Don't Stop Believin' review
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: Don’t Stop Believin’. Olivia Newton-John (vocals); orchestra. A Thousand Conversations; Compassionate Man; New-Born Babe; Sam; and six others. MCA MCA-2223 $6.98, MCAT-2223 $7.98,
MCAC-2223 $7.98.
Performance: A bit of a bore
Recording: Good
Although Olivia Newton-John has the aphrodisiac qualities of one of my fantasy airline stewardesses (the one on Air Gomorrah), she is a bit of a bore once secured to the turntable.
She’s still murmuring sweet nothings breathlessly into the mike, and that’s okay for the likes of Hey Mr. Dreammaker or Love You Hold the Key. But when she girlishly attempts to “act in song” through such things as Every Face Tells a Story and Compassionate Man, the results have an itty-bitty, pouty quality in place of any real dramatic mood.
Her fans love it all, of course, and she’s such a complete pro at dishing out the glop that it’s relatively painless and pleasant in a sugary sort of way. What happens when she hits thirty is anybody’s guess.
P.R.