You Have to Believe She Was Magic
August 8, 2022 5:38 PM Subscribe
Olivia Newton-John has died at age 73. What better way to celebrate her life and career than to revisit this absolutely bananas 20 minute medley featuring Olivia, ABBA and Andy Gibb from her 1978 ABC special Olivia! (previously)
An indispensable pop icon of the 70's and 80's, she will be missed.
Some more of her greatest hits:
Physical
Xanadu
Magic
Let Me Be There
Hopelessly Devoted to You
Some more of her greatest hits:
Physical
Xanadu
Magic
Let Me Be There
Hopelessly Devoted to You
I don't know why, but this one really hurt.
posted by freakazoid at 5:47 PM on August 8, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by freakazoid at 5:47 PM on August 8, 2022 [12 favorites]
Yeah, me too freakazoid. Not many celebrity deaths touch me, but Olivia was such a joyful, bright talent, it made me very sad to hear she was gone.
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
Man, I really had a crush on her (as Sandy Dee) when I was a five year-old boy.
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posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [7 favorites]
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posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [7 favorites]
I am not ok with losing Olivia and Judith Durham in the same week :(
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posted by arha at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by arha at 5:50 PM on August 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
There will never be another one like her.
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posted by mochapickle at 5:51 PM on August 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by mochapickle at 5:51 PM on August 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
🛼
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:52 PM on August 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:52 PM on August 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
I was never a fan of Grease. Tried to watch it a few times, but Travolta’s character just turned me off somehow and I could never get into the movie.
But Xanadu…that was something else, entirely. Thank you Olivia, for that. You will always be Terpsichore to me.
posted by darkstar at 5:55 PM on August 8, 2022 [17 favorites]
But Xanadu…that was something else, entirely. Thank you Olivia, for that. You will always be Terpsichore to me.
posted by darkstar at 5:55 PM on August 8, 2022 [17 favorites]
Oh, this one hurts. Not only Grease, which is fun, but Xanadu, which is one of my favorite movies (there, I'm not afraid to say it).
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posted by lhauser at 5:56 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
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posted by lhauser at 5:56 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
Her voice was the sound of my childhood.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:03 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:03 PM on August 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
Her 70s Nashville run was more conceptually interesting, and prescient than we currently acknowledge; it was also more musicially adroit than it is given credit for at the time. She was an excellent example of gate keeping as misogyny. We needed to take her more seriously. Also, Xanadu was a masterpeice, not an ironic masterpeice, a genuine one.
posted by PinkMoose at 6:06 PM on August 8, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by PinkMoose at 6:06 PM on August 8, 2022 [16 favorites]
I was a bit young for Peak ONJ. I was aware of her, but didn’t get to see what she was all about at the time. It wasn’t until decades later that I watched Xanadu, and I got it. What talent, what presence! Even to these jaded eyes, ONJ looked like the real deal, someone who really was that nice and charming and pretty and talented.
All too rare. She’ll be sorely missed. Safe journey, ONJ.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:10 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
All too rare. She’ll be sorely missed. Safe journey, ONJ.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:10 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
Wow. Xanadu was such an awakening for me. She will be missed.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:14 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:14 PM on August 8, 2022
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posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:15 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:15 PM on August 8, 2022
Archie Roach, Judith Durham, Olivia Newton John. Not a good couple of weeks for Victorian music (Australia).
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posted by freethefeet at 6:21 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
. . .
posted by freethefeet at 6:21 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
My favorite is "A Little More Love" and my karaoke track is "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and I'm going to be crying for a while. Thank you, Olivia, for all the joy.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:28 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:28 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
The song Please Mister Please is somehow burned into my brain from those times.
I just remember as a total ray of sunshine. Unknowingly-gay young me feel in love with Xanadu. Grease I was meh oh, but she was still so good in it And she was on television a LOT when I was young. That was the era of the Artist Special and the Variety Series, and she turned up a lot.
Sad to see her gone. So glad to still have her music.
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posted by hippybear at 6:28 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
I just remember as a total ray of sunshine. Unknowingly-gay young me feel in love with Xanadu. Grease I was meh oh, but she was still so good in it And she was on television a LOT when I was young. That was the era of the Artist Special and the Variety Series, and she turned up a lot.
Sad to see her gone. So glad to still have her music.
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posted by hippybear at 6:28 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
A Little More Love still breaks my heart.
