The Olivia 40/40 disc is great, and there were a couple of songs I knew but didn't recognise by the title ... nice surprise. It is a Japanese shmcd.... The sound is very good, but it is loud on the disc. There are still dynamics, but I was surprised at how loud peak volume was. I had to turn the car cd down from its regular position
Yes, it’s very loud. You can hear the sound distort occasionally. The only ‘new’ song on 40/40 is the last one, Come On Home. This was recorded in 1973 but never included on any of Olivia’s albums.
I think its the loudest cd I have. 17 or 18 is normally about the listening volume on the car cd. When I put it on it was on 20, because something a little quieter had been on previous and it punched me in the head ... It was the first time I had heard all those pop songs on side two for years. It was very cool.
Yeah, you are right. Farrar production + Olivia's vocals at their peak are a magical combination. Even if a song isn't above average, they still made it worth a listen. I love Soul Kiss too. It's a very interesting album and one of my favorites from Olivia. It just doesn't seem to have a single sure-hit track, although I agree with you that the promo was very mishandled.
Soul Kiss was supposed to have a full length video album like Physical, but Olivia’s pregnancy meant there had to be compromises. I wonder if there had been a long form video/TV special if that would have helped at all? Agree that there isn’t an obvious smash hit single on SK...It’s not my favourite song, but maybe Culture Shock would have been a better lead single? It’s catchy and rude enough for the press to make a song and dance about.
Something Better To Do is one of the songs I didn't recognise by the title. I love that song It always surprises me how rocky A Little More Love is too. Such a great piece of writing on that song.
A Little More Love was the perfect ‘new Olivia’ post-Grease single. It was like nothing she’d ever done before.
I don't think a full video album would have made much difference. This was never a defining factor for the success of an album. It would be fine to see it, nevertheless. And Culture Shock always seemed just an album track to me. It deals with a controversial topic, which maybe could have helped, but I wouldn't bet on it. Queen of the Publication or Toughen Up would be my choices for the lead single, even though they don't seem strong enough too. But I still like them: an album full of good album tracks, that's my definition for Soul Kiss.
It’s funny, but I always used to like Torn Between Two Lovers by Mary MacGregor and thought how much it would have suited Olivia. Mary even sang it like Olivia.. Culture Shock was kind of a saucier, 80s take on the song, I suppose.
I've never heard this song before, but I'm listening it now and it really sounds like a 70s Olivia track. In fact, I would say she would do a much better job at singing it.
It was perfect for Olivia, though I’m sure she’d have had doubts about the lyric in 1976... A shame, as she could have done with with a big hit like Torn in 1976...
It was a shock to DJ's and the greater public too, but totally in a positive way. Here she was expressing sex much more explicitly than she really ever had before, and the edgier rock production was a real announcement that her career was rapidly changing direction after Grease seemed to be such a huge success.
It was a brave choice. Considering the success of Grease, it would have been easy for her to do something retro like the songs in the movie. But as I said, ALML was a completely new direction for Olivia.
The way that the Grease movie influenced both Olivia's new look and sound does remind me of the way that Elvis's 68 Special would help change his music direction and look for the next decade. Elvis's upturned collar and black leather outfit would help provide the template for his iconic jumpsuit look in the 1970's. His sound would change drastically too as he would get back in touch with a more bluesy and edgier sound in the upcoming sessions in Memphis at American Sound Studios. His iconic comeback album, From Elvis In Memphis, would also feature complicated string and horn arrangements for the first time in a studio recording, just like the recording sessions for the 68 Comeback Special featured.
Olivia mentions Elvis in her memoir. She went to one of his gigs with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and was supposed to meet him afterwards but something happened and he couldn’t make it. She also said that she heard he claimed to have told her to record I Honestly Love You, but added this wasn’t true. I sure had Elvis lived, he and Olivia would have worked together.
Yes indeed that would have been a cool pairing to say the least. I think you and I both feel that Elvis was definitely a little smitten with Olivia. The fact that he kept covering her songs during her country-pop faze that Elvis was readily drawn to is merely one indication that he appreciated her song choices and style. I think that there is no question he must have appreciated her beauty and gracious personality as well, after all she was raised "down south" so to speak, way down south in Australia that is.
It’s such a shame they didn’t meet. I’d love a picture of them together. It must have given Olivia’s confidence a huge boost to know Elvis was a fan of hers.
Oh man, what a missed opportunity for two of the best looking people on the planet. I will have to settle for my picture of Olivia with Charlie Rich when she opened for him in Las Vegas at the Hilton Hotel in 1974, ironically in the same showroom Elvis would play in for eight straight years. I think I told you about that picture before on another thread. I think that must have just blown her away that the most famous singer in the world kept covering her hit songs, well at least two of them (Let Me Be There, If You Love Me (Let Me Know) anyways.
I think he did Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain too? I know that wasn’t her song as such, but I like to think he heard it when he bought the Come On Over album. Edit. He did Loving Arms too. Not sure if this was before or after Olivia.
I disagree that Soul Kiss lacked any killer singles... i think "Toughen Up" could've been huge had it been the leadoff instead of the followup
It was set to be the lead single, but got passed over when they found Soul Kiss. We’ll never know now, but I doubt TU would have changed much had it been the lead single.
