Olivia Newton-John Single by Single Thread

We had so much fun with our Album by Album thread, I thought it would be cool to start an Olivia Newton-John singles thread. We will focus primarily on 7" (45 rpm) vinyl releases of her singles. We can always cover CD singles later after the 45's are complete.

I will be posting the 45 rpm releases from the U.S. in chronological order along with the b side....however if you live outside the U.S. please feel free to post those 45's as they happened in your country.

I really wish Olivia would release an official box set on CD of all her U.S. singles along with the b sides like many other artists have done. So let have fun and feel free to post your thoughts about each single.

Let's start off here:

If Not For You (1971)
The Biggest Clown (B Side)

 

I have this 45 single and I believe (even though it is not noted) that this is a mono version of If Not For You, Olivia's vocals are primarily centered and more up front in the mix, her vocal jumps out at you with much more clarity in this mono mix, the guitar is also centered instead of coming from the left and right as the stereo versions found on her albums. It makes this single that much more special, at least to me since I have collected all of her mono 45 singles.

The Biggest Clown, while not a huge favorite of mine is classic (very early) Olivia and I believe this track has never appeared on CD, please correct me if I'm wrong. Olivia's vocals on this single are strong and one can hear her accent really come through, I believe this is also a mono version as well.

 

Great single! I love this song! The Biggest Clown, not too much. I had to buy her first album back then for this track. That album took a long time to grow on me. A real long time but I sort of appreciate it now. If Not for You was the best track on it.

 

Nice to see her once-upon-a-time boyfriend Bruce Welch being co-credited for the arrangement and production on this single. Also nice to see fellow The Shadows-member John Rostill being credited with the B-side, since he went on to write two further smashes for Olivia. Those were indeed the days. I was five years old around this time.

Good idea for a thread. Perhaps I should start a "Single by single" for Cliff´s releases? Maybe not. I feel it would die an early death through lack of interest.

 

I was a bit young for chart music in 1971 when INFY came out as a single. In fact, I didn't hear it until I bought the First Impressions LP in 1976. This would be my fourth or fifth Olivia album.

I can see why INFY charted well. It's perky. The guitar riff is very catchy. Olivia sings it well. Not a lot of emotion in her vocal, but there generally wasn't in the early years. I'd imagine the selling point back then was the 'girl from Toomorrow' going solo and attempting a Dylan song at that. Of course, we know the inspiration came from George Harrison's cover on All Things Must Pass.

I've always found it odd that The Biggest Clown never turned up anywhere else. Not even on the Crystal Lady comp. I like the song, though the chorus was jarring upon hearing it for the first time. For me, all these years later, The Biggest Clown is the most interesting thing about her debut Pye single.

I've always thought the songs of John Rostill could have been a great addition to her career, had he not tragically died a couple of years later. I'm not saying his The Biggest Clown would have been a chart smash had it been the A-side, but it's an unusual, quirky song. Almost 60s in feel. Still Rostill was responsible for her first 'real' break in America with the Let Me Be There and If You Love Me (Let Me Know) singles,

 

A Cliff Single By Single would be ambitious on here. Not to say exhausting for the person compiling the thread. He must have hundreds of singles by now.

 

Closer to 150... I would love to do something on him, but I don´t there´d be much interest here. Too many singles, too much MOR, I guess. A shame, but I understand what´s an impossible task when I see one... and this is it. The albums from 1976-1990 might be more feasible, but... No.

 

If you did an 1976-90 albums thread people would only ask where the 50s and 60s ones were.

 

"Toomorrow" wasn't a selling point for her in the states. I don't even know if the movie got released here. To the best of my knowledge the soundtrack didn't see the light of day here, though there are promo singles from it. I have one.
If Not for You was a great song, perfectly arranged and easily sold itself. I really like her straight forward performance of it. Light and breezy. Not to diminish Olivia's performance, but she and John Farrar owe George Harrison a big thank you.

 

Well, Toomorrow wasn't a hit here either, but she and the group did receive a fair bit of press coverage. Looking at old clippings, the movie was mentioned quite a bit in connection with her launching her solo career. Of course, Olivia did her best to brush the film aside in interviews.

 

Damned if I do, damned if I don´t, I guess. So I won´t. I am extremely tempted to do one, but, honestly, you´d need participants. And there wouldn´t be one. Cliff might be as attractive as Olivia, but not to the demographic section on here. Understandable.

 

You should go for it. Unfortunately, I don't know Cliff's single catalogue all that well and wouldn't be able to participate. Due to his connection to Olivia, I've picked up a couple of his albums but that's it. Is there an album thread for him?

