As a kid there was something pretty special about Olivia Newton John. Ten year old me would song along to the radio, belting out the chorus to "Let Me Be There" and all was right in the world. It also wasn't the only song I would sing along to. There were others too, and it was weird that this country singer was such a big deal. Of course, when I saw her album covers she was so pretty. Yeah, that's a little embarrassing now to think about, but hey it is what it is.
Of course this was all before thing changed when Grease was released. Oh make no mistake there was something wicked about "Evil" Sandy in her black pants, but the music ... it was, it was, unthinkably horrid. HORRID. Of course time has softened my opinion on the movie, and the soundtrack, but at the time. This was the forbidden period, and the disco stuff, and then the workout videos were too much.
However, this era, this early chapter before things went south, was magic. Now, with all this gushing gooeyness you'd think I had her poster on my wall, and a stack of records next to my bed. Nah, I have to admit that all I knew were the few radio hits. I never bought an album by her, but some of the big songs were pretty special.
The Greatest Hits touches on the big moments, "Let Me Be There" and "Let Me Be There" along with "Please Mr. Please" a song that always got me in the feels. The schmaltz just didn't end there ... "Have You Ever Been Mellow" was pure syrup and it was good. These songs are so steeped in nostalgia it's a weird feeling sitting here listening to the album. I mean, really some of the arrangements and instrumentation are so cheesy it's almost awkward to listen to without cringing a little. Olivia's voice was so pure and earnest that it didn't matter. Of course not every song was a familiar, and those ones didn't really have a lot of impact, which is sort of what I expected.
The songs on the album are presented in chronological order, which is something I always like in an anthology, I know song order could be tweaked for presentation, but hearing the songs in the order they were released allows you to sort of experience the songs in roughly the order they were originally first heard. The songs were produced by John Farrar who was behind all over her early albums, and would work with her though many of her later releases as well.
It's still pretty impressive, she was still a young lady, not quite 30 and if she'd never released anything else after 1977 she still would have had one hell of a career. It's weird to think that her early country / pop era from the early to mid '70s would be more or less a nostalgic footnote compared to her later career.
For me though I am partial to the first side, if they'd been able to squeeze "Please Mr. Please" onto side one, I'd never turn the album over.
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