She was one of my first crushes.
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posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 6:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
She was one of my first crushes.
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posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 6:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
I seem to recall ONJ was one of the first women to publicize her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, not just hide it. It was a big deal at the time -- no one actually talked about boobs and no one actually talked about diseases, much less a "female" disease -- almost scandalous for her to say "this is a huge issue, we're going to talk about it."
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [23 favorites]
I love how ONJ gives a smoochy kiss to everyone, including the girls from ABBA, at the end of the video segment. My heart leapt.
posted by jabah at 6:35 PM on August 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jabah at 6:35 PM on August 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by seawallrunner at 6:49 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by seawallrunner at 6:49 PM on August 8, 2022
Her voice was the sound of my childhood.
I just felt like elaborating on my previous comment. We spent as much time in the family car as your average rural US family (i.e. a lot). Ours was a big, battle-scarred Plymouth equipped with what was probably the world's last manufactured eight-track player. We only had a handful of tapes so the ones we did have were all in heavy rotation, and two of them were the Grease soundtrack an an Olivia Newton-John Greatest Hits compilation, which covered the mid-Seventies through Xanadu. We knew every word, every note, every embellishment. So many sense memories are tangled up in every song that I couldn't possibly begin to separate them.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:55 PM on August 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
I just felt like elaborating on my previous comment. We spent as much time in the family car as your average rural US family (i.e. a lot). Ours was a big, battle-scarred Plymouth equipped with what was probably the world's last manufactured eight-track player. We only had a handful of tapes so the ones we did have were all in heavy rotation, and two of them were the Grease soundtrack an an Olivia Newton-John Greatest Hits compilation, which covered the mid-Seventies through Xanadu. We knew every word, every note, every embellishment. So many sense memories are tangled up in every song that I couldn't possibly begin to separate them.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:55 PM on August 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
Olivia Newton-John sang "Take Me Home, Country Roads," in English, at the end of Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. (If you recall, the girl in the film, Shizuku, is trying to write a Japanese version of the song.)
posted by SPrintF at 6:57 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 6:57 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
And she's always been a great example of how a skillful singer with a good instrument can defy classification.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:01 PM on August 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:01 PM on August 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:09 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:09 PM on August 8, 2022
Such a great electric piano part on "Magic." Over that D in the bass, it's a full D major chord in the right hand (D-F#-A-D) and then slide the Ds down to C, keep the F#/Gb and flat the A (C-Gb-Ab-C)
It took Oliva Newton-John's death to get me to finally sit down and figure out that lick and the rest of the song.
posted by emelenjr at 7:10 PM on August 8, 2022 [12 favorites]
It took Oliva Newton-John's death to get me to finally sit down and figure out that lick and the rest of the song.
posted by emelenjr at 7:10 PM on August 8, 2022 [12 favorites]
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posted by tuesdayschild at 7:10 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by tuesdayschild at 7:10 PM on August 8, 2022
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posted by Silvery Fish at 7:15 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by Silvery Fish at 7:15 PM on August 8, 2022
Such a great electric piano part on "Magic."
Is that ELO backing her up on on that, or someone else?
Also, total shout-out to the bass singer in Let Me Be There, who elevates that song entirely.
posted by hippybear at 7:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
Is that ELO backing her up on on that, or someone else?
Also, total shout-out to the bass singer in Let Me Be There, who elevates that song entirely.
posted by hippybear at 7:30 PM on August 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
Xanadu was a terrible movie but terrible in such a wonderful way, and she was the best thing about it.
I wore out my Grease double album because of her.
posted by emjaybee at 7:31 PM on August 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
I wore out my Grease double album because of her.
posted by emjaybee at 7:31 PM on August 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
hippybear: Is that ELO backing her up on on that, or someone else?
According to Wikipedia, it's John Farrar on keys.
posted by emelenjr at 7:34 PM on August 8, 2022
According to Wikipedia, it's John Farrar on keys.
posted by emelenjr at 7:34 PM on August 8, 2022
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posted by Rapunzel1111 at 7:50 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by Rapunzel1111 at 7:50 PM on August 8, 2022
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posted by Samuel Farrow at 8:25 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by Samuel Farrow at 8:25 PM on August 8, 2022
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posted by gentlyepigrams at 8:31 PM on August 8, 2022
posted by gentlyepigrams at 8:31 PM on August 8, 2022
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She was my first celebrity crush, and when I came out to myself as trans, one of the things I desperately wanted was to see Xanadu and see if I could duplicate her muse outfit.
posted by mephron at 8:36 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
She was my first celebrity crush, and when I came out to myself as trans, one of the things I desperately wanted was to see Xanadu and see if I could duplicate her muse outfit.
posted by mephron at 8:36 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
Xanadu had two of my favorites: Olivia Newton-John and ELO. Their sounds were made for one another, in my opinion.
