that spans the generations.