Olivia Newton-John Appreciation Thread.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bobby Morrow, Feb 10, 2019.

  1. Mezepokaj

    Mezepokaj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brazil
    Some little trivia:
     
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  2. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    I was fortunate to meet Olivia backstage during the Heartstrings Tour in Florida. I was a member of the Only Olivia fan club and Helen got me a backstage pass to meet Olivia. I will never forget that night...the anticipation was truly building as there was a line of us about 15 and it started down this hall where we could hear Olivia talking to fans but we could not yet see her. I was getting more and more nervous as I got closer to the doorway. It was surreal to hear that Australian voice talking to the fans. Finally it was my turn and she was as sweet in person as I always knew she was, so warm and caring, taking time with each fan. The room was loaded with gifts on the floor and flowers every where. I didn't realize just how petite she really was until I met her in person. I asked her some questions, then she signed my totally hot poster then she asked do you want to take a picture. I was like OMG yes!!! I have this treasured pic with my arm around her...so awesome.

    As my appreciation to her...here are 2 of my most favorite songs:
    (2 is better than 1 right?)

     
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  3. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
  4. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
  5. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    No, they are not necessarily supposed to describe ourselves. I just felt that the Cliff Richard album I would choose would be something close to me. Passing myself off as a "ROCK´N´ROLL JUVENILE" at the age of soon 54 is a bit ridiculous. And as for rock´n´roll... Again, no, that´s not me. I like rock´n´roll, along with many other forms of music, but I am definitely not rock´n´roll.
     
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  6. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    Thank you. :righton: I always knew you had excellent taste.
     
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  7. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    I noticed something the other day that the official video for A Little More Love is NOT on you tube at all. There are some that have the video cropped homemade stuff but not full screen like it was officially released. I found that really weird. I wonder if there is some copyright forbidding it to be shown?
     
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  8. SimpleSimonSays

    SimpleSimonSays Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    Olivia was my second musical love as a kid and she will always have a special place in my gay heart!

    That said, she obviously is not one to dwell on the past and she is not very "generous" with her fanbase. As far as I know, she "owns" most of her work and yet she never did a proper worldwide remasters/boxset/B-sides/etc campaign. Some remasters in 1998 for Australia only, a good (but not great) 2010 Japanese boxset with 2-3 extras and Love Performance spread thin throughout… Disappointing to say the least.

    Everything else is pretty much out print and going for stupid prices online second hand…

    Also, a few weeks ago I've watched on YouTube an Australian special about her book (60 minutes I think) and I was surprised how much she didn't say anything really about her for an hour long interview. She was nice, sweet, smiling, polite, etc., but she didn't say a damn thing or really open up about her. Not that she has to but If you're going into the trouble of writing a bio and doing an hour long interview…

    Okay, I am Coolin' Down now… :wiggle:
     
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  9. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    If Olivia really does own her own recordings then she must be the only artist who hasn't taken advantage of it.
     
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  10. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    I wonder if a lot of her work is tied up in legality?...I remember a thread over on the Only Olivia forum that was started by the owners asking for songs the fans would like to see on a upcoming box set that Olivia was set to put out. In fact as I remember it was presented from Richard’s and Southern or some name like that who was affiliated with Olivia. They actually reached out to the owners of Only Olivia (this was before the fallout) and they wanted feedback of songs fans would like to see appear on a new box set. A majority of the responses were that people wanted “Richard’s Window” on CD and the “studio” recordings of the songs that appeared in Mom For Christmas, without all the voice overs. There were a lot of great responses from the members of rare recordings.

    Needless to say it was all in vain because nothing ever materialized. Yeah we got a few un released tracks form the Japan box set but some of that was stuff we never even knew existed, like Fairy Tale Hero and Looking For Space and Come on Home.

    One of the questions I asked Olivia backstage when I met her was if she would ever consider releasing studio versions of What If and Sea of Pain, she looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. I had to remind her they were from A Mom For Christmas, lol then she remembered but we laughed and then she moved on and never really answered. It was a cute moment...me telling her when she recorded those songs lol I’d still love to have those original recordings from that movie who I think were written by John Farrrar.

    There’s also the alternative version of Sail Into Tomorrow” only available on 45 that’s never been on CD. There’s also the alternate version of Falling with a new guitar solo that appeared on the DVD video but never on an audio CD.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2019
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  11. Mezepokaj

    Mezepokaj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brazil
    That's a nice memory. And I don't think Olivia even remembers most of the songs she actually released on her albums. :laugh:
    Some years ago, Barbra released a compilation album of unreleased tracks. Last year she released her old TV specials on Netflix. It would be a dream if Olivia did something like this.
     