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posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:53 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
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posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:53 PM on August 8, 2022 [6 favorites]
Lots of mentions of "Grease" and "Xanadu" and her many pop hits over the years...
But let me please recommend her cameo appearance in a quirky, little known yet much loved movie, "Sordid Lives," where she played a lesbian ex-convict honky-tonk bar singer.
posted by dnash at 9:42 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
But let me please recommend her cameo appearance in a quirky, little known yet much loved movie, "Sordid Lives," where she played a lesbian ex-convict honky-tonk bar singer.
posted by dnash at 9:42 PM on August 8, 2022 [8 favorites]
Xanadu had two of my favorites: Olivia Newton-John and ELO. Their sounds were made for one another, in my opinion.
I've never understood why that worked so well, but it did. It's still incredible pop music and yet something more.
posted by vverse23 at 10:24 PM on August 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've never understood why that worked so well, but it did. It's still incredible pop music and yet something more.
posted by vverse23 at 10:24 PM on August 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Don't forget Banks of the Ohio, a classic murder ballad which ON-J took to the UK Top Ten in 1971. It spent 17 weeks in the charts here, peaking at Number 6. I was 13 at the time, and I remember being struck by a song with such sinister content becoming a mainstream pop hit.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:08 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 12:08 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Many many years ago, I went to Las Vegas with a friend, and was able to attend one of her night venues.
@Paul Slade -- UK Charts and UK artists were once known for "murder ballads". Let's not forget Tom Jones' Delilah, eh?
>I felt the knife in my hand and
>She laughed no more
posted by kschang at 12:19 AM on August 9, 2022
@Paul Slade -- UK Charts and UK artists were once known for "murder ballads". Let's not forget Tom Jones' Delilah, eh?
>I felt the knife in my hand and
>She laughed no more
posted by kschang at 12:19 AM on August 9, 2022
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Not to detract from her own accomplishments, but not many people are aware that Olivia Newton-John's grandfather was Max Born, pioneering quantum physicist who first interpreted the wave function as describing probability (the "Born rule"). His students and assistants included many of the most important quantum physicists: Heisenberg, Pauli, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Wigner, etc.
posted by Schmucko at 1:05 AM on August 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
Not to detract from her own accomplishments, but not many people are aware that Olivia Newton-John's grandfather was Max Born, pioneering quantum physicist who first interpreted the wave function as describing probability (the "Born rule"). His students and assistants included many of the most important quantum physicists: Heisenberg, Pauli, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Wigner, etc.
posted by Schmucko at 1:05 AM on August 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
To add to her own accomplishments, Olivia Newton-John also founded the ONJ Cancer Research Institute, and the ONJ Wellness Centre; the former searching for new cancer treatments, the latter addressing the physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements of cancer treatment. As both reside in a Melbourne public hospital, treatment is free.
The refrain "Have you never been mellow?" has been haunting me today.
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posted by Thella at 2:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [10 favorites]
The refrain "Have you never been mellow?" has been haunting me today.
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posted by Thella at 2:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [10 favorites]
This news. My infrastructure remains, but I am devoid of life. Struck by an Olivia Neutron Bomb.
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posted by othrechaz at 2:13 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by othrechaz at 2:13 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Really glad that I'm not the only one who around 1981 at age eleven ish was crushing on a woman twenty one yars older than me. She is on my hand full of tween/teen not-sure-exactly-why heart throb crushes. So young, not sure, maybe her eyex or voice or expressions, could be anything. Whatever reason, I liked her. She's still in my pantheon.
Have to put Xanadu on my list. I didn't know anything of her earlier stuff and don't know anything about her later stuff.
Definitely going to be a moment of sadness every time she pops into my head.
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posted by zengargoyle at 2:24 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Have to put Xanadu on my list. I didn't know anything of her earlier stuff and don't know anything about her later stuff.
Definitely going to be a moment of sadness every time she pops into my head.
