Yes, Olivia was the one we all wanted
I CAN confirm that Olivia NewtonJohn was just as sweet and lovely in real life as she was on screen and TV. As the comedy impressionist with The Rockin’ Berries, I had the pleasure of touring with Olivia, Sacha Distel and Ted Rogers in 1972. During a backstage chat, she offered a tip for my Cliff Richard impression as she was famous at the time for her appearances in his TV shows. She said I should include the word ‘actually’ as she had noticed he often said it! My son was born at that time and when she signed my show brochure, she added the message: ‘To Terry, Brenda and bambino, lots of love. Keep trying, you’ll take me off yet.’
TERRY WEBSTER, Wakefield, W. yorks.
WITH the sad deaths of Aussie battlers Judith Durham of The Seekers and Olivia Newton-John, the carnival is, indeed, over. LYN JUSTINS, london NW8.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’S career in Britain took off thanks to her appearances on Cliff Richard’s BBC shows in the early 1970s. She performed her own songs and many one-off fantastic duets with Cliff, including Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Long And Winding Road and possibly the best version of the Sonny and Cher hit I Got You Babe. These were recorded and transmitted in colour, but I believe the BBC has only retained a black and white copy of a single show that featured Una Stubbs and Aretha Franklin. When the shows were broadcast, I made reel-to-reel audio tape recordings of the songs and have enjoyed listening to them over the years. If the archive of the shows had been retained, we could have been treated to a special programme of Olivia at the BBC.
BERT WYNN, Durham.
I DON’T particularly remember Olivia Newton-John for Grease, but for her high vocals that sent a melancholy thrill through a generation during cinema’s last true golden age. It was once the practice at the Odeon cinema chain to play her 1979 soft rock hit A Little More Love as the final track in the auditorium before the screening of the film. A bitter-sweet epitaph for a country singer turned pop star long before Taylor Swift.
MARK BOYLE, Johnstone, renfrewshire.
NOT only was Olivia Newton-John a talented artiste, she also did a lot to raise awareness of cancer. For me, it’s a pity to over-emphasise her role in Grease. For while the film musical had some excellent songs, the message is that in her role as Sandy, she had to go from being a prim and proper girl to wearing leathers and smoking cigarettes just to get her man!
TIM MICKLEBURGH, Grimsby, lincs.