Physical is the ninth full-length studio album by British-Australian singer-songwriter
Olivia Newton-John, released on 13 October 1981 by
MCA Records. The album was produced and partly written by her long-time record producer
John Farrar. Recorded and mixed at David J. Holman's studio in Hollywood, California,
Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and her most successful studio album to date. Musically, the album features considerable use of
synthesizers and explores lyrical themes such as
loveand
relationships,
sex,
kinesthetics and
environmental protection. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of them considering it to be Newton-John's best work. The album charted high in several countries, including the
United States,
Japan and Newton-John's native
Australia, becoming one of the most successful albums of the early 1980s. It also ranks among the best-selling albums by Australian solo artists, selling more than ten million copies worldwide.
Physical
Studio album by Olivia Newton-John
Released 13 October 1981
[1]
Recorded Late 1980 — 1981
Studio David J. Holman Studio,
Los Angeles,
CA[2]
Length 38:23
Label MCA
Producer John Farrar
(1981)
Physical
(1981)
Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2
(1982)
Singles from Physical
- "Physical"
Released: 28 September 1981
- "Make a Move on Me"
Released: January 1982
- "Landslide"
Released: April 1982
The album's
title track was a commercial phenomenon, staying ten weeks atop the
Billboard Hot 100; at the time, this tied the record set by
Debby Boone's 1977 single "
You Light Up My Life". The song and its
music video were controversial, having been banned or edited by several radio stations and television channels (such as
MTV) for its sexual references. The single was followed by "
Make a Move on Me", another top worldwide hit. "
Landslide", which failed to enter the majority of musical charts, had a music video featuring Newton-John's boyfriend (and later husband)
Matt Lattanzi, to whom she had dedicated the album. A video compilation,
Olivia Physical, was produced, featuring music videos of all songs from the album. The material was a commercial and critical success, and earned Newton-John a
Grammy Award for Video of the Year.
The album was promoted with Newton-John's 1982 North American
Physical Tour, performances from which a home video entitled
Olivia in Concert was produced. The
Physical era marked the height of Newton-John's solo career, gaining her wide acclaim as one of the most successful female artists of the early 1980s.
Contents
Background and development
"If these new songs were offered to me a couple of years ago, maybe I wouldn't have attempted them and similarly some of the songs I sang a couple of years ago I wouldn't be interested in doing now. It's a matter of taste and changing. I still know my limitations and wouldn't attempt songs I couldn't do.
I'm not deliberately going after any audience. I'm doing what I like to do. I would have done a country song on
Physical if I found one I really liked"
[6]
—Newton-John talking about her music style change
In 1978, Newton-John starred as the female lead, "Sandy", in the
musical film Grease, which was a worldwide blockbuster and had a best-selling soundtrack. Before the film, Newton-John was known for
country pop and
adult contemporary songs. Following the huge success of
Grease, and inspired by her character's transformation from goody-goody "Sandy 1" to the sexy, spandex-clad "Sandy 2", she traded her previous musical styles for a sexier and more aggressive
pop image. Later that same year, Newton-John released the studio album
Totally Hot, and two years later, the
Xanadu soundtrack (1980), both with a more pop-oriented style than in her past albums.
[7] Physical was recorded and released in 1981, marking the longest gap between Newton-John studio albums at the time; from 1971 to 1978, she recorded at least one studio album per year. Newton-John feared that she could be overexposed with many works released in a short period.
[6]
Physical followed Newton-John's new image, perceived as a more sexualized and mature record. It also marked her first studio album without any
country tracks. The new music style generated some criticism from the country-music community and Newton-John's old fans; in a
Billboard article, she said: "You might lose a few fans but you gain others. You have to do what's comfortable. [...] I've gotten the confidence to be more adventurous whereas in the past I didn't think it was the time".
[6]
The lead single "Physical" (originally "Let's Get Physical") was written by Terry Shaddick and Newton-John's longtime friend
Steve Kipner, and initially was intended for a "macho male rock figure like
Rod Stewart", according to Kipner. When Newton-John's then-manager Lee Kramer accidentally heard the
demo, he immediately sent the song to her, but initially she didn't want to release the song because it was "too cheeky".
