Old Enough to Forget

As a kid there was something pretty special about Olivia Newton John. Ten year old me would sing along to the radio, belting out the chorus to "Let Me Be There" and all was right in the world. There were others too, and it was weird that this country singer was such a big deal to me. Of course, when I saw her album covers she was so pretty. Yeah, that's a little embarrassing now to think about now, but hey it is what it is. Of course this was all before things changed when Grease was released. Oh make no mistake there was something wicked about "Evil" Sandy the temptress 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 h...

By the mid '80s David Foster was manifesting the Midas touch for just about everything he worked on (except for that Payolas album that was supposed to be gold - those guys couldn't catch a break. I mean really, if guys like Mick Ronson and David Foster can't push a band over the top, the cards are stacked against you). Much of the MOR highly polished pop and the mushy synthesizer "strings" in the '80s could be laid at Mister Foster's feet. Don't get me wrong, I bought the St. Elmo's soundtrack when it came out, but I also eschewed a lot of what he produced. I mean there was only so much insipid music I could stomach. I remember hearing "Who's Gonna Love You Tonight" on the radio, rock radio at that, and thought to myself, "Hey, that's a pretty good song. Who is that?" Don't forget it was around this time a lot of really cool but somewhat faceless "rock" was huge. Mr. Mister was the poster band of corporate...

The year was 1980, and disco was dead, but there was Xanadu shambling around groaning and looking for brains. The good thing about Xanadu was it was the head shot needed to finally put things right with the universe. The soundtrack was a big hit - and the movie, the swansong for the late Gene Kelly, was a hit spelled with an "S" at the front. I have a copy the movie and I'll likely watch it a month or two after digesting the soundtrack so I can try to emulate the experience of those that first found themselves exposed to the magic of Olivia Newton-John's latest movie. "Why get this if you're just going to dump all over it?" I'll tell you why. Because when I was 13 the cover for her 1976 album Come on Over was enchanting, and the picture from her 1974 release If You Love Me, Let Me Know was enthralling. It's embarrassing to think about now, but at the time I would sing along to the radio belting out "I Honestly Love you" and would wond...