Olivia Newton-John Single by Single Thread

Billboard 2 Page Promo Ad Dec 27, 1975 (I spliced together)
Congrats on Clearly Love

 

I wish it was the lead off single. I like it much more than Something Better To Do. I think at this point SBTD burnt through all the good will created by her previous hits and interest in this album's singles had faded.

 

I've never owned Richard's Window. I do remember the movie it's from being advertised on TV when it came out and recognising her voice as the song played in the background of the trailer. I'd only been a fan for a few months and I was already picking her out in various things.

Have to say the song is nothing special to me. It's quite short and doesn't seem finished off. If it were part of a rarities CD/box set, I'd be pleased, but I wouldn't go out of my way to acquire this. She sings it beautifully, naturally.

 

This wasn't a UK release. I think EMI had given up at this point. I remember watching the single peak at #30 in the Billboard charts and thinking that she was beginning to struggle a bit. Let It Shine was one of my favourite songs from Clearly Love. It harks back to the sound of John Rostill singles somewhat, but is a catchy, positive song and I felt it deserved better than the chart position it reached.

He Ain't Heavy... is a song I never much cared for. The Hollies do it best, but I don't especially like it by them! I don't think the song suits Olivia at all. It smacks of, 'Damnit, we need another song for the album. Pick an oldie!' Part of the reason she was not charting as well was that she was singing MOR stuff like this. She'd be 27 when this came out and was doing material better suited to someone twice her age. She was a young, beautiful pop singer, and I think they made some poor choices with her album cuts. The upcoming Come On Over album was even more sedate...

 

A bit of over-familiarity too. I'm amazed looking back at the 70s how many artists were forced to do 2 albums a year. Record companies seemed to have no faith in them as long term acts and just wanted to make as much money as possible before the public tired of them and they were replaced by someone else.

 

Quantity over quality, or something like that?

 

Yes, something like that. Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful now that she put all those albums out, but there's no doubt some of them would have been stronger if they'd had more time to put them together.

 

Catching up: "Follow Me." One of the best cuts from "Mellow." Have an English single of this. I think "Clearly Love" came out way to quick, and they should of worked Follow Me, instead. "Let It Shine" is the shining moment from Clearly Love, and really upbeat. Would of made a better follow-up to "Please Mr. Please" here in the US. "Fly Away" is ear candy heaven between Denver and Olivia! "Richard's Window" is a bit of an oddity. The production and style are very different from all the other things she had done to that point. It would of sounded "odd" tacked onto any ONJ album, IMO.

But the Denver/Olivia cut and the soundtrack song need to be released on an Olivia compilation of some sort, deserving to be heard.......again! So a big thumbs up to Let It Shine/He Ain't Heavy as a single. Something for everyone!

 

Totally agree! See my last comment.

 

It's almost bossa nova, isn't it? I really like 'Richard's Window' for that very reason - it's so different to what she was releasing on her albums at the time. It sounds like something Dusty Springfield would have recorded in the mid-seventies.

I think 'Clearly Love' started to show John and Olivia's fatigue. I have quite a soft spot for the album, but none of the singles rank as particular favourites. 'Let It Shine' is another nice toe-tapper in the vein of her earlier hits, but to my ear the production has always sounded less robust than it should. It's no competition for the likes of 'Let Me Be There' or 'If You Love Me (Let Me Know)'. She added it into her Vegas setlist last year after almost 40 years of not performing it. Here's a little clip of Olivia and her band performing 'Let It Shine' in Rio de Janiero earlier this year.




x

 

Richard's Window is the most depressing song Olivia ever recorded. It's so dreary as is the soundtrack. Even the title is creepy. I bought the soundtrack when it came out and after one listen never wanted to see the movie.

 

I'd say What's Forever For is the most depressing song Olivia ever recorded. God, it brings you down.

Never heard the full AWTTS soundtrack or seen the movie.

 

I enjoyed those days. I always had something to look forward to from my favorites such as Olivia. Artists wanted to make sure they kept up a radio presence. There was always a mystique about what their next single would be.

And I'll add, it didn't matter if an album flopped like it does now because another one was around the corner. Now if you had several tank, then your goose was cooked.

 

I guess one could say Karen Carpenter had some really depressing songs as well yet it brings out the emotion of the lyrics....that caress the listener. It's a short little song but has a strong statement. It's identifying with someone who came into your life and meant so much to you yet was taken away without warning. I have always been taken with Richard's Window, Olivia's interpretation of the lyrics express a sadness which tied in perfectly to the movie. The opening lyric haunts me and I find myself humming it just out of no where. For me, the song affects me just as much as some of Karen's sad songs. I guess this insert was just for me.

