| Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra - Xanadu [Single/Album Version] | Details | |||
 "Y'know, I usually don't produce other people. Olivia was the only one I've ever done."Jeff Lynne (August 8, 1980 - The ELO Story radio show) "It was very strange because I'd never produced anybody else but meself until now, so it was a bit strange..., sort of saying: Can you just try that bit again, and all this... I didn't know how far to go 'cause she was such a nice person that everything I suggested, y'know, she tried it." "Not strictly speaking an ELO release (it has an ONJ B-side, for a start!), Xanadu (JET 185) itself hits the shops at the beginning of June, and was No. 1 by July 12th, a position it held for two weeks. Both its chart placing and its chart stay (it remained in the Top 75 for a total of 11 weeks) were helped not only by a regular 7-inch p/s (which consisted of a ghastly fluorescent pink backdrop overlaid with the film logo and ONJ's eyes), but also with a limited edition gatefold version, which cleverly retained the 'cut-out' eyes, so that when you opened the gatefold you could see the whole of ONJ's face, in a manner that bizarrely recalled the original sleeve of On The Third Day. In both cases, the records themselves were exactly the same, with a deep red label and backed with ONJ's Fool Country, which did not appear on the soundtrack. An orginary 7-inch p/s is worth 4, and a gatefold sleeve version 6-7. Finally, to push the single over the final hurdle to the top slot, Jet released a 10-inch pink vinyl pressing (JET 10-185) which had a circular hole cut into the picture bag in order that you could see Livvy's face, which now formed a picture label. This spectacularly tacky item is worth a tenner or more these days." "All of which sets up the title track [Xanadu]. and the album's closer, rather well. For the first time since their debut album, Jeff gives over lead vocals on an entire song to another vocalist, inevitably Olivia Newton-John. As with All Over The World, this smacks strongly of having been assembled on a production line rather than out of any genuine desire to do a collaboration (especially when you consider that ONJ added her vocal in an entirely different studio after the backing track was completed!), and it's therefore almost impossible to listen to it without a sour taste in your mouth. Suffice to say, the backing track sounds completely at odds with the vocal, and neither band nor singer can honestly say it's great performance. Not that Joe Public cared; it gave ELO their first and only UK No. 1 hit (and ONJ her last!) when released as a single. It was curiously bloodless triumph when you consider the records they put out that never made the top slot though." "July [1980]: A row breaks out over the single of Xanadu, then at No. 1. The film will not appear until September, but Jet have preempted it with the single release. Said a spokesperson for the film's distributors: 'Obviously we would have liked the record company to have released Xanadu nearer the movie date.' Jet were unrepentant: 'The Grease album was out three months before the film, and when we heard Xanadu it was such an obvious single, we just had to release it. And of course, we were proved right: it's number one.' However, due to an industrial dispute, Top Of The Pops (the UK's most watched music show) was blacked out-- ELO's first (and only!) No. 1 and no-one sees it!" "Jeff: 'It was very strange because I never produced anybody else but myself until now, so it was a bit strange..., sort of saying: Can you try that bit again, but she (Olivia) was such a nice person that everything I suggested she tried... We worked so hard for it, and now I'm so thrilled about how the songs worked out.'" "No, I didn't really, didn't expect [Xanadu to go to #1], actually, I was never a great fan of the record, I can't say it's one of my favorites by any means, but it obviously caught the public's imagination. [We found out early that it hit #1 because] in those days, you used to know, a little before, you'd know, certainly a day before, So we had the news from our office to say that it had gone to number one. Obviously we were delighted, of course we were. [...] [I wouldn't actually regard it as one of my favorites, although it's one of the most successful.] That's right, yeah, I think it's probably, if not the least, of all the hits we've ever had it's certainly one of my least favorites, I must say, yeah. [...] But it was a really difficult song to record because Jeff had sent the demo, Jeff Lynne had sent the demo of the song to the studio in Hollywood, and they had actually shot the dance sequence to the demo. So when we came to record it for real, we had to keep in time with the demo, and the demo was not in time, so... it was a bit of a nightmare to actually record the thing. I believe it [the music in the film is different from the music on the record], yeah, it's all to do with, you know, the shooting of the film to this inaccurate tape which was, it took us days and days to actually record the backing track, which was a very simple song to record, really, because of all the technical problems. We were in Munich, in West Germany at the time doing it, and it became a very frustrating