A Girl For Everything - Bravo

Issue 19

The beauty queen of folk music has a new hit with Take Me Home Country Roads. But Olivia is also active in film, show business, and television: A girl for everything.

For a moment, I forgot everything. My breath caught, my heart beat faster. I only saw her, Olivia Newton-John (23). Long, blonde hair, big, blue eyes, and a laugh so open and warm that it was immediately contagious. Add to that that exciting miniskirt, her long, tanned legs — you don't meet a girl like that every day. You can only dream about her.

But Olivia Newton-John wasn't a dream. At least not on this morning. She casually snuggled into the leather armchair in her manager's office on London's Saville Row. In 1966, I came to England from Australia, Olivia Newton-John recounts in her clear voice. I won the trip at a talent competition in Ormond, the town where I grew up.

London brought Olivia a lot of luck. She went on tours, was booked for television appearances, and gave concerts for English soldiers in Germany and the Middle East. She played in the film Tomorrow. But that didn't help me much. The film wasn't a huge success. It wasn't until 1971 that I had my breakthrough with the Bob Dylan song If Not For You. Since then, Olivia Newton-John has been a top folk singer in England. She sang the George Harrison song What is Life and the folk song Banks of the Ohio. In America, she appeared on the Dean Martin Show and made a film with Georgie Fame. As a result, I disappeared from the charts somewhat. Even when Take Me Home Country Roads was released in October, nothing happened at first.

Four months passed, and then Olivia Newton-John's song finally made it into the charts. That means a lot to me. I simply enjoy checking the newspaper every week to see if the record has climbed higher or fallen again. I'm very ambitious, even if no one notices it.

Now Olivia Newton-John composes her own songs. Neil Diamond, Cat Stevens, Ray Charles, and Jacques Brel are my role models.

And how is she doing in love? Olivia has a crush on pop singer Cliff Richard. She met him through former Shadow guitarist Bruce Welch. Recently, she's been seen frequently with Cliff Richard. There are rumours of a love affair. But Olivia denies it. Bruce was a good friend of mine, nothing more. It's the same with Cliff Richard. I'm not thinking about getting married any time soon. I want to be as successful as Cliff first.

By K. E. Siegfried