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posted by zengargoyle at 2:24 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wow. I've been thinking of her frequently since last week after someone played an inferior cover of one of her hits on the radio. She didn't have a very powerful voice but she did have a gift for putting a song across.
I don't think Grease would have come off nearly as well as it did without her anchoring performance that really makes the viewer feel for her hapless character. Travolta's good, but only when he's playing against Stockard Channing, who isn't on screen nearly enough.
And I can't tell you how much of an impression Grease made on 13 year old me. Unfortunately the transformation of Sandy into a silent leatherette made TOO much of an impression, but that was not ONJ's fault.
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posted by Sheydem-tants at 2:57 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I don't think Grease would have come off nearly as well as it did without her anchoring performance that really makes the viewer feel for her hapless character. Travolta's good, but only when he's playing against Stockard Channing, who isn't on screen nearly enough.
And I can't tell you how much of an impression Grease made on 13 year old me. Unfortunately the transformation of Sandy into a silent leatherette made TOO much of an impression, but that was not ONJ's fault.
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posted by Sheydem-tants at 2:57 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Another 10 year old boy here who fell in love with her in Grease (which is an admittedly dumb movie) around 1980 when it showed up on teevee.
Also, she was 29 years old when Grease was made, playing a high school kid.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:27 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, she was 29 years old when Grease was made, playing a high school kid.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:27 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
In "Magic," the line And if all your hopes survive / Destiny will arrive is delivered in a way that is nothing short of a miracle -- the first notes feather-light and etherial, then firming up, becoming more solid, and then laden with promise and a hint of steel when "arrive" lands -- it's been almost forty years that has been running through my head as an example of absolutely perfect timbre and tone. She was indeed Magic.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:34 AM on August 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:34 AM on August 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
I’m another one who saw Grease at the right age for it to be seminal, even if the ending felt more like a betrayal than liberating (I think I was of two minds about the overall sexy look, but the smoking? Sandy, no!) And I wore that double record set out, I played it so often.
But count me in as a huge Xanadu fan even more than that. Fair warning if you haven’t seen it - it’s an objectively terrible movie. Doesn’t matter. I love it and always have and she is the Greek muse of roller disco and Gene Kelly is in it and that’s all you need to know.
I think my favorite song of hers has to be Magic, though A Little More Love is such a pretty one. But I know I can’t be the only one who spent time in the shower or in the car trying to land those notes where she sings “take your hand” in that one verse of Have You Never Been Mellow, even though I never loved it as a song (and the lyrics made Gen-X me cringe). She wasn’t a belter, but she knew how to make her voice soar.
One thing I haven’t seen anyone mention anywhere was how strong her cultural hair game was in the 80s. Grease kickstarted the giant perms, Xanadu had everyone my age wearing (and making) ribbon barrettes, and then Physical brought in that awful short haircut with the sweatband (sorry I’m judging). I don’t even know how many people (if anyone) thought “I want that Olivia Newton-John style” - I don’t remember any of them being named after her (like The Rachel cut, for example, or the Dorothy Hamill earlier). She just low-key set trends. Maybe that’s why this feels like a hard loss for me. She was a quiet huge celebrity. She had to have had a zillion fans but somehow it translated into a zillion personal individual fandoms. At least that’s my personal individual fan take.
Anyway I hope she was able to go knowing she brought joy.
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posted by Mchelly at 4:40 AM on August 9, 2022 [8 favorites]
But count me in as a huge Xanadu fan even more than that. Fair warning if you haven’t seen it - it’s an objectively terrible movie. Doesn’t matter. I love it and always have and she is the Greek muse of roller disco and Gene Kelly is in it and that’s all you need to know.
I think my favorite song of hers has to be Magic, though A Little More Love is such a pretty one. But I know I can’t be the only one who spent time in the shower or in the car trying to land those notes where she sings “take your hand” in that one verse of Have You Never Been Mellow, even though I never loved it as a song (and the lyrics made Gen-X me cringe). She wasn’t a belter, but she knew how to make her voice soar.
One thing I haven’t seen anyone mention anywhere was how strong her cultural hair game was in the 80s. Grease kickstarted the giant perms, Xanadu had everyone my age wearing (and making) ribbon barrettes, and then Physical brought in that awful short haircut with the sweatband (sorry I’m judging). I don’t even know how many people (if anyone) thought “I want that Olivia Newton-John style” - I don’t remember any of them being named after her (like The Rachel cut, for example, or the Dorothy Hamill earlier). She just low-key set trends. Maybe that’s why this feels like a hard loss for me. She was a quiet huge celebrity. She had to have had a zillion fans but somehow it translated into a zillion personal individual fandoms. At least that’s my personal individual fan take.
