Olivia Newton-John. Your favourite single Poll.

My favorite late-period Olivia single is "Twist Of Fate", her last big hit in the US (#5). I've always been surprised that was the end of the road for Olivia, because she seemed to be adapting alright to the '80s.

 

That's pretty much it. TH was recorded quickly in June/July 1978 whilst she was promoting Grease. Incredibly, she also did a world tour in late 1978! They worked them hard back then!

 

I think Madonna adapted better! All those successful singers like ONJ, Laura Branigan and Sheena Easton were wiped out when she hit big.

 

Magic was THE hit from Xanadu in the States. Maybe the reason the Xanadu single didn't do better was because people were still 'feeling' Magic? Here it was the opposite. Magic made #32! Probably one of its lowest worldwide chart showings.

 

Well - in the US anyhow - Sheena bounced right back after hooking up with Prince, scoring several hit including the salacious "Sugar Walls", one of the raunchiest chart hits of the decade. Her image started out ultra goodie-goodie with "Morning Train", but she'd already taken it in a more sophisticated direction with "For Your Eyes Only" (she was smoking hot in that film's title sequence - I think she was hotter than the Bond girl they got for the film - they should have used Sheena!), so going full slut, while shocking, wasn't ridiculous like it might have been for Branigan.

Although Laura got pretty racy herself with "Self Control", one of my favorite '80s hits and another stunning performance.

 

Funny you should say that as Olivia's grandfather, Max Born who was a good friend of Albert Einstein, won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics.

 

"Xanadu" still made it to #8 in the US. Would have to look at the charts to see what its competition was at the time. Might have outsold some hits that charted higher - certainly seemed to outplay them on the radio.

Also, by the time "Xanadu" was released as a single, "Magic" had already hit #1, "I'm Alive" had hit #16, and "All Over The World" came out (#13). At that point I'm sure a lot of people thought, F-it, I'll just get the whole album...

 

The Top 10 on the Hot 100 (October 18 1980). It's a brilliant Top 10 so I had to post it:

1 1 ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST –•– Queen (Elektra)-10 (3 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 WOMAN IN LOVE –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-7 (2)
3 3 UPSIDE DOWN –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-15 (1)
4 4 ALL OUT OF LOVE –•– Air Supply (Arista)-19 (2)
5 12 HE’S SO SHY –•– The Pointer Sisters (Planet)-13 (5)
6 9 REAL LOVE –•– The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-7 (6)
7 7 I’M ALRIGHT –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-15 (7)
8 8 XANADU –•– Olivia Newton-John / The Electric Light Orchestra (MCA)-11 (8)
9 5 DRIVIN’ MY LIFE AWAY –•– Eddie Rabbitt (Elektra)-18 (5)
10 6 LATE IN THE EVENING –•– Paul Simon (Warner Brothers)-11 (6)

 

I love Living in Desperate Times. Strange it wasn't a bigger hit. Sounds very ABBA'esque in it's melody and vocal harmonies. Production and video abuses EVERY 80's cliche you can think of!!!

 

I love Living in Desperate Times. Strange it wasn't a bigger hit. Sounds very ABBA'esque in it's melody and vocal harmonies. Production and video abuses EVERY 80's cliche you can think of!!!

 

I love Living in Desperate Times. Strange it wasn't a bigger hit. Sounds very ABBA'esque in it's melody and vocal harmonies. Production and video abuses EVERY 80's cliche you can think of!!!

 

Just kiddin' you know. IIRC Einstein played with young Olivia when she was a kid.

 

Please watch your phrasing with the last comment. Times have changed!

 

Agree fully. Madonna was young and fresh, but in terms of talent she's not worthy to lick the dust from Olivia's shoes.

 

Of you creepy Grandpa Albert!

 

I love Self Control. This and the Sheena songs Strut and Sugar Walls were all from 1984. The last good year these acts had before Madonna demolished them!

 

What a wonderful chart! This is exactly why I used to prefer the U.S. one to ours. I have 7 of those songs on singles/CDs, but I'd happily get the other 3 too. Xanadu is far from the best song on that top 10!

 

A little more love for me. It's a very good song and the production and instrumentation is great, with those bass lines and the biting guitar lick. And she sings it quite well. Like it's tailor-made for her.

 

A little more love for me. It's a very good song and the production and instrumentation is great, with those bass lines and the biting guitar lick. And she sings it quite well. Like it's tailor-made for her.

 

A 2004 interview from Andrew Denton's Australian ABC tv show Enough Rope touches on the Einstein connection.
Olvia never met Einstein according to this report.

 

It was. John Farrar wrote specifically for Olivia.

 

The Physical video album is, for the most part, very good. Nice vids for Landslide, Recovery, Stranger's Touch and Silvery Rain especially.

 

So far, I'm surprised I Honestly Love You hasn't gone down better. I'm sick to the back teeth of it personally, but it's something of a signature song for Olivia.

Heart Attack, a big hit, only has one vote. Beaten by Soul Kiss!

Always thought the winner would be between Magic and A Little More Love. So far that's accurate.

 

Weird I remember Livvy talking about how Einsterin played with her when she was 2 or 3 years old and explained to her the theory of relativity or something...

 

Well, Soul Kiss is far, far better song than Heart Attack. Weird it wasn't a big hit. Probably it would be if Tina Turner sang it! I Honestly Love you is just a bland tune in her version IMHO, great lyrics but she doesn't do the song justice. Peter Allen, it's author did it great, Elton-style.