Gives us more opportunities to post pics & video of her. Never get tired of this one. Which do you prefer? White outfit or Black outfit. Darryl
I think by late 76-early 77 Olivia definitely wanted to Clearly aim to a more upbeat pop direction. Both Don' t Stop Believin' and Making a Good Thing Better hinted at such but she, Farrar and probably MCA were afraid to outright kill the golden goose by not at least partially catering to the country market so those two records vacillated between more upbeat pop and country tinged ballads and dramatic mature type songs. Grease's success gave all three parties more confidence to go more pop so thus Totally Hot. Yet even on that record there were echoes of country and romantic ballads just in case her audience didn't take to the new edgier direction. Physical and Soul Kiss were really her only pure mainstream upper tempo pop albums. I still think the perfect ONJ album that captures all facets of her 70s and early 80s career is TOTALLY HOT. That one is a bit of everything and other than maybe her greatest hits volumes would be the record I would give a newbie who wanted to know who she was as an artist at the prime of her career.
I wish she’d have done a disco type record. But that might have been too drastic after Pony Ride and Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
There were definite disco influences on Totally Hot and Xanadu. Disco is tricky. Good disco is hard to do. There were plenty of artists who should have never done Disco (hi Elton!) Olivia could have but if she had tried and it was a dud it could have been career ending at that point. Lucky for her Totally Hot was a smash. Getting back to COME ON OVER, it was also an end of an era as it was the last ONJ album recorded in the UK and the last ONJ album recorded in North America until Gaia. DSB was recorded in Nashville and I think MAGTB was recorded in Canada.
Had she found the right songs, I think she’d have been great at disco. When her voice was in its prime she’d have made short work of anything. Occasionally when I find people who stumble across Twist Of Fate (for some reason it’s always Twist Of Fate.) and love it, they’ll want more in the same vein. I have to tell them that there isn’t anything really! It’s kind of a shame. Yes, Olivia recorded her albums in the UK for a while. Often they were done months in advance, so even when Clearly Love came out Come On Over was probably in the can.
'Don't Stop Believin'' is a much better listen from start to finish for me - the guitars and the bigger range of tempos and styles makes all the difference, and the serious ballads like 'Sam' and 'The Last Time You Loved' become standouts because they are not surrounded by similar songs. I've never heard Olivia talk about that album (she rarely talks about any of them, really) but it always seems to rate highly with fans, which is a testament to how many great songs are on there when you can forgive 'I'll Bet You A Kangaroo'! I did hear a story of a fan asking Olivia to sign a copy of 'Come On Over' after her Vegas show one time and she spoke to him about how much she loved that album. I believe she said something along the lines of loving every single song on it. x
Without boring everyone again, I’ll just say that DSB was the album that truly turned me into an Olivia fan. Just a total joy all the way through. I think she was dipping her toe in more contemporary waters on Every Face Tells A Story. Sadly, the lack of chart success probably put her off trying anything similar on MAGTB! Every Face got a glowing review in Record Mirror when it was released as a single here in early 1977. For me, it’s probably one of my least favourites on DSB. Her vocal and the production are great, but somehow the song doesn’t quite come together. Though it’s better than Cliff’s version on the album of the same name.
This might sound nutty coming from a devoted fan, but I feel like a few of the songs on the albums in the 70s were a distraction that I tolerated on the LP or even the CD but skip while streaming. Greensleeves is numero uno to skip for me, with Argentina not too far behind. Oh, and Olivia’s still perfect.
I saw this new on Darla, maybe something of interest for you devotees. Juliana Hatfield - Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John (Limited edition with alternate cover)
As well as she does Argentina, I kind of which it hadn’t been included on MAGTB. I think the album would have flowed better without it.
Didn't she supposedly include that song on the album as a sort of audition for the starring role in the film version of Evita when it was going to be made in the late 70s ? I seem to remember reading that somewhere and thinking that would have been an odd choice for her had it happened. I may just be imagining the whole thing. As is the song is well done but it sticks out on that album like a sore thumb. I will admit even when playing the vinyl,if I happen to be close to the turntable I will stop the record before it plays the song. I don't hate it but it's not a favorite.
Your memories are correct. Olivia made it known that she fancied the lead role in the movie version of Evita and wanted DCFMA out as lead single from MAGTB in America! Luckily Grease came along and distracted her. At this time she was regularly rumoured to be ‘making her Hollywood debut’ in some film or another. One being a remake of A Farewell To Arms with Nick Nolte!
I agree that Don't throw it all away vocal performance is goosebumps stuff. I always turn it up real loud. Her voice never fails to blow me away on this one.
Another fantastic vocal performance, sadly never released on record. I will never get tired of watching this video. She is a Goddess indeed.
Any word on how she's fairing? I admit I'm always worried about her and hearing "the news" ever since I saw that Australian interview she gave last fall.
This is the Dvd I have and I love it. I had to remember I'm at work and can't just sit and watch the whole thing lol
Now regarding her range - I think this one has the most insane notes sung by a woman that I ever heard. Check out after 3:20 watch
The last interview I saw had my heart sink. She looked so frail and small...it was the first time I actually saw cancer written all over her. I would love to be proven wrong but I've got little hope now.
I think she’s doing as well can be expected. Obviously there are rumours that she’s on her deathbed every so often...She denied the last ones at the start of the year. I’ve read she’s planning a book tour next month to support her memoir, so hopefully we’ll find out more then.
It always makes me cry and I'm not an aussie, so not exposed to this tune whatsoever (could be the only person here who knows Peter Allen). I'm talking about this ONJ video, honestly I don't think I ever saw anyone more beautiful as she is here or heard anyone sing as beautiful as she does here. Makes you wonder if she is even human. Of course I know that she is and the very sad reality of her mortality makes me cry even more. And yes, this video makes me wanna come to Australia before I die.
[QUO I really dig Olivia's Don't Stop Believing' album as well, one of her very finest crafted albums to my ears. This album featured the crème de la crème of Nashville musicians like the great drummer Larrie London and piano wiz Shane Keister, both of whom played on Elvis Presley albums in the 1970's. Legendary Nashville conductor Bergen White, again one of Elvis's on call favorite orchestral arrangers, did the glorious string arrangements on Sam and many of the other ballads. One of his greatest string and horn arrangements for Elvis was on his 1970 studio cut of Bridge Over Troubled Water, a truly majestic piece of music, and when Paul Simon first heard Elvis sing a live version in concert of his great song he quickly remarked, " How the hell am I suppose to compete with that?"
