Olivia Newton-John. Yay or Nay?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bobby Morrow, Jun 9, 2015.

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  1. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia

    I think she and Farrar once said that there is far more unreleased stuff from her early to mid 70s album sessions than later ones because by the time they got to Totally Hot and Physical they essentially knew which songs were album material and recorded mostly only what was needed with maybe a few b-sides here and there. I'm still flabbergasted "Looking for Space" was never released properly back in the day, even as a b side. Makes one wonder what else didn't make the cut.
     
  2. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
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  3. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    And nice to see MAGTB get a mention. That one usually gets overlooked.
     
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  4. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    That would make sense. They were shooting in the dark in the early 70s. I’d imagine there’s lots of stuff from that era that’s never seen the light of day.
     
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  5. kiefer2

    kiefer2 Eastern European knockoff Mr. Potato Head

    Location:
    Brookhaven, Pa.
    Probably the only golden age Olivia I routinely pass over.
     
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  6. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Not her best, but I play it more than Olivia and Come On Over.
     
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  7. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    Olivia just has to say "Yes". Her management team would then hire someone or go through the archives themselves and come up with packaging options. IMO it would be wise to bring John Farrar in at the start - he was her producer from very early on and might have better recall of alternate takes, hidden gems etc. Yes, tying some or all of the proceeds to Olivia's favourite charities would also be a nice touch.

    As for licensing, one need only look at the recent Australian comp "Hopelessly Devoted - The Hits" from Sony for a clue. It says ONJ Productions holds the copyright for all the tracks. Live versions were used for the movie soundtrack songs as the copyright for them probably lies with the movie studios.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2019
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  8. mcd4959

    mcd4959 Head in the Clouds

    Location:
    Denver, Colorado
    Hi guys - saw this on eBay today - is this legit????? I've never seen it before and couldn't find it on Discogs either. There's a bootleg seller on there who has a bunch of bogus picture discs so I wonder if this could be a boot too. It's a good one if it is, at least from the photos. Not cheap though! I do love colored vinyl...but was this ever officially released on vinyl?


    Olivia Newton John - One Woman's Live Journey 2x LP record Like Gaia Not Promo | eBay


    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    I’ve never heard of a vinyl release for this. It came out when vinyl was all but dead, so unless it’s been released in recent years, I’d tread warily. Looks nice, and it’s a strange one to bootleg, but who knows?
     
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  10. Record Rotator

    Record Rotator A vintage/retro-loving sentimental fool

    Not a bootleg according to Google.
     
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  11. mcd4959

    mcd4959 Head in the Clouds

    Location:
    Denver, Colorado
    Thanks guys...I'm tempted but the cost is really high. It is a strange one to choose from the catalog for this treatment I agree. But it does look nice...
     
  12. kiefer2

    kiefer2 Eastern European knockoff Mr. Potato Head

    Location:
    Brookhaven, Pa.
    I'm betting on boot. The seller lists a Frank Zappa album in exactly the same color see through vinyl that is also not listed as being available on vinyl on Discogs. I've sent a pic to my Olivia expert for analysis.
     
  13. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    A strange choice for a vinyl release should it be legit.... I could barely be bothered to pick up the CD back then!
     
  14. kiefer2

    kiefer2 Eastern European knockoff Mr. Potato Head

    Location:
    Brookhaven, Pa.
    Agreed.
     
  15. mcd4959

    mcd4959 Head in the Clouds

    Location:
    Denver, Colorado
    I also searched Google and found the same seller sold a black vinyl version last February for almost $300!!! (Popsike site had the listing).

    I'm leaning bootleg...
     
  16. David G.

    David G. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    That is a very odd album to release on vinyl -- bootleg or not. My guess would be that it's a bootleg, since none of us Olivia fanatics here have ever seen or heard of it and it's not listed on Discogs.

    There is a reason it might have been chosen for bootlegging on vinyl; it was released on DVD-A, so there's a high-resolution version out there that someone could have used to cut a vinyl master. They might have figured that the high-resolution recording would make a more legitimate-sounding vinyl version. Who knows? It might be good. I wouldn't buy it, but there are some who would.
     
