Olivia Newton-John hit #1 with “Magic”

Magic Olivia Newton-John

Writer(s):John Farrar (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 23, 1980 Peak: 14 US, 13 CB, 11 GR, 13 HR, 12 RR, 15 AC, 32 UK, 2 CN, 4 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 15.5 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After the huge success of Grease, it was a no-brainer to find another film vehicle for Olivia Newton-John. She agreed to do Xanadu because, as she said, “this musical fantasy appealed to me” FB and she would get to sing and dance with one of her idols – Gene Kelly. She played Kira, a muse who came down from Mount Olympus to inspire Sonny (Michael Beck) to open a night club. The roller-skating-themed movie, however, turned out to be what she called “a character-building” bomb. FB The soundtrack, however, was a success. Featuring music from Olivia and Electric Light Orchestra, it generated five top-20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The lead single was “Magic” and it found its way to the top of the U.S. pop charts for four weeks. The song played in the movie when Kira and Sonny first met, again when she has to go back to Olympus, and a third time when she reappears as a waitress at the nightclub. The song’s theme about finding “inspiration for pursuit of one’s dreams and love” WK was fitting in the context of the movie, but also had a broader message about “destiny and faith” SF that worked even for those who hadn’t seen the movie. Considering the failure of the movie, it was a good thing that the song worked outside of the context of the movie. The song boasts “an easy-going melody and clear vocals” SF that continued to push Olivia farther away from her more country sound of the early ‘70s. “Magic” was her third trip to the top following the 1974 ballad “I Honestly Love You” and “You’re the One That I Want,” her smash duet with John Travolta from 1978’s Grease. She went on to hit the top one more time – with the monstrous song “Physical” from 1981. It spent a whopping ten weeks on top of the charts, becoming the biggest hit of the ‘80s. Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 528. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/24/2020; last updated 12/6/2022.

“Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra released

Xanadu Olivia Newton-John with Electric Light Orchestra

Writer(s): Jeff Lynne (see lyrics here) Released: June 6, 1980 First Charted: June 21, 1980 Peak: 8 US, 9 CB, 4 HR, 2 RR, 2 AC, 11 UK, 6 CN, 2 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 29.55 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After the huge success of the 1978 movie Grease and its soundtrack, it made perfect sense to put Olivia Newton-John in another music-themed movie accompanied by a soundtrack dominated by her singing. However, the 1980 movie Xanadu – which featured famous dancer Gene Kelly in his final role – was a flop. The movie starred Olivia Newton-John as a Greek muse who inspires Michael Beck to open a roller derby. As Songfacts.com notes, “It’s basically a roller-disco fantasy made at a time when (a) disco, (b) roller-skating, and (c) fantasy all became as dead as fried chicken.” SF The soundtrack still did well, selling more than 2 million copies in the U.S. and reaching #4 on the Billboard album chart. Olivia’s song “Magic” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the title cut was a top-10 hit in the U.S. and a chart-topper in the UK. The song “Suddenly,” a duet with Cliff Richard, was also a top-20 hit. “Xanadu” was written by Jeff Lynne, whose Electric Light Orchestra populated half the soundtrack and contributed two more top-20 hits from the soundtrack. Electric Light Orchestra provided the backing instrumentation for “Xanadu” while Lynne added backing vocals alongside Olivia Newton-John’s lead vocals. He has said this is his favorite song he has written WK although some ELO fans were turned off by what they considered music veering too much into disco territory. SF The phrase “Xanadu” was used in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” as a reference to the fictional land where Khan ordered a dome to be built. The word has come to mean paradise. In the classic film Citizen Kane, Xanadu was the name of the mansion of media mogul Charles Foster Kane. In 2000, Jeff Lynne released a newly-recorded version of “Xanadu” on the Electric Light Orchestra box set Flashback which featured his vocals. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Electric Light Orchestra SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/6/2022.