Olivia Newton-John: All The Top 40 Hits Paperback – July 11, 2016

This is an interesting book for those who are 'Chart Buffs' & in finding out more about the music 'behind' the scenes. It follows how Olivia's music fared on the 'music charts' for both 'SINGLES' & 'ALBUMS.' There are two ways to rates success in music really: THE CHARTS & SALES. They usually go hand in hand, but not always. This book mainly deals with the CHARTS, however here is a small section in the back that mentions GOLD & PLATINUM sales, which are not updated figures as ONJ's back discovery has not been "recertified" in Forever! In the U.S., the Record Company or Artist has to 'apply' to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) that gives the "OFFICIAL" count of the units sold over the years by the artist. In 2006 Olivia sued Universal Music Group(UMG), the company that has control over the 'GREASE SOUNDTRACK', as they had not audited sales of that album since 1984 when it was 'recertified' for having sold "8 MILLION" U.S. copies, & she wasn't getting paid her percentages as the album continued selling millions over the years. Many people have wondered just what the true figures of GREASE actually were, & were hoping that ONJ's lawsuit would bring it out. It seems that UMG isn't too interested in letting those numbers out for some reason. They settled with ONJ in 2007, but was kept 'undisclosed' to the public, so the numbers were still not released. Billboard Magazine even reached out to UMG to answer that question, but UMG wouldn't reply. However in 1991, SOUNDSCAN started overseeing the Billboard Charts & Sales. Since that time, GREASE has moved 6 MILLION more units, which added to the 8 MILLION that the RIAA says is the "OFFICIAL" figure, bring it to a total of at least 14 MILLION U.S. units sold! What is NOT known, is how many it sold from the years 1985 through 1990, which may "likely" add a few Million more to it's total! A few words on the rest of Olivia's back catalog Not being "recertified" for updated figures. Her Albums: "GREATEST HITS" - "GREATEST HITS 2" - "XANADU SOUNDTRACK" - "PHYSICAL", like 'GREASE,' haven't been 'recertified' with the RIAA since 1984! At that time each of those albums were given Double Platinum Awards, for 2 Million sold. No one knows how many copies have been sold since. Right after it's release in 1978, the "TOTALLY HOT" album was given both 'Gold & Platinum' Awards around the same dates for sales of 1 Million by the RIAA. That's what the RIAA 'Still' says to this date. Yet, just a few short months later, by the time the 2nd Single came out from that album, her Record Company took out an ad saying the New Single was from her "double platinum" album, 'Totally Hot!' Again, when a 3rd Single was released, MCA took out another ad saying the album was "double platinum." The RIAA has listed ONJ's Albums: "LET ME BE THERE" - "IF YOU LOVE ME LET ME KNOW" - "HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW" as GOLD, when in various articles 'and' pictures, MCA has mentioned them as PLATINUM Albums. It adds up that they would be too, as 1974 & 1975 those albums 'Dominated' the U.S. Charts. Billboard & Cashbox Magazines named ONJ as the Biggest Selling Female Artist for both SINGLES & ALBUMS for those 2 years. She had 5 GOLD, MILLION selling Singles during that time too. She ended the 70's as the TOP FEMALE SINGLES ARTIST. So as was said eariler, the Sales figures in the back part of the book "aren't" current, though no fault of the author however. They just aren't available, since OLIVIA herself hasn't apparently seen the need to 'Recertify' her back catalog for updated sales. I don't know if that means that she maybe hasn't been accurately compensated or not for updated sales, but that's a matter for her. I know it seems like she's said before that she's 'not' nostalgic, she doesn't like to look back. So I guess that means, if you like to know how many albums were sold of this or that title, you're probably gonna be DISAPPOINTED!!! At the start I mentioned how the CHARTS & SALES usually go hand in hand, but can sometimes be deceptive. Take her 1st charted Album in the Top 100. First of all, in the U.S. we have the "TOP 200 ALBUM CHART." The author here hasn't shown the chart listings fot the entire 200, just the Top 100. That's OK. But it would be interesting to see it All. But back to that 1st Top 100 album in the States, "LET ME BE THERE." With the SINGLE of the same name released in late 1973 & finding Top Ten status on POP, COUNTRY & AC Charts & going GOLD selling a million copies, her Record Company quickly pulled together a compilation album of songs from previous albums released overseas, that were in the Country/Pop/Folk vein to capitalize on her appeal to that audience. Released in late 73, it first charted in January 1974, but stalled at #54 on the POP ALBUM CHART. Looking at that, you might think it wasn't selling. But it was selling BIG on the COUNTRY ALBUM CHART, even going to #1 for 2 weeks on that chart. By the end of 74, the album went GOLD, later PLATINUM, & ended the the year being the 2nd biggest Album of 74 on the Country Chart! It laid the groundwork for a 2nd ONJ album charting in 74 also, "IF YOU LOVE ME LET ME KNOW" which went #1 on both POP & COUNTRY CHARTS, staying #1 COUNTRY '8' WEEKS, & ending that year at #5 for the year; giving Olivia 2 Albums in the Country Top 5 of the year! 1975's "HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW" also hit big at #1 POP for 1 week & #1 COUNTRY 4 weeks. "DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'" came out in 1976, & spent just 4 weeks in the POP ALBUM TOP 40. It might seem like it didn't due very well by that. But it lingered below the Top 40 for 19 more weeks, spending a total of 23 weeks in the Top 100 Albums, & going GOLD. How long it remained on the Top 200 Album Chart is unknown. It went GOLD 1 month after first charting, & because a successful 3rd Single was released from it, (SAM), it continued lingering on the chart as was said, & may have even gone PLANTINUM later, we don't know for sure. - "GREATEST HITS VOL. 2" released late 1982, proved to be ONJ's "longest" Charting Album in the U.S. It didn't go #1 or even Top Ten, it peaked at #16! Yet it spent '76' long weeks in the Top 100, a year on the Charts, ending 1983 as one of the TOP TEN BIGGEST ALBUMS of that year! The book does repeat something that I found out recently was not the case. Even BILLBOARD has repeated this statement so you certainly can't fault the author. And that's the point that the song, "PHYSICAL" was originally planned to be given to 'Rod Stewart' to sing. In Oct. of 2018 there was an article written on the net titled: "MAKING HER MOVE: OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN'S 'PHYSICAL' PHENOMENON REVISITED" In the acticle, Olivia's longtime Producer, 'John Farrar' & other writers & such involved with the making of her 'PHYSICAL' ALBUM & VIDEOS, discuss all the details in the making of the songs; how they were written, produced, Olivia's vocals & so on. Very interesting details in how it all came about. For the song 'PHYSICAL,' the co-writter, "Steve Kipner" sets the record straight regarding Rod Stewart. The following in "Brackets" is taken word for word from that article: ["PEOPLE SAY 'PHYSICAL' WAS WRITTEN FOR ROD STEWART" SAYS STEVE KIPNER, DISMANTLING A DECADES -OLD MYTH. "IT ACTUALLY WASN'T WRITTEN FOR HIM, BUT I IMAGINED SOMEONE 'LIKE' ROD STEWART MIGHT RECORD IT." KIPNER NEVER DREAMED OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN WOULD BE THE ONE TO IMMORTALIZE A LITTLE TUNE HE & TERRY SHADDICK WROTE TOGETHER ONE AFTERNOON. ]Kipner, John Farrar, & Olivia had all known each other since the 60's back in Australia. Kipner also co-wrote 2 other big hits ONJ recorded: "HEART ATTACK" & "TWIST OF FATE" - both TOP 5 SINGLES.It can be interesting to go over all the songs & charts & such of various artists. But at tha end of the day, it's all relative, isn't it? They're all eating better than I am!! But still, an interesting read.