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  12. Jerrika

    Jerrika Mysterious Ways

    Location:
    Canada
    I used to listen to her songs when I was a kid, and I watched Grease at least a dozen times. Last year I bought her Greatest Hits album when I heard she was having health problems. I couldn't buy her music when I was a child because I had no allowance and no job. But I loved to hear songs like Physical and Twist of Fate on the radio. Thank God for FM radio back then or I never would've been able to listen to anything I liked.
     
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  13. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    In an interview just before her 2017 diagnosis, she mentioned they were looking into putting a career-spanning box set together. She also implied there was lots of things in the vaults we hadn’t heard. At the time, she was promoting Liv On and clearly wanted to stick to that subject though.:)
     
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  14. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Olivia’s memoir is more revealing than you’d expect in places. I’m a big fan, but there were things in there that I had no idea about. There’s no ‘scandal’ and she doesn’t say a bad word about anyone, but you don’t feel short changed in any way. For example, the end of her affair with Bruce Welch due in part to Olivia ‘knocking boots’ with Sacha Distel, is dismissed with something like, “I went down roads that I shouldn’t have” Dear Olivia. So endearingly vague.:D
     
  15. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    She says just enough to wet your appetite but that is what makes her so endearing as an artist...she doesn’t give it all away. I haven’t got through the entire book yet. I first had to read what she wrote about my 2nd favorite female artist...her friend Karen.
     
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  16. Mezepokaj

    Mezepokaj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brazil
    The film had a decent result (#37):

    [​IMG]
     
  17. David G.

    David G. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Meeting Olivia in person is really a wonderful thing. I met her in 1988 when she opened a Koala Blue store in Houston. There was a fashion show, and I stood right next to her during the show. After the models had finished walking the catwalk, I got to chat with her for a few minutes until it was time to go to the front of the store for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

    The first thing I noticed, too, when I saw her was how petite she is! I then got to see just how gracious and warm she is when chatting with complete strangers. Later in the evening, a fan came up to her with a box of records that he wanted to get signed. She told him she'd sign one record (autographs were discouraged at this event, as it was a charity fundraiser and they wanted to keep it classy, I guess). He pulled out the Toomorrow soundtrack. Olivia got this very wide-eyed, surprised look on her face and said something like, "Oh, my! That's an old one!" She signed the back of it, since the front was too dark to sign. After that, someone official-looking told the crowd, "No more autographs, please." Some of us hung around and chatted with her for a few more minutes, while everyone else browsed the store. It was lovely.
     
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  18. Chris_Sydney

    Chris_Sydney Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
  19. SimpleSimonSays

    SimpleSimonSays Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    I wonder If by some strange twist of fate :tiphat: there would indeed be a definitive career box set coming out, what would be the extras/B-sides wanted/included?

    By no mean am I a Olivia specialist here but on the top of my head, here is what I could think of:

    - Till You Say You'll Be Mine
    - For Ever
    - The Biggest Clown
    - Richard's Window
    - The Key
    - You Made Me Love You
    - Fool Country*
    - Fairy Tale Hero*
    - Looking For Space*
    - Come On Home*
    - Mon amour, mon impossible amour*
    - Long Live Love (German)*

    The whole Love Performance live album and a couple of extended versions and remixes…

    I am sure there are plenty more but that's what I am aware for now…

    * Already available here and there
     
  20. Song4U

    Song4U Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    There’s the correct version (LP) of Livin in Desperate Times that has never made it to CD. We got the lopped version on all the CDs.
     
  21. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    It’s a crying shame The Biggest Clown wasn’t on 48 (49?) Original Tracks.
     
  22. SimpleSimonSays

    SimpleSimonSays Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    I listened to Indigo today (haven't in a long long time) and while it is better that I remembered, I still find it a tad keyboardishy-cheesy considering the talent involved (Phil Ramone, Randy Waldman, Rob Mounsey, etc). I was expecting/hoping more for an orchestral production à la Warm And Tender which sounds delightful on many tracks.
     
  23. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Yes, it’s not perfect, but as a 2000s Olivia album it’s pretty good. At least the songs are strong and I like the artwork.

    I’d say Indigo is a better covers album than (2) was a duets one.
     
  24. SimpleSimonSays

    SimpleSimonSays Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    Agreed. It is also probably the only one I listened too more than once… The rest is too new agey to me… :yikes:
     
  25. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    The best 2000’s albums (for me) are Stronger Than Before and Indigo. The rest, I have to say, I rarely play.

    Stronger Than Before was as close as we got to a follow up to Back With A Heart. A couple of tracks let it down, though. Phenomenal Woman being amongst the worst things she ever recorded.
     

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