Olivia Newton-John: Her Top 50 Songs in Celebration of Her LIfe

Olivia Newton-John Top 50 Songs

The country/pop singer was born 9/26/1948 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. She died on 8/8/2022. Her family moved to Australia in 1953. At age 16, won talent contest to England. Granddaughter of Nobel Prize-winning German physicist Max Born. She was in the Pat & Olivia duo and group Tomorrow before going solo. She won the CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1974. In movies Grease, Xanadu, and Two of a Kind. Married actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984, divorced in 1995. Opened own chain of clothing boutiques (Koala Blue) in 1984. Her daughter Chloe was born in 1986. She battled breast cancer in 1992, was diagnosed with cancer again in 2013, and a third time in 2017. Married John Easterling in 2008. She sold more than 100 million records in her career. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast Olivia Newton-John: Celebrating Her Life and Music based on this list. Debut: August 9, 2022, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. You’re the One That I Want (with John Travolta, 1978) 2. Physical (1981) 3. I Honestly Love You (1974) DMDB Top 2%: 4. Magic (1980) 5. Summer Nights (with John Travolta, 1978) DMDB Top 5%: 6. Have You Never Been Mellow (1975) 7. Hopelessly Devoted to You (1978) 8. Xanadu (with Electric Light Orchestra, 1980) 9. A Little More Love (1978) DMDB Top 10%: 10. If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974) 11. Make a Move on Me (1981) 12. Let Me Be There (1973) 13. Please Mr. Please (1975) 14. Suddenly (with Cliff Richard, 1980) 15. Heart Attack (1982) 16. Twist of Fate (1983) 17. The Grease Megamix (with John Travolta, 1990) 18. If Not for You (1971) 19. Deeper Than the Night (1978) 20. Soul Kiss (1985) 21. Sam (1976) DMDB Top 20%: 22. Something Better to Do (1975) 23. Livin’ in Desperate Times (1983) 24. Come on Over (1976) 25. The Rumour (1988) 26. Tied Up (1982) 27. I Can’t Help It (with Andy Gibb, 1980) 28. Banks of the Ohio (1971) 29. Fly Away (with John Denver, 1975) 30. Don’t Stop Belevin’ (1976) 31. Landslide (1981) 32. Angel of the Morning (1972) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 33. Totally Hot (1978) 34. Take a Chance (with John Travolta, 1983) 35. O Come All Ye Faithful (with Elvis Presley, 2008) 36. Let It Shine (1975) 37. Dancin’ ‘Round and ‘Round (1978) 38. Suspended in Time (1980) 39. Toughen Up (1985) 40. The Best of Me (with David Foster, 1986) 41. Physical (with the Glee Cast, 2010) 42. It’s Not Heaven (1988) 43. What Is Life? (1972) 44. The Promise (1981) 45. Every Face Tells a Story (1976) 46. Emotional Tangle (1985) 47. Making a Good Thing Better (1977) 48. Whenever You’re Away from Me (with Gene Kelly, 1980) 49. Shaking You (1983) 50. Walk Through Fire (1988) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Olivia Newton-John Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 8/8/2022; last updated 8/24/2022.

Olivia Newton-John “Twist of Fate” released

Twist of Fate Olivia Newton-John

Writer(s): Peter Beckett, Steve Kipner (see lyrics here) Released: October 21, 1983 First Charted: November 4, 1983 Peak: 5 US, 5 CB, 4 RR, 57 UK, 4 CN, 4 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 12.28 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: As a teenager, my two favorite acts were Styx and Olivia Newton-John – a point reflected when I started doing personal weekly charts in 1982. The next year, Styx’s “Mr. Roboto” became my longest-running #1 (12 weeks) in the roughly ten years I maintained my charts. By year’s end, Olivia came close with “Twist of Fate” logging 10 weeks atop my charts. The only other song to surpass it was 1985’s “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears (11 weeks). Over time, “Twist of Fate” hasn’t maintained the same lofty status as “Mr. Roboto” and “Head Over Heels,” which still rank in my top 100 songs of all time. It still appears in my Grand Library (my top 1000 of all time), but has been surpassed by some half-dozen other Olivia songs, including “Physical,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, “Magic” and “Xanadu” from the Xanadu soundtrack (my first cassette), and “Heart Attack,” a #3 hit on Billboard from Olivia’s 1982 greatest-hits set. Because of the monstrous success of 1978’s Grease movie and soundtrack, fans were eager to see stars Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta together again. The 1983 Two of a Kind movie paired the two in a romantic fantasy crime comedy film in which they have to show compassion for one another in order to delay God’s judgment upon Earth. If it sounds like the makings of a flop, it was. The soundtrack, however, was a success, selling a million copies on the strength of the top-5 hit “Twist of Fate” and top-40 hit “Livin’ in Desperate Times." The synthesizer-driven, rock-oriented material was in keeping with the direction Olivia’s music had been going, but it was a long way away from her ‘70s fare which drew much of its appeal from adult-contemporary and country radio listeners. “Twist of Fate” came about when Peter Beckett, who wrote and sang the #1 hit “Baby Come Back” by Player, was writing with Steve Kipner and got a call from Olivia’s manager needing an uptempo song for Two of a Kind. They wrote lyrics to suit the movie, specifically referencing the twist that brings Olivia and John Travolta’s characters back together after their initial meeting. SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/6/2022.