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  17. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    I have a DVD Audio version of this. Great sound. I wasn´t aware of a vinyl release, either. Looks a bit fishy.
     
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  18. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    I've seen similar vinyl boots of Gaia and the Stronger than Before albums on eBay the last year or two and people are paying OBSENE prices for them in spite of that fact. I'd even wager many of the people who bid on them are well aware they aren't official releases and just want to say they own it on vinyl. I find that crazy, but it shows there is a market there for "new" ONJ vinyl.

    I know Olivia has had more pressing concerns the last couple years, but I still think she's missing an opportunity. Yes a majority of her golden age albums are generally easy to get in vintage vinyl (in some cases easier and cheaper than aquiring CD or even digital downloads of said albums) but there are plenty of collectors and fans who would love to own a brand new minty and well mastered copies of her 70s and 80s albums, especially if that included new unreleased stuff.

    Hell, even though Liv On is a flop, given how virtually everything new is coming out on vinyl alongside it's digital counterpart im sort of surprised it didn't at least get a limited small vinyl pressing.
     
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  19. Chris_Sydney

    Chris_Sydney Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I was fascinated by this considering it was not a problem to license them when earlier compilations came out on Festival. I realise Festival was bought by Warner (if memory serves me correctly) and Sony's vested interest in Olivia has come via being John Farnham's record label, but it's odd that the 'Grease' and 'Xanadu' songs seem hard to license when they were once compilation staples.


    x
     
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  20. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    We don't know if they even tried to license them. The rationale might have been "use these, they're cheaper and good enough". Speaking of licensing, just looked at my 1998 Festival Remasters:
    Have You Never Been Mellow (Warner - No Festival refence) - no copyright info
    Clearly Love (Festival) - EMI UK
    Come On Over - EMI England
    Don't Stop Believin' - EMI England
    Making A Good Thing Better - EMI
    Totally Hot - ONJ Productions

    Olivia signed a new contract with MCA in the US starting with "Totally Hot". She owned her masters going forward, and probably bought the EMI ones too (she wasn't as successful in the UK as in the US).

    If a box set every materializes, I hope they include plenty of unpublished photos - outtakes etc.

    One final thought - the catalogs of ABBA, Andy Gibb and Olivia are all currently with Universal Music - would be wonderful if the medley could get released.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2019
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  21. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Don't. Side 2 is actually really wonderful.
     
  22. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    Agreed. "Sad Songs" "It's So Easy To Begin" and "If Love Is Real" are among my all-time favorites.
     
  23. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    Vinyl has become ‘cool’ again and is being targeted towards the audiophile crowd. Even though these days many LPs have the same digital source as the CD.:) Even so, I agree that a vinyl release wouldn’t have hurt Liv On.

    That album kind of saddens me now. It may be the last new studio album released in Olivia’s lifetime. Unless you count the Christmas one with John Farnham. I recall how hard Olivia, Amy and Beth worked promoting it. I’ve never seen Olivia so passionate about one of her albums. It’s kind of a shame it met with so little success.

    Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like it, but I hoped I was in the minority.:)
     
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  24. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member Thread Starter

    All the more reason to hang onto and appreciate your old CDs. With the way the music industry is going, there’s no guarantee we’ll get anything else - let alone anything better - to replace them with.
     
  25. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    I finally broke down and bought LIV ON on CD a few months ago. I played it once, shrugged, and filed it away. I tried to like it, and its not horrible (unlike that This Christmas Travolta Trainwreck) but it just ain't for me. I feel bad about it because I know she poured a lot of herself into this and now we also know she promoted this thing when she was in crippling pain with her relapse. I don't hate it, I'm just ambivalent about it, which actually may be worse.

    I don't necessarily think that LIV ON will be her last album if her health remains stable. If anything I would not be surprised she hasn't been writing during this whole experience. Gaia was born from her first Cancer journey and then breaking down marriage. Grace and Grattitude she wrote during the whole McDermott thing, and LIV ON was because of Rona's passing. Shes said before she uses music to heal.

    Now, question is, if said album was released would it be to my tastes? Given the track record of the last decade probably not, but I would still give it one listen at least. For all the good and great stuff she did that's sitting on my shelf I still think she deserves consideration.
     
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