Physical is the twelfth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released through MCA Records on 13 October 1981. 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 Los Angeles with additional recording at Ocean Way, Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and Musically, the album features considerable use of synthesizers, and it explores lyrical themes such as love and relationships, sex and environmental protection. Upon its release, the album was a success but it received positive and mixed reviews from music critics, 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 four million copies worldwide.
The album's title track was a commercial phenomenon, staying 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, at the time tying 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-ten worldwide hit. "Landslide", which failed to enter the majority of musical charts but reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom, had a music video featuring Newton-John's boyfriend (and later husband) Matt Lattanzi. 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.
Background and development
In 1978, Olivia Newton-John starred as the female lead, Sandy Olsson, 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. 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.
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 time."
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". 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. 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. The song's original demo, sung by Gibb, was released on The Guilty Demos, released through iTunes in 2006.
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, and "The Promise (The Dolphin Song)", a Newton-John-penned song, feature these themes. Newton-John also embraced ecological themes on later albums such as The Rumour and Gaia: One Woman's Journey.
Physicals nature- and sensuality-themed photos were shot primarily in Honolulu, Hawaii by the famous American photographer Herb Ritts in the first half of 1981. 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. The cover has been compared to that of Madonna's True Blue, also shot by Ritts.
Composition
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, who did a then-modern music production, which later became a musical trend during the 1980s. The songs feature mainly a pop rock sound, 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". 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 behaviour 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 dolphins for 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.
Video album
Each song from Physical has its respective music video. All the music videos were filmed for 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 for the video album. Newton-John's then-boyfriend (now ex-husband) Matt Lattanzi participated for the "Landslide" music video.
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 Newton-John introducing some music videos and the home video version features the music videos for "Love Make Me Strong" and "Falling".
The video was a critical and commercial success, being a Billboard top charting music video for many weeks in 1981, earning a Grammy Award for Video of the Year and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program at the 34th Primetime Emmy Awards.
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") and at the award show of American Music Awards of 1982 (performing "Make a Move on Me"). 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). Additionally, Newton-John hosted the seventh season finale of Saturday Night Live, performing "Physical", "Make a Move on Me" and "Landslide".
Newton-John also made performances and interviews to television programs in Japan, Brazil, South Africa (which was controversial because some verses of "Physical" were banned in the country), Venezuela 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. At the 24th Grammy Awards, Olivia presented the Record of the Year category, together with Lionel Richie.
Singles "Physical" was released as the album lead single on 28 September 1981 by MCA Records. The single is the most successful solo hit of Olivia's career, and became her fifth and final number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "Physical" stayed for 10 weeks on the top of Hot 100, from 21 November 1981 through 23 January 1982. It was the largest permanence at the time, becoming the most successful song on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s. The song and music video (which was recorded in a gym, with several men working out) were very controversial due to the implied sexual content, being innovative and provocative for the time. It was received positively by critics, with most of them calling it "good-naturedly sexy" and "an eighties gem". It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It was also her tenth and final Number One single in the Netherlands, where she had the most chart-topping singles during her career.
"Make a Move on Me" was released as the album's second single in early 1982. The music video was recorded in the same nightclub that the videos "Stranger's Touch", "Love Make Me Strong" and "Magic" were filmed. It was a worldwide top 10 hit, peaking at five on the Billboard Hot 100, and also going to Number One in Sweden. "Landslide" was released as the third and final single from the album. Although it did not achieve the same success as the previous singles, it reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart (where it was the second single and "Make a Move on Me" the third and last single). The song was not performed on the Physical Tour.
Tour
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. The tour had 64 shows through 40 cities, with a total attendance of 562,428 people. 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.