A priceless piece of history... Karen, Tina, Olivia, Peaches, and Toni singing an Eagles hit!

I watched Tina Turner's HBO documentary the other day.  Included within that program was a clip from the time period during which Tina Turner was recovering from her marriage to and divorce from Ike Turner.  Tina joined Olivia Newton-John on a TV special she did around 1980 or so.  It was quite the epic party, and also included Elton John, Andy Gibb, and it looks like Cliff Richard was also on hand.

Check out Toni Tennille, Tina, Olivia, Karen Carpenter, and Peaches from Peaches and Herb.  Crazily enough, as I played this, my husband thought Peaches was me.  

Dayum!  Lots of talent up there!

What do you know?  Someone uploaded the whole show!  Wonder if I want to watch it?

Now THIS is entertainment!  I think this aired in April 1980; so I would have been seven years old.

I actually kind of miss these sorts of shows.  They were fun to watch, and the people behind them were legitimately talented.  Yes, they were often corny, but they allowed us to escape life for awhile.  I was as child at the time these aired, though, which may be why I liked them so much.  There's no accounting for taste, especially when you're a little kid.

I think most of these folks had the odd TV special... well, the women did, anyway.  I know The Carpenters and the Captain and Tennille did them.  And poor Tina was once on The Brady Bunch Hour.  Now THAT is an embarrassing way to make money!  But at least they didn't make her wear a skin tight polyester jumpsuit.

Something Better To Do...

For my thoughts on Glen Campbell's death, click here...

Here's another song I just remembered today.  It's an old Olivia Newton-John song from 1975 called "Something Better To Do".  It's so sweet and bouncy, I may have to cover it.  I think of it as obscure, but apparently it was a hit back in the day.  I read that John Farrar had 40s era movies in mind when he wrote it, which explains the rather "Andrews Sisters" harmonies on the chorus.

I miss the 70s...

I may be back to add my own version for those who care.

It took about an hour to do this...  frustrating!

The Rumour...

Since I'm on an Olivia kick, how about this song from 1988?  I didn't actually hear this until I was about three years into college.

Olivia looks pretty good in this video...

Listen to the music.  Does it sound familiar?  It should.  Elton John wrote it and provided backing vocals.  I don't know why it wasn't a big hit.  Maybe it's because it sounds like a hybrid of "Mama Can't Buy You Love" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".  And even though Olivia sings it, you can totally hear Elton in it.

"Mama Can't Buy You Love"

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"

And maybe a little like "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That"...  in a different key, of course.  The rhythm and styling is kind of similar.

"I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That"...

I love Elton John's music and I think it suits Olivia pretty well.  But maybe "The Rumour" was a little too Elton and not enough Olivia.  I still like the song, though.  And it's fun watching Olivia dance.  I miss the 80s.

Soul Kiss...

When I was a kid, I loved Olivia Newton-John.  I mean, I was one of her biggest fans.  I used to listen to her albums all the time.  In the 70s, Olivia had a very clean, wholesome, ethereal image...

A voice so sweet it's like being wrapped in cotton candy and set out in the sun...

Then along came the 80s.  That was the decade of powerful women coming into their own with careers and getting in touch with their sexuality...  And Olivia had married Matt Lattanzi, a dancer who had appeared in Xanadu with her... 

This movie is Godawful... but I love it anyway.

Olivia got pregnant in the mid 1980s, which must have put her in touch with her more erotic side.  Because then she came out with "Soul Kiss"...

Ugh... reminds me of 8th grade.

I have read that Olivia was very pregnant in this video.  She eventually gave birth to her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, who is now all grown up and a singer herself...

Yikes!!!!

Actually, I think her voice works alright for that kind of music.  I'm less impressed when she tries to do more conventional songs.

In a weird way, she sounds a bit like a warped Kate Bush.  If you are at all familiar with Kate Bush, you know that's saying something.  I happen to love Kate Bush's music, but she's not one who lends herself to mimicry very easily.  On the other hand, I don't think Chloe was necessarily going for that.

I think I prefer Olivia's music to her daughter's.  The "Soul Kiss" era didn't seem to last too long.  I don't think it was as bad as some people made it out to be... but given a choice, I'd take 70s era mellow Olivia over 80s era "Soul Kiss" Olivia. 

I actually hate the song "Physical".  It sort of marks the time at which I stopped idolizing Olivia Newton-John.

This is more like it.

Suddenly...

Back in 1980, the colossal bomb Xanadu was hitting the theaters.  I loved that film because it was bright, colorful, and had music by Olivia Newton John, Cliff Richard, and the Electric Light Orchestra. I was quite the ONJ fan when I was a kid, but I also had a vivid imagination and that movie really captured it for some reason.  I loved the costumes and dancers and most of all, the music.  The acting sucked balls.

Anyway, I like to sings ONJ songs sometimes and happened to find an open duet with a guy named Venomspyda, who did a bang up job on "Leather & Lace" with me a few months ago.  I decided to join him once again.



It turned out relatively okay.  I'm hoping Santa brings me a mixer so I can fix my audio.

Mike Sammes...