[8] It was the first of several Newton-John releases written by Kipner. The songs "Recovery" and "Falling" had been originally featured on John Farrar's 1980 self-titled solo album, but were later remodeled for
Physical.
[9] The album's eighth track, "Carried Away", was written by
Barry Gibb and
Albhy Galuten for
Barbra Streisand's
Guilty album, but Streisand rejected the song, providing Newton-John the chance to record it.
[10] The song's original demo, sung by Gibb, was released on
The Guilty Demos, released through
iTunes in 2006.
[11]
Physical was the first Newton-John album to include
environmentalism and
animal rights themes. Tracks "Silvery Rain", written by
The Shadows member
Hank Marvin and released as single in 1971 by
Cliff Richard,
[12] and "The Promise (The Dolphin Song)", a Newton-John-penned song,
[2] feature these themes. Newton-John also embraced ecological themes on albums such as
The Rumour and
Gaia: One Woman's Journey.
[13][14]
Physical's nature- and sensuality-themed photos were shot primarily in
Honolulu, Hawaii by the famous American photographer
Herb Rittsin the first half of 1981.
[2] Newton-John also filmed the video for "The Promise (The Dolphin Song)" and some takes of
Olivia Physical there. The album's cover ranks among the most popular and iconic photos of Newton-John, and as one of Ritts' most popular works.
[15] The cover has been compared to that of
Madonna's
True Blue, also shot by Ritts.
[16][17]
Composition
"As I've gotten older and my influences on music have expanded, I've gotten attracted to different styles"
[6]
—Newton-John talking about the music style of
Physical
Physical is among Newton-John's most diverse albums, and set her career in a totally different direction. The album was completely produced by Newton-John's longtime collaborator John Farrar,
[2] who did a then-modern music production, which later became a musical trend during the 1980s. The songs feature mainly a
pop rock sound,
[5] with Newton-John singing more
high notes than usual during her country pop era. The album contains widespread use of
synthesizers, which made it one of Newton-John's most
dance-pop-oriented recordings, especially on the songs "Landslide" and "Physical".
[4] The
vocoder background vocals made by John Farrar also were used, most notably on "Stranger's Touch" and "Recovery". The songs "Carried Away" and "Falling" have a more
soft rock sound than Newton-John's past ballads, because of the more extensive use of
guitars and synthesizers.
Lyrically,
Physical explores themes relating to the behavior of humans and their relationship with the world around. The songs "Falling" and "Landslide" tell about falling in love and love at first sight. The lyrics of "The Promise (The Dolphin Song)" deal with the killing of
dolphinsfor commercial gain, with sounds of the marine mammal in the background. "Carried Away"'s lyrics talk about a relationship breakup, and "Recovery" tells of a lonely woman who is recovering from a troubled relationship. "Silvery Rain" denounces the
aerial application of
pesticides. "Love Make Me Strong" tells about the power of love in the determination of a person. The songs "Physical" and "Make a Move on Me" have more sexualized lyrics, with some suggestive innuendos.
[5]
Video album
Main article:
Olivia Physical
Several scenes from
Olivia Physicalwere shot in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
Each song from
Physical has its respective
music video. All the music videos were filmed from the
Physical video album, which was directed by
Brian Grant. The recordings were made in late 1981, in
London, Honolulu and Newton-John's home at
Malibu, California. The songs "
Hopelessly Devoted to You", "
A Little More Love" and "
Magic" (Newton-John hit singles from the 1978 soundtrack
Grease, the studio album of the same year,
Totally Hot, and the 1980 soundtrack
Xanadu, respectively) also had new music videos filmed from the video album. Newton-John's then-boyfriend (now ex-husband)
Matt Lattanziparticipated for the "Landslide" music video.
[18][19]
The video debuted on 8 February 1982 on
ABC as
Let's Get Physical, and boasted 35% of the United States viewing audience when its first aired. The home video version was released later as
Olivia Physical, on
VHS,
betamax and
laserdisc formats by
MCA Home Video. The television version has little differences from the home video version. The television version features video interludes starring Olivia, introducing some music videos, and the home video version features the music videos for "Love Make Me Strong" and "Falling".
