The news of Olivia Newton-John's passing yesterday wasn't shocking ...
But it sure was sad.
Long a favorite of ours, Olivia had been battling cancer for many years now ... and put up a pretty brave and successful fight, seemingly beating the disease several times, only to have it return again.
She immediately caught our attention when, in 1971, she released her first American Hit Single, a cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You." (#23)
I fell in love with that song when I heard George Harrison cover it on his "All Things Must Pass" album ... and since he wasn't going to release it as a single, I was especially pleased to hear Olivia do so a few months later. And what a beautiful voice she had.
She turned the world on its ear for the next several years to come, causing all kinds of controversy when she started winning armloads of Country Music Awards. (How does a girl singer from Australia who came out of nowhere deserve the right to take home all of these AMERICAN Country Music Awards?!?!) The Country Music fans were outraged ... but there was no denying her appeal ... she was just so nice and so sweet, most of those same fans were won over in the end.
But Olivia didn't stop there ...
She was scoring hit after hit on the pop charts, too. (Unfortunately, she lost me for a few years there ... too many wispy ... some might say wimpy ... ballads ... although I DID like "Have You Never Been Mellow," a #1 Hit in 1975. The WORST of the batch ... for me anyway ... has to be "Please Mr. Please," a song I don't EVER need to hear again in this lifetime ... yet it, too, went to #1 [in Cash Box], as did "I Honestly Love You," another non-favorite.)
That all changed a few years later when Livy took on the role of Sandy in the mega-hit motion picture "Grease." When she vamped into the leather-clad hot chick at the end of the film, she just oozed sex ... and her squeaky-clean, girl-next-door image changed overnight.
All for the better, I might add. "Grease" spawned three more hit singles: "You're The One That I Want" (#1, 1978) and "Summer Nights" (#3, 1978), both sung with co-star John Travolta, and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" (#3, 1978), a solo hit written especially for the film ... and probably my all-time favorite ballad of hers.
Most of Olivia's hit music thereafter had more of an edge to it ... 1981's "Physical" (and its still fun-to-watch-video-to-this day) spent an incredible TEN weeks at #1 ... and other hits like "Deeper Than The Night" #11, 1979), "Make A Move On Me" (#4, 1982), "Heart Attack" (#3, 1982 ... now THERE'S a Forgotten Hit for you!) and "Twist of Fate" (#5, 1984) all showed a much edgier side of her singing style. In between, she made a couple more films, most notably (and not necessarily for GOOD reasons!) "Xanadu" ... but it, too, gave us the title hit, recorded with Electric Light Orchestra (you've gotta wonder who came up with THAT concept!!!) and a #5 hit in 1980, "Suddenly," a #20 hit in 1981, recorded as a duet with British Teen Idol Cliff Richard, enjoying a comeback of his own at the time here in The States where, for some strange reason, he never caught on his first time around, and yet another #1 Record, "Magic."
I was fortunate to see Olivia perform live twice in concert ... first back in the early '80's (when her singing partner for the three above-mentioned duets was some young singer named Dennis Tufano!) and again a few years ago when she did a comeback tour (some might say a goodbye tour) of hits at a time when her cancer was in remission and she just wanted to come out and see, thank and entertain her fans again. BOTH were excellent shows ... and I'm so glad I had the chance to go. (We named her 2017 show at The Genesee Theatre our #1 Concert of the Year. You can read that review below.)
It was impossible not to like Olivia Newton-John ... there was just something so sweet and relatable about her that she touched every heart she ever crossed paths with.
No, I wasn't shocked to hear of her passing yesterday ... but I will be sad about if for a long time to come. (kk)
'60's FLASHBACK:
#1 - Olivia Newton-John ( August / The Genesee Theatre)
If
for no other reason than pure courage and commitment to her fans, I’d
have to rank Olivia Newton-John’s show at The Genesee Theatre this past August (after a three month postponement when her breast cancer returned)
as a worthy candidate for our Forgotten Hits Show Of The Year.
But there’s so much more to it than that …
She
just took charge of the stage and gave a command performance as good as
any I’ve ever seen, basically spitting in the eye of ANY ailment that
might have prevented her from doing otherwise and putting the fans ahead
of any and all distractions she may have been feeling to put on the
show of the year, taking the audience along with her on an incredible
journey through her incredible career.
Every
phase of her career was showcased … from the early country hits like
“Let Me Be There” to the “Grease” soundtrack tunes like “Hopelessly
Devoted To You” and her two duets, “You’re The That I Want” and “Summer
Nights” … to “Xanadu” hits like “Magic,” the title track and another
duet, “Suddenly” … to her ‘80’s #1 Smash “Physical” (presented with an
entirely new interpretation that I absolutely LOVED) to an “unplugged”
acoustic segment that while somewhat out of character really raised the
benchmark as to what this girl can do.
