Olivia to perform University of Alabama Sept 7 1982, Singer Calls From Jet
The phone rang and from somewhere above the Mississippi Valley singing star Olivia Newton-John was talking to me. Ms. Newton-John, who will appear at the University of Alabama’s Memorial Colusteum tomorrow at 8 p.m., was calling Tuscaloosa from her private jet.
Newton-John has not toured for four years but is enthusiastic about her current 50-date concert schedule. The tour, entitled, “Physical Tour of North America ‘82,” will end in Los Angeles in mid-October.
She said the tour is “going better than I thought it would, even though it has been very strenuous.” She also said she is pleased by the reception she is receiving, especially from college audiences.
Although she has not toured recently, Newton-John is not laying low. She has recorded four LPs in the last four years, Including the “Grease” soundtrack, “Xanadu” and “Physical.” All three are certified platinum (sales in excess of one million units). She has also starred in two movies, “Xanadu” and “Grease,” which was the biggest grossing musical of all time.
Her current tour will be filmed for a television special. The material she presents during each 90 minute performance includes her newer songs, such as her latest single, “Heart Attack,” as well as many of her old hits.
The show itself is multi faceted, said Ms. Newton John. Even though she wouldn’t tell the cost of mounting the production, Ms. Newton-John seemed confident that the combination of video, music and staging was entertaining. She added that well-known saxophonist Tim Scott was the opening act, as well as her musical director.
Ms. Newton-John said she has no regrets about her much discussed image change that occured about the time of her role in “Grease” with John Travolta and the release of “Physical.” The new Image, she said, “Is just me. I just grew up, it would be boring now if I hadn’t changed.” She added, “And you wouldn’t be talking to me.”
Upon hearing a University of Alabama professor had complained in story which appeared in the Tuscaloosa News that “Physical” was a suggestive song. Ms. Newton-John was apparently surprised.
“We didn’t really get that much flak about it,” she said, “One station in Utah didn’t play it, that’s all.”
Nor did she seem irritated about the accusation; instead, she proposed that the professor be more concerned about the “violence his 13-year-old watched on TV.” The song “was meant to be fun,” she concluded.
Her career is expanding, she said, and includes plans to make another movie with Travolta after the first of the year. She also hinted at other film plans but said she wasn’t at liberty to be specific.
With all these plans, it is not surprising that she hedged when asked if this was her last concert tour, saying that while she thinks it will be, “If you come right out and say that and then tour again, you look silly.”
Tickets, which are $10 and $12.50, are available today at the Sound Shop in University Mall and tomorrow at the Memorial Coliseum box office, said Robert Hoelscher, program advisor of the University of Alabama’s union programs.
By Sheldon Rosenzweig, Special to The News