You Can Go Home Again (about Olivia accompanying Glenn Campbell to Australia for a TV special)
When author Thomas Wolfe wrote “You can’t go home again,” it was obvious that he didn’t know Olivia Newton-John, but then that can be explained since she wasn’t even born yet.
Miss Newton-John disproves the author’s statement by returning to Australia, the land of her childhood, as special guest and “tour guide” for “Glen Campbell Down Home Down Under,” a one-hour special starring Glen Campbell airing Thursday at 10PM on CBS.
Although born in England, she moved with her family when she was five years old to Melbourne, Australia, where her father was made Master of Ormond College in the same city. She lived there for eleven years, “Long enough to make me a real Aussie girl,” she explains.
Although Campbell has been to Australia on two separate concert tours, Miss Newton-John plans to share with him and the television viewers, a more intimate look at her homeland, including a visit to the Christ Church Grammar School where she and Daryle Braithwaite, lead singer of the popular Australian rock group “Sherbet,” who are also guesting on the special, were both members of the school choir.
“During the special, we’re going to show off a little bit of what Australia’s really like,” explained Miss Newton-John. “Naturally, when somebody discussed a mascot for the show, there was only one choice, a baby kangaroo, whom we named “Thumper.”
Other locations for the show include the famous Opera House in Sydney and Ripponlea, a Victorian estate noted for its magnificent grounds where the sport of lawn bowling is enjoyed.
More from Glen Campbell’s Down Home Down Under TV special.
“Australia is a beautiful country with a little bit of both the English and the Yank, yet still it’s uniquely its own,” the young lady said proudly.