Olivia Newton-John Physical Poll. Pick Your Favourites & Discuss.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bobby Morrow, Apr 14, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Physical is the ninth full-length studio album by British-Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John, released on 13 October 1981 by MCA Records. The album was produced and partly written by her long-time record producer John Farrar. Recorded and mixed at David J. Holman's studio in Hollywood, California, Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and her most successful studio album to date. Musically, the album features considerable use of synthesizers and explores lyrical themes such as loveand relationships, sex, kinesthetics and environmental protection. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of them considering it to be Newton-John's best work. The album charted high in several countries, including the United States, Japan and Newton-John's native Australia, becoming one of the most successful albums of the early 1980s. It also ranks among the best-selling albums by Australian solo artists, selling more than ten million copies worldwide.


    The album's title track was a commercial phenomenon, staying ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100; at the time, this tied the record set by Debby Boone's 1977 single "You Light Up My Life". The song and its music video were controversial, having been banned or edited by several radio stations and television channels (such as MTV) for its sexual references. The single was followed by "Make a Move on Me", another top worldwide hit. "Landslide", which failed to enter the majority of musical charts, had a music video featuring Newton-John's boyfriend (and later husband) Matt Lattanzi, to whom she had dedicated the album. A video compilation, Olivia Physical, was produced, featuring music videos of all songs from the album. The material was a commercial and critical success, and earned Newton-John a Grammy Award for Video of the Year.

    The album was promoted with Newton-John's 1982 North American Physical Tour, performances from which a home video entitled Olivia in Concert was produced. The Physical era marked the height of Newton-John's solo career, gaining her wide acclaim as one of the most successful female artists of the early 1980s.

    Each song from Physical has its respective music video. All the music videos were filmed from the Physical video album, which was directed by Brian Grant. The recordings were made in late 1981, in London, Honolulu and Newton-John's home at Malibu, California. The songs "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "A Little More Love" and "Magic" (Newton-John hit singles from the 1978 soundtrack Grease, the studio album of the same year, Totally Hot, and the 1980 soundtrack Xanadu, respectively) also had new music videos filmed from the video album. Newton-John's then-boyfriend (now ex-husband) Matt Lattanziparticipated for the "Landslide" music video.

    The video debuted on 8 February 1982 on ABC as Let's Get Physical, and boasted 35% of the United States viewing audience when its first aired. The home video version was released later as Olivia Physical, on VHS, betamax and laserdisc formats by MCA Home Video. The television version has little differences from the home video version. The television version features video interludes starring Olivia, introducing some music videos, and the home video version features the music videos for "Love Make Me Strong" and "Falling".

    The video was a critical and commercial success, being a Billboard top charting music video for many weeks in 1981, earning a Grammy Award for Video of the Year and a nomination for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program.



    OK, Physical isn’t quite the classic album like others I’ve covered in some of my other polls, but it was the most successful non-soundtrack album of Olivia’s career. The title track eclipsed everything else on it of course.. There are far better songs on the LP than Physical, yet that was the one that became a huge hit. By far the biggest of her career. The video album that went alongside the LP, which was also turned into a TV special, helped enormously. It wasn’t often an artist made a video for every song on their album. Especially in 1981! It also wasn’t often Olivia was at the forefront of things, but she certainly was here. ELO and Blondie had both made video albums, but neither had the success of Olivia’s.

    It’s ironic that Olivia’s biggest hit single was also one of the worst of her career. The song caught the aerobics boom and was massively overplayed as a result. I believe it had an impact on the rest of her career. Where do you go after a single that’s stayed at #1 for 10 weeks? Another film with John Travolta perhaps? Maybe not.:D

    So, did you buy Physical? Some of you must have as it peaked at #6 in the US and went double platinum.:) Do you think the album has held up well, or was just a fad of the times? Was it special to you back then? I’ve included a poll where you can pick your favourite songs and have added options for the artwork and the video album too.

    It’s 2018. We’re all 37 years older, but it’s time to get Physical again. Let’s hope our poor old bones can take it!
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2018
  2. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The inside gatefold.

    [​IMG]

    The poster that came with US copies of the LP.

    [​IMG]
    The inner sleeve. These photos were also used for the Physical single picture sleeve.
     
    Rosewater, JeffMo, thecdguy and 2 others like this.
  3. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    Wow, the first one to comment. I think Landslide is awesome, own the single and found the Japanese Greatest Hits CD where it’s on. Physical is catchy but annoying. Never listened to the rest of the album, actually.
     
    Jarleboy and John Adam like this.
  4. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    It probably won’t be the biggest thread.:D

    I’ll gradually post all the videos so you can hear and see the whole album if you want.:)
     
    Yost likes this.
  5. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Landslide video.

     
    Yost, John Adam and thecdguy like this.
  6. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter



    Stranger’s Touch video.
     
    rockerreds and JeffMo like this.
  7. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Make A Move On Me video

     
  8. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Falling video

     
    MDNA4ever and Yost like this.
  9. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Love Make Me Strong video

     
    Yost likes this.
  10. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    This album is a guilty pleasure of mine, totally unlike the vast majority of what I listen to. However, there's one song heere that is very very special - Carried Away. It's a lovely song, and Olivia's vocal performance is excellent - delicate, fragile, yearning. I own it really for that one track.
     
