Olivia Newton-John returns to the charts
HOLLYWOOD (UPI)
Olivia Newton-John, who purposely avoided starring in movies and cutting records since “Xanadu,” has returned to the charts month with a new hit album, “Physical.”
The wide-eyed Australian who rocketed to stardom in “Grease” four or five years ago, shortly thereafter pulled her own world in around herself at her Malibu estate.
Absence, she believes, leaves the public wanting more.
Olivia need only look back at the overexposure suffered her fellow Australian songbird Helen Reddy, who turned out one album after another and also starred briefly in her own weekly television series.
Olivia’s carefully charted career includes only two movies “Grease” and “Xanadu,” 10 albums, all of which have gone gold, and infrequent TV appearances and musical specials.
She drove the 20 or 30 miles from Malibu in her racy white Porsche to the headquarters of MCA Records the other day to make arrangements for appearances on the Mike Douglas and Mery Griffin shows to hype the new album.
“I’m very conscious of overexposure,” Olivia said. “I only appear on television in this country for a purpose, promoting Physical, otherwise people see you too often. And it’s no thrill for them.
“I appeared on Solid Gold a couple of weeks ago for Operation Prime Time with Andy Gibb, Marilyn McCoo and some others. I sang on that show and in my last special, Hollywood Nights, which preceeded the Oscar show in 1980”.
“But that’s about it. It’s been three years since I last went on a concert tour, shortly after ‘Grease’ and I have no idea when I will tour again.
“This September I did go to London for a TV appearance and I performed live concert in Holland. I also did TV concerts in Germany, Italy and Sweden. But it had been years since I appeared in Europe and TV is the best way to sing to a lot of people at one time”.
“There’s a feeling that all performers have a compulsion to sing before large audiences because there’s a need to get their endorsement. I enjoy being on stage but I prefer to stay at home after so many years on the road.”
“I enjoy spending my time with my animals, riding my horses up into the mountains, cooking dinner for friends, writing songs I’m also catching up on my mail and setting things in order around the house”.
“People haven’t forgotten me because my records are played on radio stations all the time. Physical went gold after only two weeks.”
“I think the album title is perfect because Americans are terribly health-conscious now. It was a good, contemporary theme for me. It’s fun, happy and tongue-in-cheek.”
“People see me differently since I made my last album, “Xanadu. I’ve changed a bit, grown up. My music is different, too, more rock and roll, up-tempo with broader attraction”
“Today’s musical tastes are intriguing because they’re more integrated. Radio stations aren’t just playing one kind of music any more. More and more of them are playing blues, rock, country-western, MOR and soul.”
“The charts are showing more and more cross-over hits. It used to be that a record would appear, say, only on the country charts. Now it’s liable to show up on the pop charts, too.”
“There is no really distinctive sound out there these days unless it’s country. I used to sing country but there isn’t a country song on my new album because I couldn’t find the right one for me.”
“When I do an album, I generally pick songs I can relate to. I won’t sing a banal song. I look for material in which the lyrics and the music go well together, and “Physical” does just that.”.