 

No, I don´t think so. I have searched for one. I know his music isn´t being taken seriously, and I have to admit that he has done his bit to keep that way by releasing albums such as "Wanted" and singles like "The Millennium Prayer". But beyond all the dross, there really are some great songs, mostly hidden away as B-sides and album cuts between 1975 and 1990. He doesn´t have that many classics, but he has some very good songs that people should discover. Things like "When Two Worlds Drift Apart", "Silvery Rain", "Ease Along", "Count Me Out", the whole "Small Corners" album, "Monday Thru Friday"... For every "Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", there´s a "Carrie", "Dreamin´" and "Love Stealer".

 

This video makes me smile love her dance moves lol

 

Speaking of Cliff I didn't know Don't Move Away w Olivia was issued on a 45 rpm.

 

Wow, this thread will keep us all going for a while... Fun idea, @Song4U.

'If Not For You' is a sweet track that has aged surprisingly well. Although the arrangement is, as @Bobby Morrow mentioned, directly lifted from George Harrison's version on 'All Things Must Pass' (Farrar and/or Welch must have loved Side 2 - they pinched three songs from here for Olivia's first two LPs!) there is a gently buoyant quality to Olivia's version that suited her age and her voice. The similarity of these arrangements though helps to make sense of an otherwise perplexing suggestion - Olivia covering Bob Dylan! Covering the work of a Beatle is less of a stretch of the imagination.

Olivia professed for many years not to like 'If Not For You' and when it was first presented to her, she couldn't understand what John and Bruce saw in it; in her naivety she fancied herself a big ballad singer, and thankfully the two men who guided her early recordings created a pop/folk sound far more befitting of her abilities then. Interestingly, 'If Not For You' is her current husband John Easterling's favourite Olivia song and she often dedicates it to him in her shows. It also marked her first #1 single, reaching the top of the Billboard Easy Listening charts in 1971.

Out of interest, here's George Harrison's version.



The B-side 'The Biggest Clown' is not the strongest of Olivia's early work, nor of John Rostill's songwriting. The chorus blasts out of the gate and Olivia's vocal performance lacks the subtlety of many of her other recordings around this time. That said, it's a shame that is has never been issued on CD - it's one of only a handful that haven't (the 1972 version of 'Sail Into Tomorrow' and 'You Made Me Love You' being the others). I once read a delightful story from a woman who worked in the entertainment industry in Australia who was given the job of picking Olivia up from the airport, perhaps around the mid-1990s. She told Olivia that the 'If Not For You' 7" was in constant rotation when she was growing up and that 'The Biggest Clown' was her favourite song. Olivia responded with her usual graciousness and kindness and sang what she remembered of the song to her in the car.


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I know this thread is covering US single releases, but this recording is worth mentioning in case there are some who haven't heard it - Olivia's first solo single 'Till You Say You'll Be Mine', released on Decca in the UK in 1966 (50 years ago this year!) The Jackie DeShannon song is typical 60s fare, but the Phil Spector-esque Wall of Sound production doesn't do Olivia any favours. Whilst Dusty Springfield could have made this type of recording a hit in her sleep, the delicate quality of Olivia's voice simply sounds drowned out underneath the reverb and crashing drums. It sank without a trace and was consigned to being at best a curiosity and an interesting question of 'what if?' in terms of her recording career. It has been released on CD a few times on Decca compilations, but only once alongside its B-side 'For Ever' on the now hard-to-find 1994 compilation 'Pop Inside The Sixties 1963-69'.




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Lovely version of "If Not for You". I'm mostly used to Harrison's version on "All Things Must Pass". It is my favorite but Olivia sings it nice and soft.

 

That is one 45 I would like to acquire her first. I couldn't play the video though says not available.

 

I just listened to George Harrison's version for the first time (I don't really listen or seek out beetles music) it's really different to hear a male voice on this when I'm so use to Olivia's. I'm getting a more country vibe from his version, Olivia's sound more pop.

 

Their first official duet release, I think. It was a part of a double B-side - together with Glen Campbell´s "I Was Only Fooling Myself" - of Cliff´s rather nifty "Sunny Honey Girl". Another one of those songs you´re not supposed supposed to like. I love it. I even like "Don´t Move Away".

 

Yeah that is another 45 I want to buy, I really like Don't Move Away. So is the version on 45 the same version found on the Heathcliff Cd single Part 2.?

 

Various UK press pieces on the single's release. I think I've posted them before on other threads but they fit here too.

 

Yes, it´s the same. I had the single, and the only difference was that it was a mono release. The stereo version is better. It´s not a great song, but very pleasant. Their voices blend nicely.

 

Is there ANYTHING you don´t collect? So glad that you did, obviously.