  11. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Carried Away was a cast off from Streisand’s Guilty album sessions, apparently.
     
    Jarleboy and Vaughan like this.
  12. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Probably my favorite song on the album.

    Another Gibb song that Olivia does better.
    Still looking for a copy of the album in excellent shape locally.
    All the one's I've seen have flaws (scratches, cover in bad shape or no poster)
    Did the UK version come with a poster?

    Darryl
     
    Bobby Morrow likes this.
  13. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Well, only one song I've actually heard, so I picked that one.
     
    Bobby Morrow likes this.
  14. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    I must admit that, as a fan of her earlier country-tinged pop sound, when I first heard the song "Physical", I thought she had "sold out" and "jumped on the disco bandwagon", so I didn't buy the album at the time. I just listened to first 5 albums and said, "Oh, Olivia, what happened?" Years later, I picked up the album in a used bin and not only do I really like the whole album, but I applaud her for moving on and not staying in the same place musically. The songs are well-written, produced, played, and sung, and there are some really nice melodies and chord progressions lurking behind some of the pulsating dance beats. It flashes me back to a very good time in the early '80s but it still holds up well today. I also realized in retrospect (now that I have 15 of her albums) that Totally Hot was the transitional album that started preparing us for Physical.
    I'm still not fond of the cover art. I prefer the pictures of a more angelic-looking Olivia over the sweaty Olivia with shorter hair doing workouts.
    I have a soft spot for the "Dolphin Song."
     
  15. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    No, the UK version didn’t have the poster.

    A few years ago, I got a sealed MCA US copy of the album from Esprit. So there are still copies doing the rounds.
     
  16. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    Hmmm, I had to change vote. I didn’t realise Make A Move On Me was on Physical. Great song too! Two of her best songs (IMHO) already on this album. I really should take the time to listen to the rest. :doh:
     
    Bobby Morrow likes this.
  17. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    I think even though albums like Physical and Totally Hot had a more ‘rock’ sound, she always put plenty of ballads on too. She didn’t want to alienate her fanbase. Plus she always preferred singing ballads as well...
     
    Jarleboy and Folknik like this.
  18. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Carried Away seems to be an early favourite. This is the video.

     
    John Adam and Vaughan like this.
  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Olivia is pretty special. I'm more of a rock guy but she had a great voice she had a great writer in John Farrer (i think that's his name) ... I think this was actually a great album. I like the singles obviously, but falling, silvery rain and the promise were stand out tracks for me.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    oh and she was pretty and sweet also, that never hurts
     
    Bobby Morrow likes this.
  21. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    And "Banks of the Ohio" fits the original definition of the word "ballad", meaning a song that tells a story. Her name doesn't come up very often in folk music circles, but I love her haunting rendition of that 19th century murder ballad.
     
    Jarleboy and Bobby Morrow like this.
  22. Morton LaBongo

    Morton LaBongo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester NH
    I found Make a Move On Me to be the best song, but Physical was such a chart-topper and received so much airplay that I don't think it's hyperbole to call it a minor "cultural phenomenon." This album came out right when the 1980s physical fitness move was nearing/at its peak. I said this before in another Olivia thread, but the title track was literally everywhere. Gym teachers would play it as we did warm-up stretches (kind of funny now considering the risque tone it has). Talk shows featuring fitness gurus during their 15 minutes of fame would play this when the guest walked on stage. The video was on MTV and Solid Gold and various daily video shows. And of course any aerobics class in a gym would include this on its playlist. For a good two years or so, it was inescapable.

    While not her best song/album in my opinion, there was an interesting side-effect to its immense popularity. A lot of her hits from the preceding years (Magic, Xanadu, You're the One that I Want, etc.) started to get a fair amount of airplay once again, and some of this even trickled down to her earlier country/pop years (which was the music I preferred). So suddenly, Free the People and songs like that were getting played again. It was really great to see her earlier stuff getting recognition.
     
    Jarleboy and Bobby Morrow like this.
  23. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Most of the covers I’ve heard of Physical have the singer playing on the sexual lyrics. Olivia didn’t do this at all. She sang it like she would Let Me Be There or something.:D I think this kind of made it better really. Olivia knocking out the tune in her sweet, innocent way. The lyrics didn’t need hammering home.
     
    Troystar, Jarleboy, thecdguy and 2 others like this.
  24. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    So glad you started this thread today, Bobby, so I could comment on one of my top favorite female singers of all time. I had the absolute thrill to see her on her Physical tour in 1982 in Irvine, CA as well as 3 other times later in her career. She put on the same exact show in Irvine that was filmed in Ogden, Utah for the HBO special and she is a fantastic live performer. One of the very few singers whose voice is even greater live than on her studio recordings in IMHO. I have always been a sucker for Make A Move On Me. Absolute ear candy and her live version is always sexy as hell. Of course, both my best friend and I had a crush on her in the seventies, but who didn't back then?
     
  25. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    The closest I got to the live shows in 1982 was the video release that came out shortly after.:D

    Watching that video, I always thought she was in suspiciously good voice... I assumed they’d overdubbed stuff later. That said, she’s a far better singer than most people realise. You only have to look at some of her early performances. She was spot on every time.

    Incidentally, I much preferred her live version of Silvery Rain from the video. It far surpassed the studio take.
     
    Jarleboy likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine