In 1960, Paul Anka released “Puppy Love”. The song appears on his Paul Anka Sings His Big 15 album.
“Puppy Love” says in part, “And they called it puppy love / Just because we’re in our teens / Tell them all it isn’t fair / To take away my only dream.”
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Anka wrote the sweet song about Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, and his romantic feelings for her. The two did date, but the relationship did not last.
“She wanted to get married,” Anka says. “I couldn’t do it. But what a family. And what a sweetheart she was.”
“She just had that sweetness, that goodness,” he adds. “I don’t know where it came from, but she was never different. It was unbelievable.”
Anka and Funicello were just 17 years old when they were dating. Still, Funicello says that doesn’t mean their relationship wasn’t the real thing.
“As Paul wrote in his hit song about us, just because we were 17 didn’t mean that, for us, our love wasn’t real,” she says.
What Donny Osmond Says About “Puppy Love”
In 1972, Donny Osmond released “Puppy Love”. On his Portrait Of Donny album, “Puppy Love” became one of Osmond’s early big hits. The song also suited Osmond, who was just 14 years old when it was released.
Still, in spite of the success of “Puppy Love”, Osmond later admitted he didn’t always love being attached to this song. In fact, he used to hate doing “Puppy Love” as an adult in his setlist because of the youthful nature of the lyrics. However, a comment from an audience member forever changed how Osmond looks at performing this song.
“I didn’t do ‘Puppy Love’ in the set list because I wanted to get away from it,” Osmond recalls. He goes on to reveal it was a fan after his show who helped change his mind.
“She said, ‘You may have had a hit with ‘Puppy Love’, but that song was a big part of my childhood memories, and you have no right to mess with my memories,’” Osmond shares. “And she was right. And I stopped, and I realized, ‘No, this song doesn’t just belong to me. It belongs to everybody else.’ So I treat it with respect.”
“Puppy Love” is Osmond’s second Top 5 single. Portrait Of Donny also includes “Hey Girl”, a Top 10 single for Osmond. After “Puppy Love”, Osmond didn’t have another Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart until “Soldier Of Love”, out in 1988.
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