From the girl next door to hot-blooded vamp
It was, as the show-biz trade publications like to say, a chart-buster for many weeks, the biggest hit of Olivia Newton-John’s career. With its sexually provocative lyrics, “Physical” also is Newton-John’s first venture into rock-oriented music.
When the album containing the controversial title song was initially released, “Physical” got itself banned by some radio stations in Utah, surely one of the best things that can happen to a record. The controversy surrounding the song can be counted among the numerous reasons for its success. But as any Newton-John fan will breathlessly tell you, obviously the main reason it “went gold” was simply because Olivia did it and along the way revealed an entirely new facet of her talents.
For Newton-John, her harder rocking and hard-breathing sound of “Physical” is a major cross-over from what she’s been doing for most of her recording career.
Likewise, she says that when she co-starred with John Travolta in the blockbuster movie version of the musical, “Grease,” it also was a significant turning point for her acting career.
It was the movie that transformed her image from the perky young girl up the block to that of a hot-blooded vamp. (“Grease” earned more than $150 million in international rentals alone.) Asked why she wasn’t cast for the sequel, she promptly replied, “It is simply that I was never really asked to do it. No deal was ever struck. They decided to go with an unknown.”
In sharp contrast, however, her next film, “Xanadu,” drew relatively kind words from the critics, but it was a box-office klunker. “I learned a lot from that,” Newton-John says somewhat ruefully. “I should not have taken a script that was really not finished. My problem was I fell in love with the outline.”
Newton-John’s newly found maturity, in terms of a record sound and expression of an obvious stage sexuality, is quite a way from her earlier image. Not that she did badly with it.
Since 1974, she racked up a dozen hits that landed in the magic Top Ten circle. There is hardly a den that could hold all the honors and awards she has, including two Grammys, eight American Music Awards and enough framed citations from such important trade publications as Billboard, Cashbox and Record World to fill a vault.
Virtually all of her earlier hits were mild C&W-oriented songs, which eventually gave way to a string of gentle ballads like “I Honestly Love You” and “Please, Mr. Please,” to “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Let Me Be There.”
Said Newton-John: “We decided early on that the album “Physical” would be all uptempo. People have enough misery and sadness in the world. We thought it was time to liven and brighten up.”
She added, “I think it’s very different for me. It’s been two years since I made an album and, between each album, my tastes change because of the influences around me. I’m more adventurous now and it’s exciting for me to do something really new. I love all kinds of music, but I never really cared much for rock until recently.”
Newton-John said that one of her deepest interests is the subject of a song she co-wrote with long-time friend and producer John Farrar, which is on the album.
“The Promise” deals with ecology and the kinship between humans and dolphins. “I earnestly believe that we can learn to communicate with these gracious creatures,” says Newton-John. “They make sounds which hopefully someday can be translated,” the singer explained, adding her own little dolphin-like squeak to emphasize the point.
What’s next for the busy Olivia Newton-John? She’s working on a new film, “Kangaroo,” set to begin production shortly in Australia. The film is based on the D.H. Lawrence story.
Newton-John was asked if she had any career fantasy of her own that she would envision fulfilled. “No, not really,” the singer said. “Everything that happens from here on in is just a bonus. I’ve gone farther than I ever dreamt.”
By Bill Kaufman, Newsday
More from the Physical TV special.