[18][20][21]
The video was a critical and commercial success, being a
Billboard top charting music video for many weeks in 1981,
[22] earning a
Grammy Award for Video of the Year and a nomination for an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program.
[23]
Promotion
The album promotion was made throughout 1981–82, and included several appearances across the world. In the United States, Newton-John performed on the music television series
Solid Gold (performing "Physical" and "Make a Move on Me")
[24][25] and at the award show of
American Music Awards of 1982 (performing "Make a Move on Me").
[26] She was interviewed on the television shows
Good Morning America and
The Merv Griffin Show (with the special guests
John Travolta,
The Carpenters and
Rick Springfield).
[27][28] Newton-John also made performances and interviews to television programs in Japan,
[29] Brazil,
[30] South Africa (which was controversial because some verses of "Physical" were banned in the country),
[31] Venezuela[32] and several countries of
Europe. In Canada, the album was promoted in
Vic Tanny's
health clubs, which offered
Physical-thematized club passes and discounts on the album purchase in
Capitol-EMI's Mr. Sound stores.
[33] At the
24th Grammy Awards, Olivia presented the
Record of the Year category, together with
Lionel Richie.
[34]
Singles
"
Physical" was released as the album lead single on 28 September 1981 by
MCA Records.
[35] The single is the most successful solo hit of Olivia's career, and became her fifth number one single on the
Billboard Hot 100 (and last, to date). "Physical" stayed for 10 weeks on the top of Hot 100, the largest permanence at the time, becoming the most successful song on the
Billboard in the 1980s.
[36][37] The song and his music video (which was recorded in a
gym, with several men working out) were very controversial due the implied sexual content, being innovative and provocative for the time.
[37][38] It was received positively by critics, with most of them calling it "good-naturedly sexy" and "an eighties gem".
[4][5] It was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
[39]
"
Make a Move on Me" was released as the album's second single in early 1982. The song is one of more
dance singles released by Newton-John and also was very well received by music critics, particularly in Sweden, where it was a Number One single. The music video was recorded in the same
nightclub that the videos "Stranger's Touch", "Love Make Me Strong" and "Magic" were filmed.
[18] It was a worldwide top 10 hit, peaking at five on the
Billboard Hot 100.
[36] "
Landslide" was released as the third and final single from the album. It does reach high positions in the music charts across the world, but archived a top 20 on the
UK Singles Charts (where was the second single, and "Make a Move on Me" the third and last single).
[40] The song wasn't performed on the Physical Tour.
Main article:
Physical Tour
The
Physical Tour visited several
stadiums and
arenas across North America, including the
Exhibition Stadium, in
Toronto.
The Physical Tour to promote
Physical was the fifth
concert tour by Newton-John. The tour was announced in July 1982 and began in August of the same year. It was Olivia's first tour in four years, since
Totally Hot World Tour and visited only the North American countries
United States and
Canada.
[41] The tour had 64 through 40 cities, with a total attendance of 562,428 people.
[42][43] Newton-John friends John Travolta and
Karen Carpenter attended some concerts.
Jazz musician
Tom Scott was the
musical director and also served as opening act.
[44]
The show consisted of four costume changes and three videos: for introduction, interlude and end credits. The
encore consisted of the title song "Physical" (with Newton-John doing
aerobic exercises and jumping rope through the performance) and "
I Honestly Love You". The tour had generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Newton-John vocal performances and her ability to entertain the audience.
[44][45]
Two concerts in
Ogden, Utah (the state where "Physical" was banned by two local radio stations
[46]) were filmed for a television special (titled as
Olivia: Live in Concert) and a home video release, as
Olivia in Concert.
[47][48] The video was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.
[49] It was the last concert tour by Newton-John for sixteen years (she originally said that would be her last tour
[41]), until
The Main Event Tour, in 1998.
Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
[4]
People (favorable)
[5]
Rolling Stone
[50]
Physical received generally positive reviews from music critics, many stating that was the best album by Newton-John at the time.
[4][50] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from
AllMusic, in an out-of-context review (written decades after the album's release), gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars, writing that "
Physical was a damn good record, in many ways one of Olivia Newton-John's very best". He further explained "[The album] skillfully balances catchy yet mellow dance cuts with immaculately crafted adult contemporary pop and ballads".
[4] Stephen Holden, in a review for
Rolling Stone, said that
Physical was "Newton-John's best album to date" and "a perfect aural milkshake from the
Farrah Fawcett of rock". Holse also contemplated the Farrar's production, calling "a dazzling pop-rock bubblegum production".
[50] The album "Picks and Pans" review published by
People magazine also was positive, stating that "This LP impressively completes the transformation that began with her 1979 [
sic] album
Totally Hot and has turned Newton-John into a much more aggressive, spirited and entertaining singer" and "This is mainly a pop-rock album, though, and it is a first-class production: danceable, listenable and beguiling".
[5]
Accolades
The
Physical era received three
Grammy Award nominations. The song "
Physical" was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and the video
Olivia Physical won a
Grammy Award for Video of the Year at the
25th Grammy Awards.
Olivia in Concert, the video recording of the
Physical Tour, was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Video Album at the
26th Grammy Awards. Newton-John won her fourth
American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the
10th American Music Awards, making her the biggest winner on that category (tied with
Whitney Houston).
[39][49] In 1981, at the time of
Physical release, Newton-John was honoured with a
Hollywood Walk of Fame, for her work in the
music industry.
[51]
Commercial performance
In the United States,
Physical debuted at number sixty-eight and peaked at number six on the
Billboard 200, making it the sixth album by Newton-John to reach the top 10 on this chart (and the last, to date).
[36] According to
Billboard, it was the highest peak for a female singer album in 1982 (tied with
Stevie Nicks'
Bella Donna).
[52] This is Newton-John's only album which entered the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albumschart, peaking at thirty-two.
[36] At the 1982
Billboard Year-End, Newton-John appears as the fourth most successful pop artist and
Physicalas the fifteenth best-selling album of the year. For his work with Newton-John, John Farrar was the pop producer of the year.
[52] On 12 October 1984,
Physical was certified two times platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of over two million units.
[53]
In
Canada the album debuted at thirty-seven on the
RPM Albums Chart.
[54] On 30 January 1982 the album reached its peak, the third position.
[55] Physical was the twelfth best-selling album of the country in 1982 (and the best-selling by a solo female singer).
[56] The album was certified four times platinum by Canadian Recording Industry Association (now
Music Canada) for shipment of 400,000 copies.
[57] On the
UK Album Charts the album peaked at number eleven, making the best position for a Newton-John studio album to date.
[40] Physicalwas certified gold by
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 2 April 1982 (100,000 copies shipped).
[1] The album also peaked at top 10 on several charts across the Europe.
[58] In Australia (Olivia's native country),
Physical peaked at number three on the
Kent Music Reportalbums chart and was one of the 25 best-selling albums of the year.
[59] Worldwide the album has sold more than ten million copies.
[60]
Legacy and controversies
Newton-John was one of the first artists to invest in music videos. The 1978 album
Totally Hot was her first one to feature videos accompanying all the singles from the album, but they were very simple, being primarily composed of Newton-John singing in the studio. The music videos of the songs of
Physical are more complex, and were one of the firsts to present a plot line, and not just a video of the artist performing the song. According with
Olivia Physical video album director, Brian Grant, Newton-John record company and management were reluctant about the project at the first moment: "I suppose there was a little nervousness at first. But, [Olivia] got us out here because she liked what we had done [...]".
[61] Newton-John herself was a supporter of the music video industry, as she commented in a
Billboard article about the
Olivia Physical production:
"I think this is the way albums will go in the future: visuals with the music. I got to be a different personality and play an other side of myself."
