Olivia
Posted: 25 Jan 2017, 23:30Going to the Union Chapel in Islington tomorrow (or should that be Toomorrow?) to see Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky and Beth Nielsen Chapman. Greatly looking forward to it as I was actually born in Islington and I've always loved the film 'Who Dares Wins' that was filmed (partly) at the UC. I shall be doing my best Lewis Collins impression!
Seriously, this is only the 2nd time in almost forty years that ON-J has performed here in the UK and at that rate this may be my first and last chance to see her. I wonder if Bruce, Brian or any of the other Shads will be there? Anyway, if anyone from here is going and sees an idiot trying to look like an undercover SAS man, it'll be me, as they say. Meanwhile...
Here's a bit of a 1978 piece from Rolling Stone...
The next year, at age seventeen, she went to London; the trip was the prize from the TV talent contest. Olivia hooked up with an Australian girlfriend and worked up a song-and-dance act in London. After that folded, she auditioned and won a job as part of Toomorrow, Don Kirshner's attempt to create a combination Monkees/Mod Squad for films.
"We went to America, and huge things were going to happen to us. Then we sat around for ages and did some recording, and the songs were pretty average, I must admit, and then we did the film [called Double O] and the film was pretty average. So it started with the huge bang and went Sssss..."
Olivia met the people–Bruce Welch and John Rostill of the Shadows, along with manager Peter Gormley and partner Mike Sloman–who accounted for her first hit records, the Dylan tune "If Not for You," the Rostill compositions "Let Me Be There" and "If You Love Me" and the country flavorings of those first records. Gormley, who became her manager, was a fan of country music. And Bruce Welch, to whom Olivia was engaged, and coproducer John Farrar "thought my voice was suited to that sort of music," said Olivia.
Seriously, this is only the 2nd time in almost forty years that ON-J has performed here in the UK and at that rate this may be my first and last chance to see her. I wonder if Bruce, Brian or any of the other Shads will be there? Anyway, if anyone from here is going and sees an idiot trying to look like an undercover SAS man, it'll be me, as they say. Meanwhile...
Here's a bit of a 1978 piece from Rolling Stone...
The next year, at age seventeen, she went to London; the trip was the prize from the TV talent contest. Olivia hooked up with an Australian girlfriend and worked up a song-and-dance act in London. After that folded, she auditioned and won a job as part of Toomorrow, Don Kirshner's attempt to create a combination Monkees/Mod Squad for films.
"We went to America, and huge things were going to happen to us. Then we sat around for ages and did some recording, and the songs were pretty average, I must admit, and then we did the film [called Double O] and the film was pretty average. So it started with the huge bang and went Sssss..."
Olivia met the people–Bruce Welch and John Rostill of the Shadows, along with manager Peter Gormley and partner Mike Sloman–who accounted for her first hit records, the Dylan tune "If Not for You," the Rostill compositions "Let Me Be There" and "If You Love Me" and the country flavorings of those first records. Gormley, who became her manager, was a fan of country music. And Bruce Welch, to whom Olivia was engaged, and coproducer John Farrar "thought my voice was suited to that sort of music," said Olivia.
