Less Flash Would Be Better For Olivia
Olivia Newton-John is one of pop music's great homogenizers. In her lengthy career, she has kept her popularity alive by filtering out the rough edges of the popular genre of the moment country and 1950s rock in the mid-70s, New Wave in 1982 - and creating a distilled, bland product that's easily palatable to the masses. Not surprisingly, the masses eat it up. That's plainly seen by the audience's response in HBO's "Olivia Newton-John in Concert," airing Feb. 4. a 90 minute program taped in Ogden, Utah, during her last American tour. Miss Newton-John offers 18 songs a retrospective of her chameleon-like career from her country-tinged "Please, Mister, Please" and "Let Me Be There" through her "Grease II" hits and into her pseudo-New Wave period ("Physical"," "Heart Attack"). She's a consummate entertainer with a lovely voice, there's no doubt about it. The well-choreographed "Physical" (complete with Miss Newton-John performing jumping jacks, leg lifts, rope skipping and jogging) and "You're the One That I Want" (with back-up singer Dennis Tufano taking the John Travolta role) are especially diverting. She smiles at all the right places and the band - led by session player extraordinaire Tom Scott never misses a beat. The concert is well-paced and she gives the folks their money's worth. But something still grates. With her new post-punk look a spangled mini-dress and blonde tresses teased into an oversized Presley pompadour she's trying to say, "Hey, there's danger lurking 'neath this innocent facade." But it's a charade cheap thrills for the audience that doesn't work. The woman is still too sweet-faced and wholesome and that's never more apparent than when she sings her moony love songs, such as "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "A Little More Love." These ballads, are Miss Newton-John's strength. She's already got the audience's affections and if she stuck with singing ballads instead of dabbling in styles that she seems uncomfortable in she'd win the critics' respect as well.By Andrew J. Edelstein
More details about Olivia's 1982 concert TV special.