experience, making what should have taken a couple of hours took about three or four days, as I remember. Well, working with Olivia was... was a great experience 'cause she's a lovely, lovely lady. And, um, a real pleasure to work with. So, that, uh, that part was terrific. Y'know, as I say, it was hard work because of all these technical difficulties, really. Oh, she came over. She flew over. Uh, with her assistant, a girl called Flo. Who, funnily enough, designed one of our stage clothes from years before that... an old Australian girl. And they, um, they flew up to Munich. And just spent two days, uh, re-- doing the vocals. And she was just terrific." "It was quite difficult because it was the theme tune of the song... um... of the film. And that was quite hard to write. I think construction wise, that's one of me best songs. I know it's a bit soft, probably, but it... it's actually... the chord structure, I'm really, really pleased with. I've always liked the chord sequences. She sang it great. And, uh, and I thought John [Farrar's] songs were really great too." "[The Xanadu soundtrack included] the title track Xanadu, the only single by either of them ever to hit #1 in the U.K." "It was fun. I mean I really liked Olivia Newton-John and I thought she sung it really well. The song, I think the way it's constructed, it's one of me favorite songs I've ever done, believe it or not. It's a bit light. But it's a nice tune." "I'd have to say Xanadu [is my favorite song] off [the] Xanadu [album], because I like the chord structure of that and I like the way Olivia Newton-John sings it." "With ELO, [Lynne] captured the sound of the '70s like no one else. Hits like Evil Woman, Turn to Stone and Livin' Thing defined the culturally explosive and schizophrenic era, pogo-ing between symphonic funk and retro rock to neurotic disco and whatever the theme from Xanadu was supposed to be." "Though the [Xanadu] movie itself was heavily criticised, the music was warmly embraced and the title track, sung with Olivia Newton-John, gave Lynne his first No.1 UK single and another Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Theme Song." "[Olivia Newton-John recorded her vocals for Xanadu in] Musicland - she worked with the ELO on the track. There's a couple of nice outtakes from the session but she was there with the group in person." "I felt a familiar tug, as though I had to pee, or blast ELO till my face melted. At home, listening to the ancient songs in my bedroom, I knew I had found a kind of Rosetta Stone to my youth. 'The love, the echoes of long ago / You needed the world to know / They are in Xanadu.' I was six years old again. I was in love. And I wasn't the only one. " "Most of 1980 was taken up with writing for the Xanadu soundtrack, which spawned more singles, a UK No. 1, plus a further Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Theme Song." "I love the tune, Xanadu. It's one of me favorite songs I ever wrote. I really like the song, Xanadu." "The film concludes with a tribal-disco roller-skating orgy of an opening night. While you'd never expect any song to top such mayhem, which includes Gene Kelly on roller skates, Olivia Newton-John belts out Xanadu with such a fiercely thin voice that it becomes difficult to focus on the variety show that is occurring all around her. ELO's silky strings and piano flourishes top Xanadu off in the right fashion proving that excess might not always be tasteful, but it's always hard to forget. " "Incredibly, [ELO] didn't have a Number 1 until 1980 when they teamed up with grin-on-a-stick Olivia Newton-John for Xanadu." "A string of hit singles ensued [including] Xanadu (with Olivia Newton-John -- their only Number One)." "The title song [Xanadu], with Olivia Newton-John on vocals, credited to singer and group, was released on Olivia s then label MCA in America and on Jet throughout the rest of the world. It gave the group their first and last British chart-topping single, ironically at a time when there was no weekly Top Of The Pops on BBC television to hail them as this week s No. 1 , for the show was missing from the schedules for several weeks that summer due to a Musicians Union strike. Because Jeff had never produced anybody but himself until then with the exception of a small amount of work on Del Shannon s sessions a few years earlier he found it strange to say, Can you try that bit again, but she was such a nice person that everything I suggested she tried. However, as Olivia added her vocals to the backing track in a different studio entirely, it is apparent that she and the songwriter were probably not working together much in person." "In fact, Xanadu's probably one of me favorite songs I ever wrote. 