Anyway I hope she was able to go knowing she brought joy.
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posted by Mchelly at 4:40 AM on August 9, 2022 [8 favorites]
this absolutely bananas 20 minute medley featuring Olivia, ABBA and Andy Gibb from her 1978 ABC special Olivia!
Also holy crap I had totally forgotten how hard prepubescent me crushed on Andy Gibb until I watched that. Damn.
posted by Mchelly at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also holy crap I had totally forgotten how hard prepubescent me crushed on Andy Gibb until I watched that. Damn.
posted by Mchelly at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
...but not many people are aware that Olivia Newton-John's grandfather was Max Born..
He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1954. He co-invented matrix mechanics with Heisenberg. It was in a letter to Born that Einstein wrote that [God] "is not playing at dice" which has been widely paraphrased.
Grease was the soundtrack to my elementary school. All the "cool" girls were really into it, bringing the album to class, doing dances on the playground. When the Grease fervor cooled a bit (did it ever really cool though?) suddenly there was Xanadu and Let's Get Physical so it seemed she had a long career ahead of her. I lost track of her after that though and am pleased to learn she was doing so much good work up until the end. RIP Olivia.
posted by vacapinta at 5:23 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1954. He co-invented matrix mechanics with Heisenberg. It was in a letter to Born that Einstein wrote that [God] "is not playing at dice" which has been widely paraphrased.
Grease was the soundtrack to my elementary school. All the "cool" girls were really into it, bringing the album to class, doing dances on the playground. When the Grease fervor cooled a bit (did it ever really cool though?) suddenly there was Xanadu and Let's Get Physical so it seemed she had a long career ahead of her. I lost track of her after that though and am pleased to learn she was doing so much good work up until the end. RIP Olivia.
posted by vacapinta at 5:23 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
There's something really nice about having a legacy that involves making so many people happy. Safe travels, ONJ.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:06 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 6:06 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
She honestly loved me. I heard her say it.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:17 AM on August 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:17 AM on August 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
I just watched a few minutes of Xanadu and I was wrecked by it. Not just the absolute joy the dancers have, but the absence of our modern world's pervasive veneer of irony and patina of snark. I think that's why the movie is so special; I mean, it sucks as a movie no doubt, it just bumbles all over the place, but it's essence is so healing. It's like, for a minute, or maybe a couple hours, you can just let yourself follow a dream and be swept away in the sunshine .... I don't know that there's any other movie like it. And ONJ is just so beautiful, and her smile so genuine. UGH
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:24 AM on August 9, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:24 AM on August 9, 2022 [9 favorites]
Wow, that Physical video is a lot. It starts out pretty horny, lots of oiled up men and visual and textual innuendo from Olivia, then has a weird fat-shaming middle, and ends with the body-builders from the beginning pairing off (which seems a bold choice for a mainstream video at the time, and I think growing up in Pinochet's '80s I got a censored version), leaving Olivia with one of the fat-shamed men.
Like I said, a lot.
The song's great, though.
posted by signal at 6:49 AM on August 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Like I said, a lot.
The song's great, though.
posted by signal at 6:49 AM on August 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
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posted by Spike Glee at 6:55 AM on August 9, 2022
posted by Spike Glee at 6:55 AM on August 9, 2022
Ahh, crap. I'm a big and longtime fan. Yes, ok, yeah: I am the right demographic that her corporeal perfection hit me like a ton of molten lead when I was ten or whatever, but I genuinely love her music. I dig the Nashville stuff, I love the big pop stuff, I love the new wave adjacent pop stuff, I love Grease.
Many of my faves were mentioned already mentioned but two standouts that were not yet:
Suddenly From the Xanadu soundtrack, a duet with Cliff Richard. This one really works for me.
Twist of Fate From the Two of a Kind soundtrack. Just a great mainstream early 80s number. The film was an absolute mess - worth watching for the train wreck. It was supposed to be Olivia and John Travolta's big return but hoo doggy, not a great movie. But the song (and a few other good ones!) was so good the soundtrack went platinum.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:56 AM on August 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Many of my faves were mentioned already mentioned but two standouts that were not yet:
Suddenly From the Xanadu soundtrack, a duet with Cliff Richard. This one really works for me.
