Country Artist of the week Olivia Newton-John
OLIVIA IS THERE - Oddly enough Olivia Newton-John wasn’t born into a showbusiness family (in fact her Welsh-born father had an academic background and her German-born mother was the daughter of a Nobel Prize winning physicist) but somehow showbusiness entered Olivia’s blood at an early age. By the time she was five her family had moved from Wales to Australia and it was there in Ormond College, where her father became Master of the College, that Olivia whiled away the hours making up tunes on the family grand piano.
She also entertained friends with her own musical comedies and by the time she was twelve years of age, she entered a local cinema contest to “find the girl who most looked like Haley Mills.”
Two years later she and three other girls started a singing group called the Sol Four. But when the Sol Four began interfering with school work, the act was disbanded and Olivia then began singing on her own in a coffee lounge. It was a customer who suggested to Olivia that she enter a contest being held by Johnny O’Keefe, then reigning Australian musical personality and now a television star.
Olivia won the contest but because she was at school at the time, it was more than a year before she could enjoy her prize a trip to London. It was soon after arriving in London that Olivia formed a double act with another Australian girl. It was, in a short space of time, a successful combination until her partner’s visa ran out and she was forced to return to Australia. However, Olivia stayed, made solo records and even became part of the Toomorrow group.
Now signed to MCA Records, Olivia’s current “cross-over” hit single is “Let Me Be There” with a just released album of the same title.