Lots of figures and some commentary. For the price, if you're a mega fan, a must.

This book is exactly what I wanted. As an author myself, I included the same kind of details in my books on John Denver. The book is a great addition to the collection of admirers of Olivia. Thank you.

Good information for any fan.

This is an absolutely fantastic book, and a "must=have" for all die-hard Olivia Newton-John fans. I thought I knew all there is to know about this immortal woman, but I was wrong! The trivia included in this book is a real treasure for the fan who must know EVERYTHING about "Livvy." When I started reading it I could not put the book down. I never saw this book in my local book store (of course, you cannot FIND book stores anymore!) - and so I stumbled across a real gem when I just happened to see this on Amazon! If I could talk to this book, all I would say to it is "I honestly love you!"

Great to have this comprehensive info and nice pictures.

Really interesting if you're a big fan of Newton-John. If you're not, I'd skip this.

Great book. Very well researched. I thought I knew a lot about Olivia but with this book I definitely learned a lot more. Pictures of each single cover ( 45 record s, and some 12" extended versions) definitely a plus. Many I had never seen before. If you're a true fan this is must reading

Good value for money.

Un livre magnifique très très détaillé. Malheureusement il n'y a pas tous les singles ni les albums car certains n'ont pas eu un bon classement.

great

La información es muy buena y fidedigna. La calidad de las fotos y el hecho de que sea en blanco y negro lo vuelve en un producto de segunda. De no ser por eso, sería perfecto.

A fantastic book for any fan of ONJ. It’s black and white though. Great information and a wonderful addition to your library.