PHANTOM SWAY

    • Groovy Friday – If You Can’t Be Hurt

    It’s Friday!

    We all know the career trajectory of Olivia Newton John, right?  If you don’t, just pretend you do.  Born in Australia, she came to fame as a light country singer and scored several hits in the early 70s before dropping her country persona and diving into the world of pop music, shedding her good girl image and enjoying similar success.  Just like Taylor Swift, only Aussie.

    But that’s not exactly what happened.

    In reality, Livy started her career as a pop singer before she moved to country and then back into pop.  Does that come as a world changing shock to you?  Well, just wait until you see this week’s clip.  It’s Olivia Groovy-John!

    This is a number from the 1970 British film “Toomorrow”, produced by Don Kirshner and Harry Saltzman.  This film attempted to launch a totally manufactured pop group, much as Kirshner had done on American television with The Monkees.  And look who the lead singer is.

    Why not?  Olivia Newton-John is not only an extremely talented singer but she also looks fantastic doing it.

    The film chronicles the adventures of a struggling band called “Toomorrow”.  They’re contacted by outer-space aliens who need the unique vibrations of the band to save their race.  Sure, that works.  It also explains the strange ending to this clip where the entire stage and half the dancers are “beamed up,” presaging her exit in the classic “Xanadu.”  The effect isn’t bad considering the budget and the fact that it was 1970.

    “Toomorrow” was pulled from theaters (or, in British-speak, “theatres”) after just one week.  In a 1971 interview Newton-John said “Our film died a death and it was all a bit of a shambles. But it was a good experience”.  According to other sources, she had so bad an experience that she didn’t make another movie until something in 1978 called “Grease”.

    Have a groovy weekend!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsTRBeujV1Y

    André Dupuy
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