- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Olivia Newton-John doesn’t get a lot of respect from many rock critics; but there is more breadth in her work than most people give her credit for.
Olivia Newton-John – Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits (1977): Olivia Newton-John has one of the longest careers in music of anyone from Australia, and she has a pleasing voice that is well suited for soft rock. She doesn’t get a lot of respect from many rock critics, who consider her songs too tame; but there is more breadth in her work than most people give her credit for. Olivia Newton-John is one of several recording artists who launched their careers in the 1960’s with a Bob Dylan song, “If Not for You” (Top 10 in the U.K., and Top 25 in the U.S.), so I was primed to be a fan from the beginning. Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits was released in 1977, the year before Olivia Newton-John really made her mark with John Travolta in the film version of the musical Grease (1978).
All of her biggest hits came from Grease onward, including one of the greatest duets of the rock era, “You’re the One That I Want” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Grease exposed a tough side to Olivia Newton-John that hadn’t come through in her music previously, and putting a bit of an edge on her later songs kept her in the music charts. But Olivia Newton-John was a hitmaker from the beginning; early on, when she was a country singer, at least technically, she had five Top 10 hits in the U.S. The first of these hits, “Let Me Be There” (1973) won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – many in Nashville were dismayed that this upstart from Australia won the Grammy that had typically gone to one of their own. Her next four Top 10 singles, in 1974 and 1975, were “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, “I Honestly Love You”, “Have You Never Been Mellow”, and “Please Mr. Please”. As far as I’m concerned, these songs have as much variety in mood and presentation as anybody in popular music during that time period, whether it be country, rock, or pop. In early 1975, Olivia Newton-John was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association; and many members of the CMA were furious enough about that to resign from the organization. By 1976, Olivia Newton-John’s music was identifiably soft rock, though I didn’t see much of a change myself, even less so than had been the case with Linda Ronstadt when she changed from country to rock. For one thing, Olivia Newton-John’s so-called country hits performed as well on the pop charts as the country charts. In any case, Olivia Newton-John did even better as a soft rock or pop singer, with at least 15 Top 10 U.S. hits, including five at #1. Olivia Newton-John’s biggest hit song was the sexually suggestive “Let’s Get Physical” (1981) – another side of her that was relatively new – which rested at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks. This album is the original Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits; after her career was better established, MCA Records reissued Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits in 1982 as a double album; but in the process, they cut four of the best songs from the original single album. The album covers the early years in Olivia Newton-John’s career; besides the country songs already mentioned, the album has many of her early soft-rock hits: “Something Better to Do”, “Let it Shine”, “Come on Over”, “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”, and “Sam”. All five reached #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Olivia Newton-John has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.