I bet this is the first time it’s been mentioned outside of us since the album came out. The Only Olivia special was filmed in the first week of June 1977. Fans who were at the taping of the show occasionally pop up on Facebook. How wonderful it must have been to hear her sing the ‘new’ songs, MAGTB and Slow Dancing… The album wasn’t released at that point.
I want a UK-US "we heard it first" fan war between Only Olivia audience members who heard MAGTB and Slow Dancing First vs. the US fans who heard "Hopelessly Devoted to You" at the Olivia 1978 taping a few weeks before Grease came out.
We didn’t get the Olivia special until 11th September that year. By that time I knew HDTY pretty damn well.
If US fans felt like Grease was an impressive comeback, UK fans must've felt like it was a miracle. 16 weeks at No. 1 on just the singles chart!
It was unbelievable. I can’t explain the elation. After years of scouring the newspapers every day for tiny mentions of Olivia, suddenly she was in them every day! Speaking of Suddenly, that was a ‘preview’ both the U.K. and US got thanks to Hollywood Nights!
I was always lukewarm on "Suddenly." Ever since her death, it's become one of my favorite records of hers. How special it must have been to hear it early, and then to see her top the US and UK charts with different lead singles from Xanadu! I'll go to my grave insisting Xanadu > Grease.
I’ve always preferred the version of Suddenly on HN to the released one. And I did expect it to be the lead single given its slot on the TV special!
Wow, i wish i could see it for the first time on tv, i hope this special will be released on dvd someday as a bonus disc on the "Don't Stop believin" album or the 'Making A Good Thing Better" albums as a deluxe cd release.
Here in the Netherlands they also show little or nothing of Olivia, only tonight in a show news program they said that the state funeral of Olivia will be held in December.
Finally after a long wait my deluxe cd of "If Not Fo You" has finally just being deliverd with the mail, the cd looks great and the booklet is something i really would like to read when i'm going to listen to the cd's.
Updated screenshot from my TV planner. I hope the Only Olivia show is as good quality as this picture!
Yes! My dream duet! It was officially Olivia's last recording session last December and she could still hit those high notes at the end!!! I am just praying SOMEONE does some official dance mixes-- it could be HUGE in the clubs with these two legends!
Mine too! Christmas 1983. I was five and had spent most of the year driving my parents crazy making them watch the HBO concert pretty much anytime it was aired!! I’m really curious what tracks they’ll add to make it a deluxe edition. Will they stop at 1982 or go past the original release date to include “Twist of Fate” and “Soul Kiss?” It would be nice to have “Livin in Desperate Times” too but only if it’s the LP or 7” version, NOT the “butchered” one. That file needs to disappear so that it doesn’t end up on anymore releases now that we have the complete versions available!!
That dreadful ‘butchered’ version has stuck in my head after all these years. Now the original soundtrack version and the single mix sound off to me. It’s a nightmare
I don’t remember the original TV show looking that good. I suspect the photo they used was touched up. The version of Only Olivia on YouTube was very washed out. I recall she was wearing shiny gold boots on the show, but you couldn’t tell what colour they were on the YouTube version.
This will be awesome. I still remember my Physical concert and how she hit those high notes on Jolene. Can’t wait to hear this duet with Dolly. I hope her live version only on 45 rpm issued in Japan makes its way on the Come On Over deluxe edition.
Is this the show she sings Grow Young? I love that song. I dubbed the audio from the Japan box set video disc to get that song.
