The Rumour review
Olivia Elton John...
by David Giles
WHEN Olivia Newton-John went to America with Grease back in the late Seventies, she was asked to change her Australian accent which was deemed to be too “unusual” for the comprehension at US audiences. These days, she has turned Australia into big business, with a chain of “Koala Blue” stores specialising in Aussie—style food and clothes, with 14 branches in the States.
She’s also released a new record The Rumour, single and title track from a forthcoming LP, looks set to throw Livvy back into the pop limelight again. Her first release for three years, having moved from EMI to Phonogram in the meantime, The Rumour, features Elton John as composer, producer, pianist and backing singer.
“I ran into Elton at a party and asked him to write me a song for my new LP”, explains Olivia. “I rang Bernie Taupin the next day and asked him to write me a lyric, and I got a ‘yes’ out of both of them. After they’d sent me the tape, which I loved, Elton called to say ’I’m so excited about it, if you’ll like I’ll produce it.’ I couldn’t believe my luck”
The Rumour is unmistakeably Elton’s work. You’ll notice that little bit extra he always seems capable of putting into a song —- the indubitable stamp of quality.
The remainder at the LP is produced by Davitt Sigerson and Randy Goodrum. It is not a million miles away from the Olivia at the turn at the early Eighties. There’s nothing quite as uptempo as Physical or as mellow as her early material, but there are at least two further potential hit singles there.
Since many of the recent crop of female singers, and notably Kylie Minogue and Debbie Gibson, have traded on a very similar type of “wholesome”, clean-cut image to the early Olivia, 1988 would seem to be an ideal time tor a comeback Now, what ever happened to that Travolta chappie?