'Cause the chord changes in it are good, again." "The [Xanadu] title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, was a world-wide hit, and the singles All Over The World and I m Alive proved to be popular in both the U.S. and the U.K." "I think the tune Xanadu is one of me better numbers, even though it's very light." "In the second verse of Xanadu (Example 1-18), violins play a scale (measure 3) descending from tonic (F#), which is the overall harmony of the measure, down a full octave and a sixth to the mediant (A#), which is the harmony of the fourth measure. The violins return four measures later (measure 8) to ascend from the dominant (C#) to the tonic, reinforcing the authentic cadence between the first phrase (measures 1-8) and the second phrase (starting at measure 9). In this instance, the scalar passages serve as connective material from one harmonic episode to the next. [...] Flanging is used in nine of the songs in this study. In almost every instance, it is used sparingly as to not oversaturate the listener with the unusual sound, but to draw attention to a particular part of the song. It may be used during the introduction (Xanadu), the ending..., the chorus..., or in short, arrhythmic instrumental breaks. [...] Modal mixture is a recurring element in much of ELO s music. Borrowed chords, such as [bIII], [iv], [bVI], and [bVII], function the same as their parallel counterparts and can be heard in..., Xanadu, and others. [...] Each song included in this study begins with an introduction. In thirteen of the twenty-two songs (approximately 59%), the introduction is simply a riff or ostinato pattern that incorporates the chords of the upcoming verse. Examples of this type of introduction can be found in... Xanadu. [...] In each song, the introduction is followed by the first of several verses, which recur between chorus sections. The labeling of a section as verse is linked more to the music than to the text, as each verse has a similar melody, rhythm, and harmonic progression accompanying different text, although slight variations in the melody from verse to verse is common. In eight of the songs, the verses and chorus are divided by a brief transitional section that can be characterized by a shift in the musical material (such as harmonic progression, rhythm, etc.) as well as by its location. Examples of a typical transition can be found in...Xanadu, and Strange Magic (Example 3-6). [...] In most of the songs, the last bars, or conclusion, consist mainly of the repeated chorus as the volume drops and the song fades to silence. However, two of the songs, Mr. Blue Sky and Xanadu, include completely new material in the conclusion. The overall forms of the songs are typically a type of verse-chorus form or thirty-two-bar form." "Strangely, ELO only ever had one number one single, Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John." "The [Xanadu] album produced the hits All Over The World and the title track which went to #1 in the UK, the band s only single to reach the top spot." "In 1980, MCA Records suggested I write half the music for the film Xanadu, starring Olivia Newton-John. John farrar, who normally wrote the music for Olivia, would write the other half of the album and the movie soundtrack. So it just happened like that, and the first song I wrote was I'm Alive, which did well as a single in May of that year. Then they put out Xanadu in June and it got to number one. It was actually my first number one and I always liked the tune, so I was thrilled with that. The production wasn't quite as I wanted it, but it isn't bad. The original is a bit too pop for me, just a little bit too sweet. But the tune is still really good..." "Although the 1980 film [Xanadu] starring Newton-John and the band Electric Light Orchestra was not a critical success, the film s soundtrack scored double platinum status in the U.S. and Canada. The hit singles Magic and Xanadu peaked at No. 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom." "Don't Bring Me Down became the biggest hit ELO ever had on their own in the U.S., topped only by a collaborative single with Olivia Newton-John on Xanadu, from the 1980 movie of the same name." "Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne has often said that of all the songs he has written, Xanadu is one of his favourites, and one of his best. It's probably safe to say that most ELO fans don't share that view, notwithstanding the fact that it was the band's only UK number one hit. Xanadu was recorded in Germany by ELO and Olivia Newton-John for the soundtrack of the film of the same name. ELO drummer Bev Bevan recalls that it was a 'nightmare' to record as Lynne had originally sent an (out of time) demo of the song to the film's producers and they shot a dance sequence to that demo. 'So when we came to record it for real, we had to keep in time with the demo. It was a very frustrating experience, what should have taken a couple of hours took about three or four days.' Prior to Xanadu, ELO had failed to reach the UK chart summit, but Olivia Newton-John already had two number ones under her belt - both from the Grease soundtrack in 1978. Xanadu, the movie, which starred Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly (in his final film role) and Michael Beck, was panned by critics and a box office flop. However, the soundtrack album was a huge hit. It went double platinum in the US and Gold in the UK and spawned five top-20 singles, including the title track which reached No 1 not only in the UK but also in several other countries, including Ireland. The Xanadu single also hit number eight in the Billboard Hot 100, making it one of seven US top ten hits for ELO, and one of 15 top ten entries there for Olivia Newton-John."
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