Various letters from fans printed in newspapers
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN-I have been seeing Olivia Newton-John on TV and hearing her on the radio. She is a great singer and also beautiful. I would like to know more about her. Where can I write to her? K.R. -Waverly
It seems the young singer has become very popular. Showcase has been deluged with letters asking about her. We will try to answer them all at once.
Surprisingly, Olivia wasn’t born into a show business family. Her Welsh-born father had an academic background and her German-born mother was the daughter of a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. But somehow, show business entered her life at an early age. By the time she was five, Olivia had started making up tunes on the family piano.
When she was 14, she and three other girls formed a singing group called the Sol Four. But when that began interfering with school work, the group disbanded and Olivia began singing on her own in a coffee lounge owned by her sister’s husband. A customer in the lounge suggested that she enter a talent contest organized by Johnny O’Keefe, a popular Australian recording and TV artist. Olivia, of course, won the contest but because she was in school at the time, more than a year went by before she could enjoy her prize, a trip to London.
Soon after her arrival in England, Olivia teamed with another Australian girl and they appeared on television and in clubs. But her partner soon returned to Australia.
Olivia stayed in England and early in 1971 recorded her first single, “If Not For You.” The song became a world-wide hit.
An album followed and then another successful single. Since then, Olivia has earned no fewer than, five gold records and one platinum album in 10 months. She has also won several awards. She was presented a “Grammy” as the Best Female Country Vocalist (the first time a British singer has won in the Country Music category) and she won the award as the Most Promising Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music. The Country Music Association named her 1974 Female Vocalist of the Year.
Olivia records for MCA Records, Inc., and you may write her in care of the public relations director, Jean Bullard. The address is: MCA Records, Inc., 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, Calif. 91608.