Farewell Olivia

This one is a gut punch. 

I'll start with this: Olivia Newton-John was... IS... one of the best of all time. The sweet-voiced Australian crooner with the majestic name who became a global pop superstar. 

In 1978 (when I was an extremely young Pop Culture Fiend) my mom and I visited my aunt in Philadelphia for two weeks during the summer. I had just seen the movie Grease a week or so earlier and the film had a huge impact on me. Not only was it one of the most entertaining films I'd seen in my then young life, but the music was great and (like so many other pre-pubescent boys my age) I was crushing hard on Olivia Newton-John.

My aunt was fairly well-to-do and had a lot of nice things, including a fancy turntable and eclectic record collection. Her latest addition to that collection was the Grease soundtrack -- which I proceeded to play non-stop for the entirety of my two week stay. When it was finally time to go home, my aunt said to me, "You like that record so much; you can have it." 

That was the first album I ever owned.

Olivia Newton-John was one who broke a lot of trends, beginning her recording career with an entire album of covers, before ultimately evolving her own brand of country-pop, and scoring multiple hits on both of those charts (as well as the easy listening/adult contemporary.) She also set a lot of trends -- being one of the first major artists to release music videos. Her 1982 Physical video album and TV special would set a bar for the medium for years to come -- and the short haircut (with optional head band) she debuted for that album was emulated by women across the nation and became one of the most popular looks of the decade. That Physical video collection would go on to win a Grammy award and "Physical" the single was a chart topper for 10 weeks (a record that stood for ten years) making it the biggest hit of the 1980's. Olivia's aerobics themed video for the song was one that helped launch MTV (which debuted just weeks before "Physical's" release) and that same video was also clearly an inspiration for the current Apple+ series Physical, whose creators even "borrowed" the album's art design and font style.

And of course years before all of this, Olivia had become America's sweetheart when she made her Hollywood movie debut in a role customized just for her -- Australian exchange student, Sandy Olsson in the aforementioned Grease. The film broke box office records, becoming the highest grossing musical of all-time and establishing Olivia as a bona fide movie star. "You're the One That I Want", from the film's soundtrack, reached #1 and "Hopelessly Devoted to You" peaked at #3.

That same year, at the age of only 30, Olivia released her tenth studio album, Totally Hot. It reached #7 on the charts and the lead single "A Little More Love" spent three weeks at #2. Grease was the #1 film of the year, its soundtrack was the #2 album of the year, and Totally Hot went platinum. This was Olivia at the peak of her powers... she was the biggest female star in the world. Wholesome, alluring, a genre-crossing hit-maker in both music and film; she also had a squeaky clean image -- so everyone in entertainment jockeyed to work with her and advertisers in every industry wanted her endorsing their products.

This kind of success seemed almost inevitable for the talented and prolific artist. She had gained attention in Australia and Europe with her first two albums before breaking through internationally with her third LP, Let Me There, which went to #1 on the U.S. Country chart and earned Olivia a Grammy nomination for Best Country Female. The following year (1974) she continued to skyrocket. She represented the UK at 1974's Eurovision Song Contest (won by ABBA, who would later appear on one of Olivia's TV specials.) Later that year, she released If You Love Me Let Me Know, which topped both the country and pop charts. She then repeated this feat with her next effort, 1975's Have You Never Been Mellow. In doing so, she helped blaze a trail for crossover success that would later be traveled by other female singers like Crystal Gayle, Faith Hill, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift. 

Meanwhile, "I Honestly Love You" (off If You Love Me Let Me Know) soared to #1 in the U.S. (and several other countries) before winning Record of the Year at the 1975 Grammys. More cross-chart success and #1's (a lot more) followed, including:

• "Please Mr. Please" (from Have You Never Been Mellow) - #5 Country, #3 Pop, #1 Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary
• "Come On Over" (from the 1976 album of the same name) - #1 EL/AC
• "Don't Stop Believin'" (the title track from her 1976 album) - #1 EL/AC

All tolled, Olivia had 40 entries in Billboard's Hot 100. She racked up six consecutive gold albums from 1973's Let Me Be There through Don't Stop Believin' before releasing a greatest hits album and then taking on Grease, That film's success led to more movies roles, including the beloved cult classic, Xanadu, which spawned a title track that went top ten, as well as the #1 hit, "Magic" (about as perfect a pop song as was ever recorded.) Over her career, this perfection wasn't only modeled in Olivia's signature songs, but in her covers and deep cuts as well -- particularly the ethereal "Falling", "Carried Away" and "Silvery Rain" off of Physical.

    

Finally, as we reached the mid-80's and entered the 90's, Olivia's superstar status began to give way. There were still concerts, occasional film and TV roles (including Two of a Kind, which reunited her with former co-star and friend John Travolta), Grease reunions, and albums that blipped on the charts... and there was a lot of time spent battling the cancer she was first diagnosed with in 1992. 

By the 90's, amidst the rise of hip-hop/urban music, it was no longer cool to like Olivia Newton-John. She was considered too square, too white bread... a relic from the 70's.

I didn't care. Whenever the subjects came up in conversation, I continue to proudly re-state facts:

First album I ever owned: Grease soundtrack

First single I ever owned: "Hopelessly Devoted to You"

First album I ever bought with my own money: Physical

I still have all three of these (the first two on vinyl, the latter on cassette) plus ONJ's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 and Soul Kiss, both of which I bought when they were still on the charts. Years later I would add more from her catalog, including the anthology, Olivia Newton-John: Gold... 

And in memory of this talented, beautiful lady; this icon and seminal artist, I think I'm gonna charge up my AirPods, dig into my collection, and play every single one of her songs. 

R.I.P. ONJ.