Twist of Fate From the Two of a Kind soundtrack. Just a great mainstream early 80s number. The film was an absolute mess - worth watching for the train wreck. It was supposed to be Olivia and John Travolta's big return but hoo doggy, not a great movie. But the song (and a few other good ones!) was so good the soundtrack went platinum.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:56 AM on August 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
for some reason radio was a larger part of my life in the late 70s and early 80s than before or since, at least until my KROQ days of the early 90s. Magic, Xanadu, Suddenly, Physical, Make a Move on Me . . . not a bad run of singles!
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 8:01 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 8:01 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Have You Ever Been Mellow is indelibly etched upon some of my earliest memories in life. Then it was just a string of hits thereafter. RIP
posted by drstrangelove at 8:05 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by drstrangelove at 8:05 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by doctornemo at 8:20 AM on August 9, 2022
posted by doctornemo at 8:20 AM on August 9, 2022
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I love how ONJ gives a smoochy kiss to everyone, including the girls from ABBA, at the end of the video segment. My heart leapt.
A moment to think the shear amount of performance talent on display here: three performance artists and an orchestra collaborating on each other's songs in a 20 minute elaborately choreographed medley live, no auto tune, one take. After all that, I like how it was the smoochy kiss that brought everything to an abrupt halt!
I seem to recall ONJ was one of the first women to publicize her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Apparently she died from breast cancer having had it since 1992.
posted by rongorongo at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
I love how ONJ gives a smoochy kiss to everyone, including the girls from ABBA, at the end of the video segment. My heart leapt.
A moment to think the shear amount of performance talent on display here: three performance artists and an orchestra collaborating on each other's songs in a 20 minute elaborately choreographed medley live, no auto tune, one take. After all that, I like how it was the smoochy kiss that brought everything to an abrupt halt!
I seem to recall ONJ was one of the first women to publicize her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Apparently she died from breast cancer having had it since 1992.
posted by rongorongo at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
A wonderful singer, and a joy to watch on screen. "Xanadu" really is amazing, on several levels. "Great" movie? Um, not quite. Endlessly watchable? Heck yes. The end scene - roller skates, disco, Gene Kelly, circus performers, pre-"Breakin'" Shabbo Doo(!), and of course Olivia in probably her most stunning incarnation - is almost like being transported to a literal Xanadu.
"...the theme of the movie felt like it was saying that Sandy had to "say goodbye to Sandra Dee" and that something was wrong with her as she was." - Well, yes - but the same also applies to Danny - he too had to "change" - going from greaser to jock. They both tried to change in order to fit in/understand/make the love work with the other.
posted by davidmsc at 8:54 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
"...the theme of the movie felt like it was saying that Sandy had to "say goodbye to Sandra Dee" and that something was wrong with her as she was." - Well, yes - but the same also applies to Danny - he too had to "change" - going from greaser to jock. They both tried to change in order to fit in/understand/make the love work with the other.
posted by davidmsc at 8:54 AM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
.
posted by May Kasahara at 8:59 AM on August 9, 2022
posted by May Kasahara at 8:59 AM on August 9, 2022
Her ethereal vocals on John Denver’s “Fly away” are always in my head.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:31 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:31 AM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's a quote from Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience that I always think of in conjunction with Xanadu: "Nonsense, yes, perhaps - but oh, what precious nonsense!"
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:59 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:59 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
I got SO into her as a pre-teen in the early 90s, much to the puzzlement of my relatives and the guy who owned the single CD store in town. (I remember my uncle picking up the CD case when I was listening to it and chortling at "Have You Never Been Mellow" then asking why I didn't listen to current music.) There was some kind of computer in that store where you could look up albums and print them out and the store would order them for you and I obsessively collected the ONJ albums one-by-one as I earned money from chores/babysitting/whatever. Loved her so much. I'll have to go have a re-listen, I think.
posted by kittensyay at 10:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by kittensyay at 10:00 AM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm an 'American Graffiti' kind of guy who was too old for Grease (in fact I always ignore it, in hopes that its faux-50s just disappears) but I loved "Xanadu" (how could I not -- it's the Pan Pacific Auditorium! And The Tubes make an appearance!) but I'm linking here instead to her video of "Click Go The Shears," that old Australian favorite about sheep.
