Photo from My Lifetime
I haven't done one of these for a while, but the home-made MP3 CD I was playing in my Jeep today landed on three different songs by Olivia Newton-John, and it reminded me of this series. I featured--back in the early days of this blog--a series of posts about musicians whose careers were tragically cut short. Don't get me wrong, they're still celebrities, but they never recaptured the massive fame they once had.
The previous entries included Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael and yes, Olivia Newton-John. All of these pop stars had a stunning stream of hits, and all have equally stunning voices. Benatar had the rocker thing, Lauper had the "new-wave" thing, Michael had the "ambiguously gay" thing, and Newton-John had the Madonna/whore complex.
When I was a little kid, Olivia Newton-John was a country star. Which was confusing, because I knew she was an Australian. And also, her "country" songs were also mostly top 40 hits. From If You Love Me Let Me Know to I Honestly Love You, she was a sweetie-pie, absolutely pure as the driven snow. And she rode that image to Grease, which turned her from a goody-two-shoes to a hot mama. She came out with Totally Hot, an album with racy photos that drove my step-dad bananas. And she followed that with first, Xanadu, where she reverted to pure, and then Physical, when she got a little trampy again. But after that, things went sour.
After Xanadu the movie bombed (though the soundtrack did very well), she followed with Two of a Kind, a movie with John Travolta. It bombed too. Then Soul Kiss, a sort of concept album, playing up her sexiness bombed. Then, a cancer scare, a divorce, the disappearance of her boyfriend. She became tabloid fodder. She's been in a few small movies (loved her in Sordid Lives the movie and the series). But no hits. None at all. And I wonder why?
Cher made innumerable comebacks. Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler. . .all have had comebacks, and/or Las Vegas shows. Why couldn't Olivia? It isn't fair. And it's overdue.
#1 - Xanadu - This was the infectious theme song from the disasterous roller-disco/muse film. It's become a Broadway musical in the mean time, and has garnered a "so bad, it's good" reputation. The song is still guaranteed to fill a dance floor.
#2 - Summer Nights - One of the best (and most successful) songs from Grease. I won this record in a "sock hop" in junior high school, believe it or not.
#3 - Let Me Be There - This was one of the early ones, and it demonstrates Olivia's beautiful voice, and beautiful face. Man, she's pretty. And can you imagine if you could transplant this performance to American Idol? They'd totally plotz.
#4 - A Little More Love - This song, from Totally Hot, is one of my very favorites. I included it for the American Idol comment from above. Olivia mastered the "runs" and changeups favored by Idol stars without making them cliche or trite. She managed to change each chorus, hitting different notes, going from melody to harmony. I just love it.
The previous entries included Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael and yes, Olivia Newton-John. All of these pop stars had a stunning stream of hits, and all have equally stunning voices. Benatar had the rocker thing, Lauper had the "new-wave" thing, Michael had the "ambiguously gay" thing, and Newton-John had the Madonna/whore complex.
When I was a little kid, Olivia Newton-John was a country star. Which was confusing, because I knew she was an Australian. And also, her "country" songs were also mostly top 40 hits. From If You Love Me Let Me Know to I Honestly Love You, she was a sweetie-pie, absolutely pure as the driven snow. And she rode that image to Grease, which turned her from a goody-two-shoes to a hot mama. She came out with Totally Hot, an album with racy photos that drove my step-dad bananas. And she followed that with first, Xanadu, where she reverted to pure, and then Physical, when she got a little trampy again. But after that, things went sour.
After Xanadu the movie bombed (though the soundtrack did very well), she followed with Two of a Kind, a movie with John Travolta. It bombed too. Then Soul Kiss, a sort of concept album, playing up her sexiness bombed. Then, a cancer scare, a divorce, the disappearance of her boyfriend. She became tabloid fodder. She's been in a few small movies (loved her in Sordid Lives the movie and the series). But no hits. None at all. And I wonder why?
Cher made innumerable comebacks. Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler. . .all have had comebacks, and/or Las Vegas shows. Why couldn't Olivia? It isn't fair. And it's overdue.
#1 - Xanadu - This was the infectious theme song from the disasterous roller-disco/muse film. It's become a Broadway musical in the mean time, and has garnered a "so bad, it's good" reputation. The song is still guaranteed to fill a dance floor.
#2 - Summer Nights - One of the best (and most successful) songs from Grease. I won this record in a "sock hop" in junior high school, believe it or not.
#3 - Let Me Be There - This was one of the early ones, and it demonstrates Olivia's beautiful voice, and beautiful face. Man, she's pretty. And can you imagine if you could transplant this performance to American Idol? They'd totally plotz.
#4 - A Little More Love - This song, from Totally Hot, is one of my very favorites. I included it for the American Idol comment from above. Olivia mastered the "runs" and changeups favored by Idol stars without making them cliche or trite. She managed to change each chorus, hitting different notes, going from melody to harmony. I just love it.
And here's a bonus, the theme song from Sordid Lives, It's a Bitch
LOVE her! Always have, and totally agree on every point. I thought her last country "comeback" record "Back With A Heart" would finally do the trick, but there just weren't enough "commercial" tracks on it. She just needs the right song.
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