Olivia pauses for a breather

By Alan Veitch

Olivia Newton-John sings her recording hit If Not For You for Bert Newton. Olivia flew home to Australia via Portugal that accounts for my wonderful tan, she says. Olivia will sing her hit number, at the 1971 Night Of The Stars at the Dallas Brooks Hall on Sunday night, September 26. Bert will compeacutere the show with Sebastian Cabot. Other artists will include Johnny Farnham, Lovelace Watkins, David Whitfield and Jimmy Hannan. Proceeds will aid the Freedom from Hunger campaign. The concert will be telecast on GTV9 at 7.30

Still as cute, bubbly and unsophisticated as she was when she sang on our pop shows five years ago, Olivia Newton-John now an international recording star, is back in Australia.

Olivia has returned for three reasons: First was to help Sydney Channel TVN9 celebrate its 15th birthday; then to appear in the Freedom from Hunger charity show in Melbourne on Sunday night; and have a reunion with her friends and family.

It's marvellous coming back like this, Olivia said. I've only got a little bit of work to do while I'm here and then I'll be able to relax with all my old pals. Everything's been so hectic since my song If Not For You became a hit and I haven't had much chance to take a breather for the last six months.

At 22, Olivia is on the verge of a glittering show business career with film and recording offers pouring in constantly as a direct result of If Not For You, the first record she made in England, climbing into the high spots on pop charts all over the world.

The record has just been released in the US where it is in the number 23 spot and tipped to rise higher up the pop chart ladder.

If Not For You, has given Olivia her second major opportunity to become an international success. About three years ago one of the multi-millionaire producers of the James Bond films Harry Saltzman, together with Don Kirshner, the man who founded The Monkees pop group, chose Olivia to be the only girl in a hand-picked pop quartet called Toomorrow, specia1ly created for a mammoth attack on the world pop music market. The test tube group, all with attractive faces and pleasant voices, was then launched with seemingly unlimited promotional finance to set off on a career designed to rival The Monkees and The Beatles. But Tomorrow never really came.

After two and a half years and one dismal pop movie, two unsuccessful single records and a bomb of an album, the group was finally wound up. Don't talk to me about Toomorrow, Olivia said, recalling those tense years of mental anguish as she waited for the group to get through to the fans. It didn't, and down went her chances for fortune and international fame.

That's all over and dead, she said this week. I just want to get on with this new stage of my career. Everything is going pretty good right now. My latest single, On The Banks of the Ohio, is now released in Australia and I've also got my first album coming out very soon. It's just called Olivia Newton-John.

The success of Olivia on the international recording scene will no doubt influence some young Australian pop singing hopefuls to try their luck overseas, but Olivia offers a useful warning of advance preparation for such a venture. The recording and film situation is not too good in England at the moment, she said and it's especially difficult for Australians. I was born in England and came to Australia when I was five. I've got an English passport so I can go just about everywhere. If I hadn't had the advantage of an English passport probably none of this good luck I've had there would have happened.

I first came back to England in 1966, as a double act with my old friend Pat Carroll, but just when we were starting to get going Pat's visa ran out and she was forced to go home. Australians are getting kicked out of England every day lately, so anybody is considering going there and wants to stay for a lengthy period they'll be well advised to get a work permit first.

Perhaps Olivia's beauty and talent, would have won her international recognition no matter what nationality showed on her passport. Who knows? But the warning should be well heeded. After this Australian visit she can freely return to her London career and her fiance Bruce Welch (former Shadows guitarist) without any bother with the immigration authorities. With the word Australia on her passport she might possibly have been just another talented, attractive singer struggling around the Sydney and Melbourne TV circuit.