Babysitter's Club Olivia

After a festive break, DJ Lubi is back at Hyde Park Book Club for his first show of 2024 on 21st January. It's a real gem featuring one of Leeds' finest young jazz artists launching her new album with an all-star line up of top musicians. Read on.

Xanadu [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Review by Doug Stone
Hollywood never learns. Hot on the heels of box-office failures Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Can't Stop the Music, comes the roller-skating Olivia Newton John in Xanadu. This soundtrack is fluff stuff to be sure, but some pearls float amongst the mire. Lead-off "Magic" remains a fine single. "Suddenly," a duet ONJ ekes out with British luminary Cliff Richard, seems better than most love themes. The sudden appearance of the Tubes almost saves the doomed swing/rock hybrid "Dancin," but the two styles should never meet. The second half glows from the Electric Light Orchestra, soaring at its commercial height, escaping this crippling fairy tale fairly untarnished with three more hit bits: "I'm Alive," "All Over the World," and the Olivia Neutron Bomb showcase title track. "Don't Walk Away" and "The Fall" stand as two of Jeff Lynne's finest, thus the flip nukes the front which should stay stuck to the theater floor. Listening to this soundtrack may beat watching the actual film, but know that if you didn't dig Xanadu when it came out, the platter gains nothing through time.

Olivia Newton-John skillfully made the transition from popular country-pop singer to popular mainstream soft rock singer, becoming one of the most successful vocalists of the '70s in the process. The transition itself wasn't much of a stretch – her early-'70s hits "I Honestly Love You" and "Have You Never Been Mellow" were country only in the loosest sense – yet the extent of her success in both fields was remarkable. As a country singer, her first five charting singles all went Top Ten in the U.S.; as a pop singer, she had no less than 15 Top Ten hits, including five number one singles, highlighted by "Physical," which spent ten weeks at number one in 1981 and 1982.

Two CDs. Deluxe Edition of Olivia Newton-John's historic debut studio album, If Not for You. Disc 1 features the original 1971 album, including "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson). Disc 2 features 17 bonus tracks, including B-sides, alternate takes, and 2 previously unreleased recordings, "Round and Round," and "Game of Love." This record showcases her first work with longtime collaborator and hit songwriter/producer John Farrar.