The record company also was afraid of the public and media feedback about the themes featured on
Olivia Physical, especially these included in the music video made for the title track. The music video of "Physical" is considered very innovator, with a simple, but cohesive plot, and several sexual innuendos (including
homosexual contexts) which also are featured in the song.
[38] The music video was a great success and help the single to be one of the biggest commercial phenomenons of the early 1980s, but also attracted several controversies.
[37] After receiving numerous complaints, two
Utah local radio stations (
Provo's KFMY-FM and
Salt Lake City's
KSL-FM) banned the song from its playlists. According to a station's program manager "The lyrics are more suggestive than most songs. It goes the one additional step".
[46] These weren't the only radio stations which banned the song from its playlists. Several
adult contemporary radios (many with
mormon affiliations
[46]) across the North America also banned the single, causing a lower peak at number twenty-nine on the
U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. Newton-John usually has a large audience on the adult contemporary radios (she has eight #1's on the U.S. AC chart), but the loss was rewarded with the massive audience that "Physical" had on the pop radios, which are listened by a more younger audience. Later she recovered the adult contemporary audience with the next single, "Make a Move on Me", which peaked at six on the U.S. AC chart.
MTV originally cut the music video ending, because "the beefcakes surrounding Newton-John turned out to be gay".
[38]
"Physical" also gathered controversies in South Africa. In 1982, Newton-John performed at the
Bophuthatswana's Sun City Super Bowland the special appearance was recorded by
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). When Olivia was performing the single, the transmission was withdrawn without explanation, but later was reinstated, omitting the verses "There's nothing left to talk about" / "Unless it horizontally". According to
Billboard, the "committee of moral" of
South Africa under apartheid had always employed a policy of restricting airplay on certain material considered "offensive".
[31] About all the controversies over the song and its music video, Newton-John stated:
"Five years ago I would have died over a controversy like this. But now I just think it's foolish of them to take it so seriously."
[62]
According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine: "'Physical' became such a monster hit — not just a hit, but a pop-culture phenomenon that was impossible to escape — that it became difficult to view its accompanying album as anything other than a conduit for the single".
[4] Since its release,
Physical has been a very remarkable piece of 1980s culture, and has received numerous tributes and citations in several media.
[63]The "Physical" performances and its music video popularized the fitness clothing that turned to be a popular fashion style in and out of health clubs, being used by several other artists like Madonna and
Kylie Minogue.
[64] Among the programs who have already made reference to
Physical are
Late Night with David Letterman (on the pilot episode),
[63] Sesame Street,
[65] Glee (with Newton-John as a special guest),
The Office[63] and
The Simpsons.
[66]
Re-releases
Physical was re-released by
MCA Records on 25 October 1990.
[67] The album was available on
cassette and
CD formats, without its original booklet. In 1998, the album was re-released in a new digitally remastered edition in Australia by
Festival Records, along with many other albums of Newton-John discography.
[68] Physical also was re-released on 2 February 2012 in Japan by
Universal Music Group. It's available only on a
SHM-SACD remastered edition, and also as a part of the 2010 box set
40th Anniversary Collection, which was released to celebrate forty years of Olivia's musical career (the box also contains other re-released albums of Newton-John's MCA era).
[69][70] The
Olivia Physical video album was not re-released, but its music videos are available on
Video Gold 2005
DVD release.
[71] The live recording
Olivia in Concert was re-released on
VHS in 1992, and also had a DVD version released in a few
Asian countries (there are also several bootlets versions released by small distributors).
Track listin
All songs produced by
John Farrar.
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "
Landslide"
John Farrar 4:27
2. "Stranger's Touch"
3:49
3. "
Make a Move on Me"
3:17
4. "Falling" Farrar 3:45
5. "Love Make Me Strong"
3:10
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
6. "
Physical"
3:44
7. "Silvery Rain"
Hank Marvin 3:39
8. "Carried Away"
3:42
9. "Recovery"
4:18
10. "The Promise (The Dolphin Song)"
Olivia Newton-John 4:32
Total length: 38:23
2010 Remastered edition bonus tracks
No. Title Writer(s) Length
"
Heart Attack"
3:06
"
Tied Up"