I
said it that night in the audience … “It’s going to be tough for
ANYBODY” to beat this performance as Show Of The Year” … she won it
hands down and deserves every bit of this honor.
From our original review …
We
caught the Olivia Newton-John concert on Friday Night at The Genesee
Theatre. This was her rescheduled show after a three month postponement
due to the return of her breast cancer. (Honestly, I was concerned
that she should be out performing at all ... but it just goes to show
what a trouper she is ... she is a very brave woman with a lot of faith
in the healing process and her loyalty to her fans who brought tickets
literally all over the country to see her is unmatched.)
Her
show at the Genesee was only the second one she's done since postponing
those dates back in May ... and she was nothing short of brilliant.
She looked and sounded AMAZING ... and played a perfect 90 minute set
packed with hits to a packed and enthusiastic and appreciative theater
of fans.
She
kicked things off with three hits from her film "Xanadu," starting with
the #1 Hit "Magic" followed by the title track and then the duet she
originally did with Cliff Richard, "Suddenly."
After
"Deeper Than The Night," the entire group ensemble (which consisted of
Mark Beckett on Drums, Dane Bryant, her Band Leader on Keyboards ...
which included an absolutely huge grand piano, Marlen Landin Chapman on
Background Vocals, Kerry Marx on Guitar, Matt McKenzie on Bass, Steve
Nieves on Horn, Sax, Flute, Percussion, Background Vocals ... and, as
Olivia pointed out, just about everything else and Steve Real y Vasquez,
Background Vocals ... and Olivia's Male Duet Partner on hits like the
aforementioned "Suddenly" and the still to come "You're The One That I
Want") came forward, center stage, and did an "unplugged" set of some of
the country material that first launched Olivia's career here in the
States including "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)," "Don't Stop Believin'"
(no, not the Journey song ... the one that Livvy released several years
earlier that virtually never gets played anymore despite its very catchy
chorus!), "Have You Never Been Mellow," "Please Mister Please" and "Let
Me Be There" (which is essentially "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" all
over again.) She hit some incredibly high notes during this little
mini-set, proving that despite any medical setbacks she may be dealing
with right now, she's still got her chops ... some of these had to be
tough to hit 40 years ago when she was in her prime!)
To
close the set, she did an amazing, acoustic "bossa-nova" version of
"Physical," which was the biggest hit of her career. This is a pretty
bold move and a bit of a gamble for ANY artist ... but let me tell you,
it worked PERFECTLY in this new arrangement and the crowd absolutely
loved it. (She should consider re-releasing this track ... it just
might find a whole new audience in the process! After all, we're all a
bit older now ... and this sounded SMOOTH!!! Plus, the lyrics that
sounded so risque back in 1980 are pretty tame by today's radio
standards!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPhvx_rkfrs
She
talked a little bit about some of the alternative healing procedures
and medicines she was exploring and then played a couple of tracks she
had written that were designed to project a more pro-active state of
consciousness that would do more to save and protect our planet
environmentally ... these worked extremely well with the accompanying
videos.
And then it was time for "Grease"!!!
Olivia
brought the house down when she and her male duet partner, Steve Real
(who also took the male lead in "Suddenly" earlier in the evening), sang
"You're The One That I Want" ... the entire audience was up on its
feet. (Is there ANYBODY out there who hasn't seen "Grease" at least 20
or 30 or 50 times?!?!) She next did the film's ballad "Hopelessly
Devoted To You," which brought some members of the audience (male and
female) to tears. Next, she brought out Didi Conn, who starred with
Olivia in the film as "Frenchie" nearly 40 years ago. Didi had flown in
from New York City ... and looked great in her Pink Ladies jacket.
Together they launched a full-on audience sing-along to "Summer Nights,"
easily the highlight of the evening. EVERYBODY participated, again
with the entire audience up on its feet, singing and clapping along.
She
closed her show with "I Honestly Love You," a #1 Hit in 1974 ... and
then returned for an encore of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," accompanied
only by her pianist / musical arranger Dane Bryant.
I've
seen Olivia in concert before and I can honestly say I've never heard
her better ... a remarkable achievement in light of all she's been going
through these past few months.
As
I write this, today is August 26th ... and let me tell you ... it is
going to be next to impossible to top this show as our Concert Of The
Year ... this was just an OUTSTANDING evening of entertainment. Olivia
Newton-John ... we honestly love you. (kk)
