213 Hello Olivia Newton-John - If Not For You

Chart  entered  : 20  March  1971

Chart  peak : 7

Number  of  hits : 22

The  turn  of  the  decade  was  not  a  great  time  to  be  a  female  solo  artist  but  Olivia  broke  through  and  established  a  durable  career  where  the  likes  of  Clodagh  Rodgers  and  Mary  Hopkin   ultimately  failed.

Olivia  was  born  in  Cambridge  to  a  Welsh  father  and  German  mother  in  1948. Her  father  worked  for  MI5  during  the  war. In  1954  the  family  moved  to  Australia  so  that  her  father  could  take  up  a  post  at  the  University  of  Melbourne. Olivia  became  a  TV  singer  in  her  early  teens   as  "Lovely  Livvy " but  doesn't  seem  to  have  made  any  records . In  1965  she  appeared  on  a  programme  called  The  Go !!  Show  where  she  met  her  long  term  musical  partner  John  Farrar  who  was  a  guitarist  in  the  house  band. She  also  won  a  talent  contest  on  another  TV  show  which  she  won  but  was  ambivalent  about  the  prize,  a  trip  to  Britain  and  had  to  be  pushed  by  her  mother  into  going.

Decca  were  interested  in  recording  her  and  she  released  her  first  single  at  17  in  May 1966. "Till  You  Say  You'll  Be  Mine"  is  a  Jackie  De Shannon  number  given  a  rather  dated  Spector-ish  production  where  Olivia  struggles  to  be  heard  over  the  drums  which  are  far  too  high  in  the  mix.  After  it  failed  Olivia  wanted  to  return  home  but  her  mother  dissuaded  her  and  encouraged  her  friend  Pat  Carroll  to  follow  her to  Britain. They  formed  a  duo  "Pat  and  Olivia"  and  gigged  in  Europe  before  Pat's  visa  ran  out  and  she  had  to  return  home. Olivia  was  consoled  by  meeting  and  getting  engaged  to  Bruce  Welch  of  The  Shadows who  had  temporarily  split  up.

In 1969  she  was  approached  by  Monkees  guru  Don  Kirshner  to  become  involved  in  his "Toomorrow"  project. A  science  fiction  musical  film  was  to  be  made  starring  a  new  band  of  the  same  name. Olivia  had  a  little  acting  experience  from  a  mid-sixties  telefilm   Funny Things  Happen  Down  Under   ( although  she  does  little  other  than  sing  a  song  mid-film )  and her  looks  and  voice  promised  great  things.  The  plot  has  a  race  of  aliens  observing  Earth from  what  looks  like  the  set  of  Blockbusters  and  finding  a  vital  therapeutic  balm  in  the  crazy  synth  sounds  emanating  from  the  "Tonaliser"  used  by  the  group  Toomorrow. It's  kitsch  nonsense  , a  riot  of  bad  acting, bad  fashion, bad  dialogue, bad  music, bad  special  effects  and  great  legs. Its  chances   of  success  were  scuppered  by  director  Val  Guest  taking  out  an  injunction   after  the  film's  premiere  against  the  producers  Kirshner  and  Harry  Saltzman  because  no  one  had  been  paid  yet. This  was  never  rectified  so  the  injunction  remained  in  force. I  imagine  Olivia  wishes  the  same  fate  could  have  happened  to  the  movie  she  made  at  the  other  end  of  the  decade.

There  was  a  single  "You're  My  Baby  Now"  in  July  1970  , a  Jefferson  Airplane-esque  psychedelic  pop  number. Olivia  doesn't  do  the  lead  vocal  but  can  be  heard  in  the  latter  half  of  the  record. I  don't  think  it  was  in  the  finished  film  and  certainly  doesn't  contain  any  of  the  Tonaliser  squalls  that  drive  the  plot.  Despite  the  ignominious  demise  of  the  film  the  actual  group  tried  to  make  a  go  of  things  and  released  a  second  single  "I  Could  Never  Live  Without  Your  Love"  written  by  the  redoubtable  Cook   and  Greenaway  with  John  Goodison  and  produced  by  Bruce  Welch. It's  a  typical  sunshine  pop  number  with  a  melodic  similarity  to  Ragamuffin  Man  on  which  Olivia  shares  the  lead  vocal  with  Ben  Thomas. When  it  failed  to  break  through  the  band  split  up.

By  now  her  old  friend  John  Farrar  had  moved  to  the  UK  and  was  working  with  Welch  and Hank  Marvin. He  and  Welch  took  charge  of  her  career  and  persuaded  her  to  record  this  one. It's   a  Dylan  song  from  his  1970  New  Morning  album  and  had  already  been  covered  by  George  Harrison  on  his  All  Things  Must  Pass  set.  The  lyrics  of "If  Not  For  You"  are  atypically  simple  and  touching.  Olivia  didn't  like  the  song, feeling  it  didn't  stretch  her  vocally,  and  would  have  preferred  to  do  a  ballad  for  a  single. Both  Welch  and  Farrar  played  on  ( and  produced ) the  single  and  lay  down  a  mellow  country  rock  groove  for  Olivia  to  coo  sweetly  over.  She's  certainly  right  that  it's  not  the  best  showcase  for  her  vocal  talents  and  it's  an  unexciting  record  but  once  she  got  on  TV , and  people  saw  what  she  looked  like,  its  success,  both  here  and  in  America,  was  assured.