These were early days for Olivia Newton-John in Australia, very few of the shows exist now.
Listings without links mean we don't have footage or details of that show - please contact us if you have screen grabs or more details.
She appeared on shows like Sunny Side Up and New Faces/Kevin Dennis Auditions, where Olivia sang Summertime accompanied by then boyfriend Ian Turpie on guitar. Ian Turpie was very supportive of Olivia's fledgeling career as was her mother Irene, who made sure that Olivia kept balance between showbusiness and her schoolwork.
Later she featured on Time for Terry, the Happy Show (as Lovely Livvy standing in for presenter Lovely Anne, The Go Show, often with Pat Carroll.
| Programme | Initial broadcaster | Country of production | Date first broadcast | Length (approx) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC TV | AU | 1969 | |||
| Bandstand | Nine | AU | April 6 1968 | 6 | P |
| The Young Entertainers | AU | 1967 | |||
| News Conference | AU | 1967 | I | ||
| Pat and Olivia Special | Seven | AU | 1967 | 60 | S |
| Dick Emery Show(listing only) | BBC2 | UK | 1966 (Sept 7 for 6 weeks) | ||
| Funny Things Happen Down Under | ? | AU | 1966 | 60 | M |
| Time For Terry (series) | Seven | AU | 1965/1966 | P | |
| The Go Show (16 shows) | Channel 0 | AU | 1965 | P | |
| The Happy Show (2 months of shows) | AU | 1965 (Feb) | |||
| Boomeride/ The Kevin Dennis Show | Nine | AU | 1964 | 3 | P |
| Sing Sing Sing | Seven | AU | 1964/1965 | P | |
| Teen Scene | AU | 1964 | |||
| Sunnyside Up (5 shows) | Seven | AU | 1964 | P | |
| Kevin Dennis Auditions | AU | 1963 |
Olivia Newton-John on the Go Show, Australia
Information with thanks to Peter Bambini
Olivia Newton-John made a number of early singing appearances on "The GO Show", a Melbourne Teen TV show modelled on shows like "Shindig", "Hullabaloo" and "Ready Steady Go". All shows were shot in Black & White.
The GO Show ran from Aug 1964 to Sept 1967. There were a total of 222 episodes. It was a 60 minute show up until early 1967, when it reverted to half an hour.
Ian Turpie took over as the show's MC on Episode 26. Olivia started singing on the show soon afterwards. The following is a complete list of her appearances, which is recently obtained information from company vaults that has never circulated before. Olivia sang 2 songs per show, except for a couple of shows were it is believed she sang one song alone and another song as a duet with another artist, including Turpie on at least one or two occasions.
ALL of Olivia's performances were mimed to pre-recorded studio recordings she made at ATV0 Studios in Melbourne. Her backing band for these recording sessions was The Strangers, whose leader and lead singer was none other than John Farrar. The Strangers were also the "house band" on The GO Show. I do not know if any of these recordings survive or not.
The following lists all of Olivia's appearances on this show. The date shown is the original broadcast date. The show was usually taped about a week prior to broadcast.
| Episode | Date | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Feb 20 | 1965 |
| 30 | Feb 27 | 1965 |
| 33 | Mar 20 | 1965 |
| 35 | Apr 3 | 1965 |
| 38 | Apr 26 | 1965 |
| 41 | May 17 | 1965 |
| 46 | Jun 21 | 1965 |
| 49 | Jul 12 | 1965 |
| 52 | Aug 2 | 1965 |
| 54 | Aug 16 | 1965 |
| 56 | Aug 30 | 1965 |
| 61 | Oct 4 | 1965 |
| 64 | Oct 25 | 1965 |
| 67 | Nov 15 | 1965 |
| 72 | Dec 12 | 1965 |
| 73 | Jan 24 | 1966 |
In early 1966 Ian Turpie was replaced as MC of The Go Show by Johnny Young. ONJ made no further appearances on the show after Turpie departed. This may have been because she left for the UK, rather than any other motives.
Sadly it appears that none of the video from any of the Episodes that Olivia appeared on has survived, although a number of other shows from this same period do survive. This appears to be a case of sheer bad luck.
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