![]() Toomorrow was a real group, sort of, as well as the namesake for the film that starred the band - kind of a Down Under Monkees, albeit not so successful. ![]() Newton-John’s second feature film role, in the nearly buried sci-fi musical “Toomorrow,” looks like it was made even earlier than 1970, which affords the chance to not just imagine but really see the star groove out as a bit of a hippie-chick. ‘Happiness Valley’ (by Toomorrow, from the film “Toomorrow”) Going from her first filmic performance to her final solo studio release, the 2014 EP “Hotel Sessions”… This “Best of My Love” is not a cover of either of the two hit “Best of My Loves” you’re probably thinking of, but why not have three standout songs by that title?ġ7. She made her little-seen first movie, “Funny Things Happen Down Under,” all the way back in ’65, and even a far less seasoned Newton-John exhibited a humble star quality in musical numbers like this regional/seasonal hybrid song. ![]() Most people assume Newton-John’s pro career began in 1971, but she was well known in her native territories well before that. ‘It’s Christmas Time Down Under’ (from the film ‘Funny Things Happen Down Under’) Also: green slacks (and green everything) sure did become her - is it too late to revive this eye-popping color palette?ġ9. Such was the case with Newton-John, who covered a hit that belonged to Perry Como (and to a lesser extent Elvis Presley) and made it her own. Would Shania Twain thought to have named her breakthrough album “Come on Over” if Olivia hadn’t used that title first? No one can say for sure, but it is possible to say almost definitively that Newton-John opened the country crossover door that Twain was able to waltz through a quarter-century later.īack in the more innocent, less synergistic days of the early ’70s, pop artists could regularly be found on TV variety shows performing standards that they never got around to actually committing to wax. But between the big hair and the sensual attitude, it does look and feel like a years-later sequel to the final scene of “Grease.” And it’s fun hearing her channel Elton’s very distinctive voice and make the song half-his, half her own. It didn’t really catch on, and the music video is even more dated than the ’80s production. Too bad she never got around to covering the entirety of “All Things Must Pass.”Įlton John and Bernie Taupin penned what was supposed to be a comeback single for Newton-John in the ’80s, after a fallow period that followed her “Grease” success and the subsequent “Physical” album. Lesser remembered is that she also covered Harrison’s “What Is Life,” de-Spectorized a little. Newton-John had her first international hit with “If Not for You,” a cover of George Harrison’s cover of a rootsy Bob Dylan number. At that point, you’re prime for the movie’s “electrifyin'” finale, but she’s been so winningly winsome up to that point, you may feel more wistful than she does in saying “goodbye to Sandra Dee.” The song isn’t sad all the way through, though - it captures the moment in which Sandy has a eureka moment and decides her romantic future lies in slutting it up a little. ![]() The first reading of “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” in “Grease” belongs to Stockard Channing and the rest of the female supporting cast, but the short reprise late in the film is all Newton-John’s, as she sadly embraces what she thinks her prim attitude has cost her. But Newton-John managed to find an extra layer and make “I Touch Myself” a triple-entendre tune - by recasting it as a breast-cancer PSA.Ģ4. That band’s hit ’90s original was a song of true double-entendres, designed to be read on both sexual and emotional levels. Even most of Newton-John’s fans might have missed the fact that she covered the Divinyls’ saucy alt-pop standard. ![]()
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