In The 1970s Olivia Newton John

She is an O.B.E. and a firm favourite of dads all over the world. This English born and Australian resident, who was born in 1948, had a huge solo career before later teaming up with a Hollywood superstar in one of the biggest film musicals EVER.

Olivia’s first solo single in 1971 was If Not For You which was written by Bob Dylan and from the album of the same name. The Banks Of Ohio was the second UK top ten hit for Olivia that year. The song dates back to the 19th century and nobody really knows who wrote it, but it is about a man rejected in marriage and then kills her.

The next year 1972 saw a minor hit with What Is Life, but the next year she charted high once again.

Take Me Home Country Roads from the album Let Me Be There was initially a hit in 1971 by John Denver who co-wrote the song. John broke his thumb and was laid up. Whilst talking to his friends (the co-writers), they came up with this hit song.

Moving on to 1974 and Long Live Love was her next big hit. This song was the British entry that year for the Eurovision Song Contest being held in Brighton, UK. Of course Abba went on to win that one.

Later that year she scored a number 22 hit (No. 1 in many territories) with I Honestly Love You, the song won her two Grammy awards that year, and she sang it live on close friends TV show in September. He was Cliff Richard, and for a while they were both said to have been romantically involved.

1975 and 1976 saw no UK chart action, but in the States she scored many hits including Please Mr. Please, Come On Over and Every Face Tells A Story. 1977 gave us the beautiful Sam which was written by Don Black and also Hank Marvin of the Shadows.

The movie Grease was released worldwide in 1978 and Olivia had an enormous jump in popularity as she played the girlfriend of a very young John Travolta. The film produced so many singles that it took over the summer of 1978. It seemed every other record was related to the film.

Olivia had Summer Nights and You’re The One I Want which were both duet hits with John. Both getting to No.1 in the UK and both going gold in the U.S.

 She also managed solo hits from the film too. Hopelessly Devoted To You was one of them, and it was written by John Farrar and was nominated for an Oscar, but failed to win. The second song A Little More Love and was ranked No. 17 in the chart of that year.

Olivia continued to have singles chart in the U.S. but for the UK it had come to the stop. But she would return in the 1980s with several hits including Physical. She has had seventeen top thirty hits in the UK during her career. She has beaten cancer and is a high energy devoted charity raiser too.

70s Artist watch:John Denver

 The 70s music legend John Denver was born in 1943 as Henry John Deutschendorf, and in 1969 he stopped singing with a band and went his solo way. He already had a few hits under his belt in the late 1960s  including, "I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane", which was a minor hit for his band  The Chad Mitchel Trio, but a bigger hit for Peter,Paul and Mary.

The album  "Poems,Prayers and Promises" featured one of his first, and probably his best solo hit.
"Take Me Home Country Roads", which was written whilst he was in hospital having his thumb repaired. It became a million seller and a great country hit for 70s music.
Lyric to "Take Me Home Country Roads"

 

In 1972 John Denver had his next big hit with "Rocky Mountain High", and happens to be one of the official state records for Colorado. The word "High" got the record banned from some radio stations, who assumed he was promoting the use of drugs. An absolute problem associated with 70s music.

Lyrics to "Rocky Mountain High"

More hits in the mid 1970s including "Sunshine On My Shoulders", and the huge worldwide smash hit "Annie's Song". This song went to number one in the US and was his only number one in the UK. The record was all about his then wife called Annie.
Lyrics to "Annie's Song"

 

John had huge hits in the American charts, especially the Country charts for obvious reasons. But the next worldwide hit would be "Calypso". The song refers to the name of a boat owned by the TV underwater explore Jacques Cousteau, who had huge TV ratings worldwide with his documentaries of the time.

Lyrics to "Calypso"


John Denver was a very competent pilot, but was killed in a light plane crash in 1997.

Here is John in an 1978 TV interview.