Kay au rapport

Let's get Hilly Billy ...




Over the years I have collected 5 of this un-official Remix CDs.

First of all these CDs are more worse than funny, because the "Hilly Billy Mixes" seemed to have been made in a rush. The mixing is part-wise horrible since Olivia's vocals had been put in the background far too much. Country Songs of that era hadn't been recorded to make a remix of or were intended to be stretched artificially. 
That's what it sounds: artificial ! 

Maybe an un-professional basement Combo put down the extra bass and strings for this or one of the first Amiga computers has delivered the unbearable sounds.

The 1990 CDs "Banks of the Ohio" and "The Banks of the Ohio" had been released with exactly the same track list in Germany (Success 22533) and the UK (Tring JHD 039) featuring oversized Remixes of "Take me home Country Roads", "Me and Bobby McGee", "Help me make it through the Night"," Angel in the morning", "Just a little too much", Love Song", If not for you", "Banks of the Ohio" and "If you could read my mind".

Strangely enough the Song "Angel of the morning" was named wrongly "Angel in the Morning", although the song was never intended to be called like that and unfortunately the record companies kept naming this title falsely on almost every of this "cheap market" releases !

A year later in Germany "Take me home Country Roads" was released with even more remixed songs. "If I gotta leave", "No regrets", "In a Station", "Come on over", "Lullaby", "If" and "Where are you going to my love" were added. None of them more pleasurable than the 9 songs on the first releases. The Remixes of "Just a little too much" and "Me and Bobby McGee" had been done in a new way for this extended CD, but the new Versions weren't done more professionally than the first tries. I would call them even more "humpa, humpa"....

Next on the plate is the "Angel in the morning" titled CD from 2000 released in Spain on the Sonotec Label which sees a Remix of "Let me be there" added. Therefore "No regrets", "Come on over" and "If I gotta leave" had been cut off. No loss felt at all!



The last try I bought was a 2008 edition also sold in Germany simply called "Olivia Newton-John" on the EURO TREND Label. This time it seems they did re-name "Angel of the morning" correctly and united all 17 songs existing of that sphere on one CD. One ray of light, but they forgot to add the Remix of "Let me be there". Instead they put the usual non-remixed LP Version on this compilation of overrated Extended Remix Versions.

As a die-hard collector I will keep these CDs of course for the sake of Nostalgia. But I never understood why good songs had been re-done in such a brutal way and sold so cheap. We all know Olivia doesn't earn any royalties from these, neither will she know of their existence.


And she is not the only Artist, whose songs were "raped" that way. There's a whole bunch of Country Artists whose songs suffer from that same fate of mistreatment.

And to be honest: the choice of Cover Sleeves proof that the content of these CDs isn't worth even the cheapest price.

To leave one good point here I'd say that the only Remix which is standable or kind of joyable is the one of "If you could read my mind".

Let's get Hilly Billy.....

Kay B.