I have mentioned before that when I was a little girl, my dad would play music for me.  We both enjoyed Olivia Newton-John, so I have already blogged about her.  One thing I always wondered about was the identity of the deep voiced guy who sang backup on her earliest recordings.  I finally asked the right person, who discovered the mystery man's identity.  Why I couldn't find this out on my own, I'll never know.  I mean, I can Google with the best of 'em.  But now I know, so here's a blog post dedicated to the late Mr. Sammes, who had quite a colorful and interesting history in rock and roll.

Turns out Mike Sammes led a choir of sorts-- The Mike Sammes Singers-- who recorded seven albums in the United Kingdom and were responsible for backing vocals on The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" and "Goodnight".

Oddly enough, my first exposure to the song "Goodnight" was a rendition by The Carpenters, which also used a choral sound to back up her lead vocals...

The choir in this version came from the Carpenters' alma mater, California State University, Long Beach, and Richard Carpenter's professor and friend, Frank Pooler.

Anyway, all that is cool and shit, but I'm most interested in Mike Sammes' distinctive vocals.  Check 'em out...

 You can hear him on the chorus...

And even more on "If You Love Me Let me Know"...

Here too... This video is totally freaky...

In this video, Olivia's got quite the accent.  I was in the womb when this was recorded.  I feel old now.

Mike Sammes' career apparently really suffered by the mid 1970s, because artists were using overdubbing and multi-tracks to do their own backup singing.  The Carpenters were really into doing that.  And I know Olivia did a lot of her own backup, too.  Still, Mike Sammes had a very interesting and distinctive voice that lent some color to Olivia's otherwise whitebread songs.  He sort of gave those songs a real old school country feel.

I might have to learn more about this guy.

Olivia Newton-John...

I'm surprised it's taken me so long to write an ode to Olivia Newton-John.  When I was a small child living in England, she was by far my favorite singer.  She was very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but I liked her before that.  My dad had purchased her country albums of the early to mid 1970s and would play them in the car.  I fell in love with her cotton candy voice, so sweet, so sticky, and so... pink.  When I say pink, I mean feminine.  Olivia was and still is a beautiful woman and she's always had a girlish voice that I'm sure enraptured a lot of kids of my era.

Actually, I stopped liking her as much as she started to be more sexy.  I didn't like her songs "Physical" or "Tied Up".  I sort of liked "Soul Kiss", which was a hit in 1986... but she had kind of gone out of style by then.  Here are a few songs that I loved when I was little and still have to admit to liking now...

"Sam" from her 1976 album "Don't Stop Believin'"

"Changes", a song written about divorce...

"If You Love Me Let Me Know"

"Let Me Be There"  Who the fuck is that guy with the deep voice singing backup, anyway?

I've always loved "Have You Never Been Mellow", even though it reminds me a little of background music for a commercial for feminine hygiene products.

I want to say "Follow Me" is a John Denver cover, but I could be wrong... and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

Of course, I loved everything she did for Xanadu, which was a really shitty film with a great soundtrack.

And here's a performance of "Xanadu" from the movie itself.  When I was eight years old, I thought this film was pure magic.

I love "Please Mister Please", too... the lyrics are totally cheesy, but the melody is pretty.

Here's "Hopelessly Devoted To You"... so sweet and innocent and in total contrast to the whore look she sports in the video for...

"Soul Kiss"...  Oh my dear lord!  The guy at the end looks like he's walking into a huge vagina or something.

I purposely didn't post "Physical" because it's been seen a jillion times and the video is kind of campy and bawdy... plus I've never liked that song very much.

In college, I met a guy who was absolutely obsessed with Olivia.  In fact, he still loves her music and even got to meet her once.  I'm sure it was a dream come true.  I like her earlier songs better, but she will always be a guilty pleasure in the dungeon of the past that lurks in my mind.

I just learned today who the guy was who did all the deep voiced backup singing for Olivia...


See also...

Cliff Richard...

Back in the early 1980s, Cliff Richard was the shit, especially at the skating rink.  I was a big Olivia Newton-John fan back then and had seen her in Xanadu I don't know how many times.  To my 8 year old mind, that movie was just amazing.  Cliff Richard had sung a duet with Olivia in it, but he also sang songs of his own.  Just now, as I was writing a review of the Vinturi for spirits, his music popped into my head. So now I'm going to pop some into my blog for the Internet masses to experience.  Enjoy!

The ever popular "Devil Woman"...

"We Don't Talk Anymore"

Cliff and Olivia singing "Suddenly" from Xanadu...

"Dreamin'"

And of course... "Daddy's Home"...  awww...

They just don't make tunes like this anymore.

The rottenest Olivia Newton John song ever!

Okay, maybe ONJ has done a song that was rottener than this one is, but you gotta admit this song is pretty icky.

They don't make 'em like this anymore, do they?  Is that a good thing?  Maybe so...

I probably would prefer "Tied Up" to Olivia's big breakout hit, "Physical".  I never liked the song or the campy video!

I guess Olivia was at the height of her sexual peak when she made these videos.  How else could she justify the slow motion cameras, suggestive lyrics, and leering faces she makes.  It's a long way from her days as a country sweetheart...