 

Grease soundtrack hit #1

This post has been updated and consolidated with a post about Grease opening on Broadway and the subsequent cast album. You can read that post here.

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“You’re the One That I Want” hit #1

Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta

Writer(s): John Farrar (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 1, 1978 Peak: 11 US, 3 CB, 2 GR, 11 HR, 3, 23 AC, 19 UK, 2 CN, 19 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 2.49 UK, 15.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 653.43 video, 601.48 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The 1972 Broadway show Grease about American high schoolers in the ‘50s was such a success that it was brought to the big screen in 1978. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were cast as the stars. He “was the hottest thing going” RC since his Best Actor Oscar nomination and she was a successful crossover singer in country, pop, and adult contemporary. Despite being years removed from high school, they brought charisma and chemistry to their roles and turned the movie and its soundtrack into blockbusters. John Farrar, who’d worked with Olivia since 1971, wrote some new songs exclusively for the movie, including Olivia’s ballad “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “You’re the One That I Want,” a raucous duet between the leads. The movie’s director, Randal Kleiser, was not a fan because he felt it didn’t fit with the songs written by Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs for the original show. WK However, “You’re the One That I Want” was a huge hit with fans across the world, reaching #1 in the U.S., UK, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, and Sweden. Within two weeks of charting, it was certified gold for selling a million copies. WK It reached #1 in the U.S. before the movie was even released. SF In the UK, it became the fifth biggest-selling single of all time. SF In Olivia’s native Australia, the song spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top, interrupted by a six-week run at #1 by Boney M’s “Rivers of Babylon.” “You’re the One That I Want” spent those six weeks hovering right behind “Babylon” at #2. WK As the movie’s closer, it showcased the transformation of Olivia’s character Sandy from good girl to greaser queen to win back Danny, played by Travolta. Meanwhile, Danny has made his own change to win Sandy back. To the surprise of his greaser friends, he now sports a sweater with a letter he received in cross country. Originally the movie closed with “All Choked Up,” which was sort of a send up of Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up.” However, it was one of two songs from the original score which was removed completely from the movie and soundtrack. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Travolta RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Page 336. SF Songfacts Thunder bay ( WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/23/2020; last updated 4/30/2024.

Bee Gees hit #1 with “Night Fever”

Night Fever Bee Gees

Writer(s): Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 3, 1978 Peak: 18 US, 18 CB, 17 GR, 18HR, 16 RR, 19 AC, 8 RB, 12 UK, 15 CN, 7 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.5 US, 0.5 UK, 3.15 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 168.1 video, 219.85 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love” was the first single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and “Stayin’ Alive” is the one which endured to become the most iconic, but “Night Fever” was the biggest hit at the time. In the U.S., the first two spent a combined 7 weeks atop the chart, but “Night Fever” stayed there for a whopping 8 weeks. It was the biggest #1 of the year. Saturday Night Fever was such a juggernaut that “Night Fever” was knocked from its perch by yet another of the soundtrack’s songs – Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You.” The three Gibb brothers in the Bee Gees shared writing credits on all four #1 songs. Barry Gibb, however, also co-wrote “Love Is Thicker Than Water,” the song for his brother Andy that held the #1 slot between “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.” It meant that for the week ending April 1, 1978, Barry Gibb had a writing credit on five of the top 10 songs and four consecutive #1 songs. The song contributed to the name of the movie. Robert Stigwood, who produced the movie and the Bee Gees, was developing a film about the disco scene in the Big Apple. He was inspired by the article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” in New York magazine about teens going to dance competitions. With the working title of Saturday Night, the movie’s star, John Travolta, rehearsed his dancing moves to the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” SF a #1 from 1976. Stigwood reached out to the Bees in hopes that they might contribute some new songs. He asked the group to write a song with that title, but they balked, thinking it was a dumb title. SF They did, however, already have a song called “Night Fever” and convinced Stigwood to use it and call the movie Saturday Night Fever. WK The final soundtrack featured five #1 songs by the Bee Gees – “Night Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” the aforementioned “You Should Be Dancing,” and “Jive Talkin’” from 1975. Resources: SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Pages 172-3. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/23/2020; last updated 4/12/2023.