Olivia, One Woman's Story
Darren Mason
Minerva Press, UK. 161pp. Paperback. 1999.
ISBN 0-75410-817-1
As far as the general public is concerned, Olivia Newton-John is best remembered as a pop singer and for her role in Grease. As far as country fans with long memories go, she is also remembered for the uproar she caused when she won the CMA Best Female Vocalist Award in 1974.
Author Mason is a lifelong devotee of Newton-John and has painstakingly researched her life and career. However, there is no evidence that he has interviewed Olivia nor even met her although it is clear from the extensive bibliography that he has been meticulous in his research. Despite being a fan, he has included a number of scathing reviews and adverse criticisms, thereby offering a fair balance.
Mason outlines Olivia’s emigration to Australia at the age of five, her early years and first forays into show business before detailing her return to Britain at the age of 18, her professional connection with Cliff Richard, which began in 1967, and her sometimes stormy relationships with Shadows bassist Bruce Welch, her manager Lee Kramer and Matt Lattanzi, the man ten years her junior whom she married in 1984 and divorced ten years later. Glossed over are rumoured liaisons with Cliff, Sacha Distel, Andy Gibb, John Travolta and others.
The book is not, though, intended to be a salacious revelation of her private life but, rather, of her battle to achieve fame. It covers her recordings, films and major tours, her concern for the environment (she was appointed a UN Goodwill Ambassador to the Environment), her OBE in recognition of her achievements and her fight against cancer.
It may come as a surprise to those who have long regarded Olivia Newton-John as a pretty-faced, lightweight singer to learn that she has sold somewhere in the region of 50 million records worldwide, earning 24 gold and 8 platinum discs in the process, plus a couple of Grammys. In 1989 she was named the Celebrity Businesswoman of the Year by the American Society of Retail Merchandisers for the successful chain of Koala Blue stores that she set up.
One Woman’s Journey, although written by a fan, is not fawningly sentimental and serves as a fairly comprehensive documentation of her achievements.
Review by Al Moir
The books reviewed in this column are available from good bookstores or on mail order from A&R Booksearch, High Close, Lantreath, Love, Comwall PL13 2PF/Tel: 01503-220246/Website: www.musicbooksrus.com at the following prices:
Country Music The Rough Guide £16.99 (+ postage UK £3.05, O’seas £5.50)
Olivia A Woman’s Journey £8.99 (+ postage UK £0.70, O’seas £1.25)
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