Info sheet

Dans la collection de notre bon ami Kay, ce petit livret en allemand truffé d'infos, inclus dans le vinyle PHYSICAL de l'époque.

Il y a quelques dates et des infos qui sont un peu erronés .. mais on appréciera la mise en page .. et la traduction en anglais de Kay ! 

Physical (EMI Electrola)

Even before her role in "Grease" along-side John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John was a household name and Superstar in the United States. But this Movie made her an Idol, setting new trends and as "Sandra Dee" she embodied a new feeling for life for a whole generation of teenagers.

Now "Lovely Livvy" is back with a new Album that will be more than a surprise to her fans.
"Physical" is the title of this new production and it shows more than the "Old Olivia", who could sing a romantic ballad better than any other female singer – it shows the new Olivia who tries to rock it out for the first time.

"I think ‚Physical is very different from that I have done so far" explains Newton-John, "since my last Album two years have passed and between my recording sessions my taste of music has changed because of various influences. I would never chose the structure of songs again that I have recorded maybe six years ago. Simply because I connect myself more to contemporary tunes in todays Pop Music."

New tracks like "Physcial" or "Landslide" prove this new musical tendency without a doubt.

"These last two years I have really become adventurous. I was thrilled to try something totally different. Of course I like many musical directions, but I just recently discovered that I like Rock Music. And I find Black Music (R&B) joyful, even Jazz Musicians like Earl Klugh or Ronnies Laws I didn’t favor in the past, but I now like them a lot."

Those new likes find themselves in Olivia’s new Album. She has grown and became more mature. Prerequisite needed to try new things. "If I’d tried to record a song like "Landslide" five years ago I am sure I would’ve failed. You need a certain feeling to sing such a tune and pour it out. I didn’t have that five years ago."

Two other songs from "Physical" are special to Olivia. First is "The Promise" which deals with her love for the Dolphins as an endangeroured species and secondly "Silvery Rain", a piece that’s been written ten years ago, but is more than current with the planets’ pollution nowadays.
John Farrar, Olivia’s longtime friend and producer also produced "Physical". He even wrote and co-wrote six of the ten tracks.

Olivia Newton-John was born September 26 in 1948 in Cambridge (England).
Her father is Professor of Maths and German, her mother is the daughter of Nobel Prize Winner for Physics Max Born.

When Olivia was five the family emigrated to Australia. Although the family wasn’t into music ( ..we know better that Olivia’s parents both were singing!! ...) Olivia’s private and professional likes seemed to direct into Music all the way.
When she was 12 she wrote little pieces on the Piano and performed them for Family, Friends and Neighbours..
A Talent Show followed, a Vocal Group (The Sol Four) also but that interfered with her school. But at last a Talent Contest brought her a prize Trip to London.
Even if Australia has a great Music Scene to offer, Olivia was keen on getting more musical impressions from overseas. With fellow australian Pat Carroll she formed a double act which was soon featured by talent scouts.
1971 saw the signing of her first record deal. She got engaged to Bruce Welch from the Shadows and found a new friend with Cliff Richard who selflessly sponsored her career in England.

After a TV Show and Tour with Cliff she had some mediocre Hits and was offered to starr in a series of Movies with "Toomorrow".
Olivia Newton-John was "in" and seemed to climb up the show business ladder taking every second stair. But there was only one blesmish: she was stuck into a certain image, that clean and neat Doris Day type.
Whenever she appeared she was that lovely and sweet, pony-tailed teenager kind of girl with a smile on her lips that couldn’t let any space for bad thoughts. She had that Rex Gildo Syndrome ( ...Rex Gildo was a gay german Schlager Singer who was famous for one song called „Fiesta Mexicana“. People only wanted to hear that one song from him. He commited suicide in 1999 ...) That appearance came to a high point when she represented the UK in the Grand Prix d’Eurovision with "Long Live Love" in 1974.

It wasn’t dramatic that she lost to Abba placing at position 6 (we know it was 4!!) but it was more dramatic that her musical career in England seemed to stuck into a niche she didn’t want to stay in. Shortly after her failure in Brighton she packed her things and moved to L.A. which welcomed her with open arms.

1973, a year before her album "Let me be there" was surprisingly high charting on the US Country Charts. And 1974 saw her first Grammy, which is the highest musical honor per sé in America. Olivia was as surprised because she didn’t see herself as a Country Singer. But her heartfelt Ballads were excatly what fitted into the Atmosphere of C&W flavored Music Scene. Her american start was done. ...

Her musical radius shall soon be flowing over the Country Music Scene and further.
Overnight Olivia Newton-John was a household name – a term of quality showing up in countless US Talkshows and Music Programmes. She was handled with steadily increasing value. 1976 she was oveflooded with Grammies.

Her Hit "I honestly love you" became Record Of The Year ( we know better that it was in 1974! ) Besides being voted the best C&W Singer she also was voted the best Pop Singer in 1976.

Thanks to John Farrar who was responsible for her ability to cross over from Country to Pop. The former Shadows member adapted her songs to the contemporary Pop Trends and her songs were strikingly often placed on Top of the Charts. "Have you never been mellow", "Sam" and "Every face tells a story" are just a few hits to name from an endless list of songs that made Olivia a Superstar in the US.

What was missed until then was a Spark that made her a worldwide Star. Then came "GREASE". Sandra Dee (Sandy Olson !) was the perfect part for her. "When I read the script I wasn’t quite sure if I could pull that character off, but in the end I did". The rest is history. The Movie became one of the largest grossing music films in history and Olivia’s duet with John Travolta "You’re the one that I want" was No. 1 on countless charts worldwide.

But apart from Acting Olivia’s first love stayed singing. After filming Grease she wrote a few songs for her "Totally Hot" Album, which was released November 1978.
A Worldtour was to follow bringing her to Japan, Australia, and Europe where she appeared in Sweden, Holland, Germany, France and England. She was celebrated and praised everywhere. Her last project "XANADU" brought little less success than "Grease" (musically) .

Now we have PHYSICAL, not just a simply new Album, but a new Olivia Newton-John....

Un grand merci à Kay.