 

And here it is. After years of loving Olivia's music, she finally pushed her way through all of the competition and came out on top as this was my very first ONJ record purchase. The video on the John Denver special may have done the trick as my love for music videos was in high gear by this time and influenced my music purchases. But the song is a standout with or without an outstanding video to promote it. Similar to her other country-flavored singles, this was a great song to sing harmony on and I was Olivia's backup singer.

The chart performance was disappointing, but the song had so many obstacles to prevent it from getting the attention it deserved at radio:
1. Following a lead-off single that did not meet expectations.
2. Radio station programmers at the time refusing to play more than one record that featured solo vocals by the same artist. As hard as MCA tried by not allowing Olivia to get label credit on the John Denver's single, the TV special pretty much gave away who those vocals belonged to and with "Fly Away" already riding the charts, many DJs felt there was no room on the chart for two ONJ singles at the same time. MCA also didn't allow their #1 artist, Elton John, to get label credit for his vocals on recent singles by John Lennon and Neil Sedaka. But in those cases, it was harmany vocals for the most part and not solo vocals as was the case with ONJ. So most DJs would be more forgiving. But not all. My local stations passed on playing Elton's latest single when the John Lennon single was charting.
3. The terrible decision to release the single as a double-sided single. So now there were three ONJ songs that were competing for radio airtime. The flip was not a song that should have been promoted at all as it had already been well-covered by a slew of artists by this time.

I guess if there was ever a time Olivia needed support, it was at this time. So I'm glad this record was the one I spent money on.

 

I actually saw the movie, and it was just horrible. I know it was a true story, but it made for very poor narrative. Sort of like a Lifetime Movie of the Week. Olivia's track was actually the high point of the movie, and I did eventually find a copy of the soundtrack in a record store -- quite by accident, as I never really sought it out.

Of all the songs on Clearly Love, "Let It Shine" was a good choice as a single. It was more "country" than much of the album, which meant that MCA could continue to promote her to country radio here in the U.S. It wasn't a particularly strong song, so I'm not surprised that it didn't do better than #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 (although it did make it to #5 on the country chart and #1 on the AC chart).

As I was a huge fan of John Denver back in the mid-1970s, I had all his albums from those years, and "Fly Away" was probably my very favorite song of his at the time. Olivia, of course, played a part in that, but it's also just a fantastic song. Interestingly, "Looking for Space" was also another favorite track, and I was very pleasantly surprised to learn decades later that Olivia had recorded it. It was that track that led me to purchase the Olivia Japanese SHM-CD box without hesitation, in fact. (Not that I wouldn't have bought it anyway, but seeing that "Looking for Space" was one of the bonus tracks made me preorder the set right then and there.)

 

"Let It Shine" is one of my least favourite recordings by Olivia. I can´t put my finger on it, but nothing about the song really appeals to me. Not very memorable, I think. It´s not dreadful, just a song that I don´t care for all that much. "Clearly Love" was a pleasant album, but there weren´t any big hits that could be lifted from it. My own favourite is Labi Siffre´s "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" - and I even think Olivia´s arrangement is slightly better than the original. (And I am a big fan of Labi Siffre´s.)

 

The next U.S. single will be the only single released from this album, this single went to #1 on Easy Listening Billboard Top 50 Chart.

March 1976
Come On Over
Small Talk And Pride (b side)

Come On Over (promo stereo/stereo)





Billboard Single Review March 6, 1976

 

Billboard Promo Ad March 27, 1976

Billboard Mar 13, 1976



Billboard May 1, 1976

 

Billboard A Different Sound for Olivia July 31, 1976

 

Such a great performance from Olivia. At the same time I felt she got the short straw in a Gibb song. But she made the absolute most of it and hits it out of the park with her vocal.

I was puzzled by Jolene being released as a single in Japan but this was a huge album for her there and was released as an SACD before Physical.

I really wanted to see Don't Throw It Away become a single at that time.

 

I should add that the album cover photo is jaw dropping. I still remember the moment I first saw it. I have no doubt that picture may have sold more albums than the music itself.

 

Since I like the Bee Bees, "Come On Over" became a favorite single of mine. Well written, expertly produced and sung by Olivia, much stronger than the Gibb Bros. take on this. I never understood how MCA only released one single from this set.
I agree that "Don't Throw It All away" could of became a top AC hit at the time, and who knows the fate of Jolene. But she's kept that song in her live set now for years!

 

I tend to agree with the "experts" on this one, with no offense to anyone else!

 

I was going to add on the tail end of my last comments how I loved the gatefold and album cover art. The outtakes I've seen were awesome too. She was just SO beautiful..........