R.I.P. Olivia Newton-John

[Greg]

My biggest impression of watching Olivia Newton John is in the music video "Let's Get Physical." Supposedly, it was made when MTV was just becoming popular and is one of the all-time-most-popular music videos.

[OscarGuy]

Globally perhaps, but not at the US box office. Mamma Mia underperformed Grease by about $40 million. And when you adjust for inflation, it isn't even close. Grease ranks 28th on the all-time list of inflation-adjusted grosses in the US with only live-action musicals above it: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.

[Big Magilla]

From E.T. Canada On-line:

When "Grease" premiered in theatres in June 1978, the reviews weren't resoundingly positive. In fact, some were downright savage. Time magazine reported the director "doesn't seem to know what he's talking about." The "Today" show critic Gene Shalit called the movie "visual junk food" and Rex Reed from The New York Daily News shredded it, saying "Grease" should be covered on the obituary page, calling the music "atrocious" and saying Olivia Newton-John sounded like a "tone-deaf cow." Ouch. The cast and crew got the last laugh, though. "Grease" was not only the highest-grossing movie of 1978, it reigned as the highest-grossing movie musical until being dethroned 30 years later by "Mama Mia."

[Reza]

Grease was a huge hit but it was a crappy movie. Her singing was as infectious as ever, but she was a bland actress and like everyone else in the film she was way too old at 30 to be convincing as a high schooler.

Like I said you had to be a certain age to "get" the phenomena that was Grease during that summer of 1978 when it exploded on screen and the songs became huge hits. Of course the entire cast was too old but every character remains iconic to this day. Can't imagine anyone else playing those parts except for that cast. Including bland Olivia - her transformation as the "slut" in latex at the end during the "You're the One That I Want" number was a delighful highlight of the film. Stockard Channing remains a special favourite - probably the oldest actor in the bunch playing the kids.

And what a delight to see Eve Arden, Joan Blondell, Frankie Avalon, Sid Caesar, Ed Byrnes and Alice Ghostley in very funny supporting roles.

[Reza]

I'm quite shocked at most of the reactions below. Sonic had no idea who she was!!

Reza, I knew all about Olivia Newton-John except for the two things I wrote about in my post. Although like Magilla I also didn't know she was residing in California, which also surprised me.

I was around during her heyday. Her music was inescapable back then. Of course I knew who she was!

Sorry I misunderstood your post. Couldn't imagine anyone (especially an American) not knowing who she was.

[Sonic Youth]

I'm quite shocked at most of the reactions below. Sonic had no idea who she was!!

Reza, I knew all about Olivia Newton-John except for the two things I wrote about in my post. Although like Magilla I also didn't know she was residing in California, which also surprised me.

I was around during her heyday. Her music was inescapable back then. Of course I knew who she was!

[Big Magilla]

Olivia was huge from the 1970s through the early 1980s. She was impossible not to like as a singer and personality at the time. Her cancer struggles made her eve more popular with fans.

Grease was a huge hit but it was a crappy movie. Her singing was as infectious as ever, but she was a bland actress and like everyone else in the film she was way too old at 30 to be convincing as a high schooler. Xanadu was mostly unwatchable. Except for her second film with John Travolta, the six-time Razzie nominee, Two of a Kind, which I've never seen, her occasional film roles, as well as her TV acting appearances, were all cameos.

I didn't know that she owned a ranch in Malibu or that her second husband was a big shot at Amazon. I thought she was still in Australia where she went to recuperate after her initial cancer surgery.

[Reza]

I'm quite shocked at most of the reactions below. Sonic had no idea who she was!!

Long before Grease came along she was a huge pop/country star with an amazing voice from 1970-71 onwards.

You had to be a certain age to "get" the Grease kick back in 1978. And Xanadu - granted it was a lousy movie but that soundtrack was huge.

R.I.P Dame Olivia.

[danfrank]

Olivia Newton -John was somewhat important to me only because my baby sister was an absolute fanatic. I took her to her first ONJ concert back during the earliest hits. Musically pretty dull, I think, but for some reason she was an enormous success. Grease, where she was charming enough, cemented her forever stardom. I also saw Xanadu, which was entertaining as the complete train wreck that it was.

She first got cancer something like 30 years ago, so she was quite the survivor. And, yes, by all accounts she was a good person. I sent my sister a heart emoji when I heard of her passing. She meant a lot to a lot of folks.

[Mister Tee]

The only movie I ever saw her in was Grease, which I thought wasn't very good (its massive success totally blindsided me). I primarily knew her as a radio presence. I'll echo Sonic and say her output wasn't to my taste, but I will acknowledge the purity of her voice -- when I Honestly Love You came out, I remember thinking how borderline vapid the song was, but the conviction in her singing did a surprisingly good job of making it feel genuine.

By all accounts a fine human being; sad to know she's gone prematurely.

[Big Magilla]

"Have You Never Been Mellow" should be the song she is best remembered for.

She certainly was: "There's a rumor going around that I'm Miss Goody-two-shoes from Australia. Well, that's a laugh. I'm really Miss Goody-two-shoes from England!"

[Sonic Youth]

Clearly I had no idea who Olivia Newton-John was.

I knew she started a cancer foundation. I didn't know it bore her name (The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institue) and that it's considered one of the top cancer treatment centers in the world. So good for her, using her millions to save lives. If there's a heaven, she gets to use the V.I.P. entrance.

Also, just learned her grandfather was Max Born, a Jewish Nobel Prize winning "physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics", and who fled Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. Pretty amazing! (Not that I knew who Max Born was before today.)

Musically she was not to my taste, but "Let's Get Physical" sounds like Madonna a good 2-3 years before she burst upon the scene.

[Big Magilla]

Surely, you've heard her sing, though!

[Sabin]

Dead at 73 of cancer.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/entertai ... index.html

I've never seen Grease in any form. Perusing her filmography, I don't think I've ever seen anything she's ever done. I'm sure I should remedy that.