And who remembers Koala Blue?
posted by Rash at 10:04 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
And who remembers Koala Blue?
posted by Rash at 10:04 AM on August 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
ONJ considered Melbourne, Victoria to be her 'home' town. Last night, landmarks across the city were lit up pink in her honour and her family has accepted the offer of a state funeral. Her niece, Tottie Goldsmith said, “On behalf of not just our family but I think Australia needs it, she’s so loved. I think our country needs it, so we’re going to accept it.”
I live near the ONJ property that she rehabilitated from farm land and turned into Gaia Retreat. Like many locals who could never afford to attend the retreat, I snubbed my nose at it. But now that she's gone, all my cynicism has fallen away and I see it for what it was - yet another successful attempt by ONJ to bring beauty and healing to people. Vale.
posted by Thella at 2:29 PM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I live near the ONJ property that she rehabilitated from farm land and turned into Gaia Retreat. Like many locals who could never afford to attend the retreat, I snubbed my nose at it. But now that she's gone, all my cynicism has fallen away and I see it for what it was - yet another successful attempt by ONJ to bring beauty and healing to people. Vale.
posted by Thella at 2:29 PM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
.
She always seemed to be as nice as she came across onscreen, and always a class act. This loss affected me more than I thought it would.
posted by annieb at 2:45 PM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
She always seemed to be as nice as she came across onscreen, and always a class act. This loss affected me more than I thought it would.
posted by annieb at 2:45 PM on August 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
.
posted by but no cigar at 7:12 PM on August 9, 2022
posted by but no cigar at 7:12 PM on August 9, 2022
While I, too had the Grease soundtrack on 8-track and listened to it A LOT, nothing compares to my love for Xanadu. She was a muse indeed, and will be missed.
.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:03 PM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:03 PM on August 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I made an ONJ doll out of a wooden spoon for a third grade biography project. I had an ONJ greatest hits set of cassette tapes that I absolutely wore out, and Back With A Heart was the first cd I bought myself. This one hurts.
(Also, along with being obsessed with Grease and Xanadu, baby me was suuuuuper into A Mom for Christmas, where she played a mannequin come to life. I still think of that movie and all the dying mannequins when I see headless/faceless mannequins in stores.)
posted by tan_coul at 8:17 PM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
(Also, along with being obsessed with Grease and Xanadu, baby me was suuuuuper into A Mom for Christmas, where she played a mannequin come to life. I still think of that movie and all the dying mannequins when I see headless/faceless mannequins in stores.)
posted by tan_coul at 8:17 PM on August 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I called a radio station in 1979 and nervously asked the DJ who answered, "Can I have Olivia Newton John by Magic please?"
He began laughing and said, "Son, we'd all like that." Then he played "Magic" for me.
.
posted by riverlife at 8:23 PM on August 9, 2022 [14 favorites]
He began laughing and said, "Son, we'd all like that." Then he played "Magic" for me.
.
posted by riverlife at 8:23 PM on August 9, 2022 [14 favorites]
My hippie mom (herself a singer) couldn’t abide ONJ — she was the type to call her “Olivia Neutron Bomb.”
So, naturally, I just wanted to be ONJ when I grew up. Thus began my white-collar, Lite FM rebellion of squareness, which persists to this day.
Mom died of metastatic breast cancer about four years after her diagnosis. I normally detested the familiar “battle” metaphor, but those four years were almost twice Mom’s original prognosis.
So I like to think she’s saluting Olivia for giving it 30 years of what-for, now.
There is more than one way to be a badass in this world. Turns out even angel-faced sopranos can do it.
.
posted by armeowda at 8:55 PM on August 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
So, naturally, I just wanted to be ONJ when I grew up. Thus began my white-collar, Lite FM rebellion of squareness, which persists to this day.
Mom died of metastatic breast cancer about four years after her diagnosis. I normally detested the familiar “battle” metaphor, but those four years were almost twice Mom’s original prognosis.
So I like to think she’s saluting Olivia for giving it 30 years of what-for, now.
There is more than one way to be a badass in this world. Turns out even angel-faced sopranos can do it.
.
posted by armeowda at 8:55 PM on August 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
Through memories of my formative years, I still hear her. Grease 8-Track of my sister's played constantly when I visited.
posted by filtergik at 8:29 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by filtergik at 8:29 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Grease 8-track club unite!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:54 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:54 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by Kitteh at 5:39 PM on August 8, 2022