Sad news today, Monday, August 8, 2022, of the death of Olivia Newton-John after her 30 year (!) struggle with breast cancer. So, in her honor on this day, we have but on request.
Don't play B-17.
Ms. Newton-John was the grand-daughter of Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Born. You may know Mr. Born for his work in the field of quantum mechanics. Her father was the British M15 officer who arrest the notorious Nazi Rudolf Hess. She spent 10 weeks on top the Billboard pop charts with the kitschy fun "Physical". No. That was not meant to denigrate Ms. Newton-John. Very few singers have ever spent 10 weeks at number in total in their careers, let alone with just a single single that perfectly captured the zeitgeist of 1981.
So many wonderful earworms that Ms. Newton-John injected into our brains over the year. But the most earwormy of all her earworms was not one of her biggest hits. This one made it "only" to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was #1 on multiple charts in Canada, but the only chart it managed to reach #1 in the U.S. was adult contemporary, then labeled, unfortunately, "easy listening."
Smart. Beautiful. Bubbly personality. She didn't seem full of herself (and if she was, well, she kept it extremely well-hidden for those of us in the general public). And yet she lived almost half her life (30 out of 73 years) under the death sentence of breast cancer.
So enjoy the fun music she gave us over many years. From her version of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You", memorably done before her by George Harrison on this "All Things Must Pass" solo debut, in 1971, until her last Top 10 hit in 1983, with "Twist of Fate" -- yes she did have two more Top 40 hits after that last one, but her last Top 40 hit was the awful "Soul Kiss" in 1985 -- so many great songs from such a beautiful woman. But, whatever you do, however you want to remember her, do not play B-17.
You can, however, enjoy some good Kentucky whiskey in her honor.
No comments:
Post a Comment