Olivia's 35 years of Magic
Olivia Newton-John’s 35 years of “Magic”
Veteran hitmaker returns with “Instrument Of Peace” her 37th score at the format
by Chuck Taylor
Until the last week in December 2006, Olivia Newton-John had a 27 year chart span on the Adult Contemporary chart running from the debut of “If Not For You” in June 1971 to the final chart week of rerecording of “I Honestly Love You” in August 1998. Wit the debut of “Instrument Of Peace” from her new album “Grace and Gratitude” (ONJ Productions), her chart span suddenly expands to 35 years, six months and three weeks - as she scores her 37th hit for AC radio.
The new arrival peaked at Number 30 in the chart week of Dec 29, with 34 stations spinning the record, including KOST/Los Angeles, WASH/Washington, WMGF (Magic 107.7)/Orlando, KOSL/Denver, WJXA/Nashville and WKQC/Charlotte.
“Grace and Gratitude” Newton-John’s 30th album, has a purpose - the four time Grammy Award winner’s belief that music can boost the body’s healing processes. As a long time breast cancer survivor, Newton-John aligned with Walgreens for the exclusive release of this set, along with a line of breast health products (for more on that angle see R&R Publisher’s Profile in Dec 1 2006 issue).
In collaboration with producer/writer Amy Sky, Newton-John puts her spin on diverse influences from Tibetan chants and Islamic prayers to Latin benediction.
Not exactly “Physical” or “Heart Attack” huh? “I really made this for myself as a journey of healing, and I feel that in doing so maybe I can help other people who have gone through something difficult as well,” Newton-John says, “I had a difficult year, so Amy and I got together and both had ideas. It was a kind of a wonderful, wild notion to write an album based on the different levels of healing and belief systems. In five days we wrote seven songs. If you asked me where they came from now, we can’t even imagine how we did it, but it just flowed through us.”
Single “Instrument Of Peace” is based on a prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi who, in 1209, founded the Franciscan Order of “Friars Minor”. His beliefs were based on a sermon that included a passage from Matthew10:9, in which Christ tells followers that they should go forth and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was upon them, taking no money or shoes for the road. Francis was inspired to devote himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty. He began to preach repentance and had 11 followers within a year.
In “Instrument Of Peace” Newton-John sings, “Where there is hatred let me bring love/ Where there is doubt let me bring faith/ Where there is falsehood let me bring truth/ Where there is pain I’ll comfort you/ Make me an instrument of peace.”
Newton-John says “No matter what you have gone through, if you have gratitude for something, it creates a feeling of well-being, it always makes you feel good to thank whatever it is that you want to thank: the universe, the planet, the god you believe in. It’s true, no matter what I’ve gone through, i still have incredible gratitude.”
While her chartmaker lives on through “Instrument Of Peace” Newton-John says that is no longer a driving priority, “I don’t need to create a hot record. I’ve done it long enough, so I’m very fortunate to have a core group of fans that keep coming back. I can’t believe that they’re still coming, they’re still asking me out there. A few times I’ve thought of retiring, and I think, OK what would I do that I like better? I couldn’t think of anything. What an amazing position to be in.”
Newton-John still tours persistently, including annual gigs around North America. Last year she crossed Japan and the year before Australia. This year she will visit China.
“I like the touring now,” Newton-John says, “I’ve learned to let go of a lot of the fear. When I was younger, i used to be afraid of forgetting the words. I always had to be perfect. Now I know there’s no such thing. It’s OK to make a mistake, that people actually forgive you for it. So I enjoy going out onstage and singing songs that I love, and there being no expectations.”
“I also really enjoy the recording process - the writing and the creative part. It’s such a rush when you’re writing a song and I get to use my brain,” Newton-John adds, “I don’t know how many more years I’ll be able to do it or want to do it, so I want to while I can.”
Looking back over more than 35 years of her career - the radio hits, the tours, the movies, the enduring fame - Newton-John considers a prized memory that stand above all others. “there are so many of course… singing with Cliff Richard on television in the early days, the Sydney Olympics where I sang with John Farnham,” she says, “But overall “Grease” was the most fun in every area. It was blast to make, the music is great and people still seem to love those songs. The whole experience was magical, it really was. That was a gift.”
ONJ: Two Dozen No. 1 Weeks at AC
Olivia Newton-John’s “Instrument Of Peace” is the veteran’s 37th chart entry of AC radio and ends her longest gap between hits. Since making her debut in 1971 with “If Not For You”, she had a song enter the aC list every year from 1978 to 1983, and then had debuts in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992 and 1998.
“Instrument Of Peace” expands her AC chart run to 35 years, six months and three weeks. Here are her 10 biggest hits at AC radio, all which went number 1 (Number in parentheses indicated time spent a top of the charts).
- Magic 1980 (five weeks)
- I Honestly Love You 1974 (three weeks)
- Something Better To Do 1975 (three weeks)
- If Not For You 1971 (three weeks)
- Please Mr Please 1975 (three weeks)
- Let It Shine/He Ain’t Heavy ..He’s My Brother 1975 (two weeks)
- Sam 1977 (two weeks)
- Have You Never Been Mellow 1975 (one week)
- Come On Over 1976 (one week)
- Don’t Stop Believin’ 1976 (one week)
Newton-John’s Last Five Hits at AC
Instrument Of Peace, 2006 number 30
I Honestly Love You (re-recording), 1998, number 18
Deeper Than A River, 1992, number 20
Reach Out For Me, 1989, number 32
The Rumour, 1988, number 33