1974 Grammys
Roberta Flack was back again as a Record of the Year nominee (“Feel Like Makin’ Love”). Joni Mitchell (“Help Me,” she crooned, like she meant it) and Elton John (“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”) were also in the race and long over-due for the honor. Other contenders were Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis” (number 29 in the year’s Hot 100), plus an irresistible valentine from one of the most wholesome beauties with one of the most crystalline voices in modern music Olivia Newton-John, who wooed voters with “I Honestly Love You.”
“Honestly,” written by Peter Allen and Jeffrey Barry, was also up for Song of the Year. Allen, a Vegas-style per-former as well as a composer, originally intended to record it himself, but A&M Records wasn’t convinced the combination would produce a hit and the project lost momentum. Then “somebody at the publishing office was going to see Olivia with new material,” Barry once told Billboard, “and she loved it and wanted to record it.” A&M at first resisted its release as a single when she included it in her If You Love Me, Let Me Know LP, but, as Barry also pointed out, pretty soon “radio demanded it.”
The Australian Newton-John, when she won a 1973 Grammy in a country category, caused a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ down in Nashville. It was hard to believe that the Barbie doll-faced vocalist could cause any ruckus: One critic once compared her to white bread “if white bread could sing.” But this time she staved off any potential outcry by claiming the two top awards at both the Grammys and the American Music Awards for Record of the Year and best female pop vocalist.