Olivia's Hit Man
Olivia's 'Hit' Man. An Aussie Musician Scores The Good Life In The U.S.
These days John Farrar, undoubtedly the most successful songwriter/producer, lives with his beautiful wife, Pat, on a prime property in Los Angeles.
In a studio beside the freshly painted white mansion, which used to belong to Olivia de Havilland, John has been writing some of the songs Olivia Newton-John will sing in her new film, Xanadu.
Actually, on one side of the film’s will be John’s songs. The other side is being written by Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra and recorded by ELO.
Xanadu which also stars Gene Kelly, is due to open in Australia in August.
For the past eight years John, 34, a native of Melbourne, has written and produced Olivia’s hit singles and albums.
These include Hopelessly Devoted To You, and You’re The One I Want, the two huge hits from the film Grease.
“Olivia had signed for Grease before I was brought in.” John explains. “She needed a ballad and asked me to write it. I’m usually a very slow songwriter but I wrote Hopelessly Devoted To You in two days”.
“I had to deliver that song on time.. Then the film people needed a duet They’d asked a few writers who hadn’t worked out. Olivia suggested me. The film people agreed.”
The duet for Olivia and co-star John Travolta became You’re The One That I Want, which quickly went to number one on charts all over the world.
“John Travolta? He’s a real ‘smoot cher’, especially with the mums. He used to come up to the house when I was writing the duet. Pat’s mother Pearl (who lives in Melbourne) was visiting us and John made a real fuss of her.”
In those days, the Farrars lived in more modest surroundings on nearby Cherokee Lane in Beverly Hills.
They decided to move up the mountain a couple of years ago and bought the first house they looked at, high above the blanket of smog which plagues Los Angeles.
They installed a hot spa at one end of the swimming pool, redecorated the three bedrooms, put Elton John’s Captain Fantastic pinball machine in a corner of the billiard room, and planted poppies and pansies in the garden.
Photo captions: John Farrar and his wife, Pat, at home in Los Angeles. Pat is a former singing partner of Olivia Newton-John.
The white grand piano in the luxurious Los Angeles home of John and Pat Farrar is cluttered with family photographs.
Story: Nene King. Pictures: Pat Bowring