Olivia's 1974 First Impressions record re-released in the UK in 1985 on EMI Music For Pleasure red label with a lovely new cover.
The release comes with the addition of a nice essay by Roger St. Pierre (with a couple of minor errors):
It was an extravagant way of celebrating my girlfriend's birthday. I'd booked a table for the cabaret at London's renowned Savoy Hotel and it was the venue rather than the artists on the show which excited such rashly lavish expenditure.
But, as it turned out, it was not to be the glamorous surroundings and superb food and wines which were to provide the fondest memories of that wonderful evening. No, that role fell to the young entertainer who was to hold us spellbound with her sheer talent
I'd heard of Olivia Newton-John but knew little of her or her work. By the end of the evening, she'd proved to me that she was a star of the first order-and I had become a firm fan.
Since then, of course, Olivia has become a major international attraction, not just through records and concert appearances but via successful movies too. Though Olivia found her initial fame in Australia, she like those other "Australian" superstars the Bee Gees, was actually born in England, at Cambridge, on 26 September 1949. Her father was a Welsh-born academician, her mother the daughter of a Nobel Prize winning academician.
When Olivia was five, the family emigrated to Australia where her father became headmaster of Ormond College.
Early hints of Olivia's future career came when, at 12 she entered a cinema competition to find the girl who looks most like Hayley Mills
!
It was another competition which brought her back to Britain, for a trip to London in 1970 was first prize in a talent competition held by Australian TV personality Johnny O'Keefe.
In London Olivia formed a duet with another young Australian girl singer but when her friend's visa ran out and she had to return home. Olivia stayed on and, after a short stint as a member of Tomorrow, settled on a solo career.
Success came quickly for her debut record, a version of Bob Dylan's If Not For You, which gets this present album underway in fine style, went to number seven on the UK. national pop chart in 1971, quickly followed by an arrangement of the traditional folk song Banks Of The Ohio which climbed to number five.
Also included in this album is the John Denver song Take Me Home, Country Roads which, in 1974, went to number 15 but, more importantly, became something of a theme tune for Olivia.
Invited to tour Europe with Cliff Richard, she became the fist girl to record a duet with him and became a regular guest on Cliff's BBC TV series.
New horizons beckoned. In 1973 Olivia went out to Japan to appear is the prestigious Tokyo Song Festival then went to America for the first time, to guest on Dean Martin's TV show
Written by John Rostill, a former member of Cliff Richard's backing group, The Shadows, Let Me Be There was a hit around the world and earned a gold disc for sales in excess of one million copies, winning her not only three Grammy awards but also the coveted Country Music Association award.
In 1974, Olivia shifted her home territory to America where the soon established herself as a major artist in both the country and pop markets and by 1979 she had broadened her musical base with the massive hit duets with John Travolta You're The One That I Want
and Summer Nights
, both of which came from the smash bit musical Grease
in which they co-starred.
Since then, Olivia has enjoyed a steady flow of hit albums and singles plus numerous concert tour triumphs, as well as continuing to win respect as a TV personality and actress.
The ultimate accolade came when she was awarded an O.B.E. by H.M. The Queen in the 1979 honours' list, the first pop artist to be honoured in this manner - even the Beatles only qualified for the lesser M.B.E. award!
Produced by Shadows' member Bruce Welch and the talented Australian John Farrar, this is the album which started it all off and it's just as refreshingly entertaining as it was when first issued.
Roger St. Pierre
Thanks to Kay.
Songs:
- If Not For You
- Banks Of The Ohio
- Love Song
- Winterwood
- Everything I Own
- What Is Life
- Take Me Home Country Roads
- Amoureuse
- Let Me Be There
- Changes
- Music Makes My Day
- If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
Original Release
- Format: vinyl LP
- Date: 1985
- Country: UK
- Label: EMI
- Catalog: EMI MFP 41 5740 1
Other Releases
- Format: Cassette
- Date: 1985
- Country: UK
- Label: EMI
- Catalog: EMI MFP 41 5740 4