Olivia Newton-John "Physical"

Physical is the ninth full-length studio album by the British-Australian-American singer 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 it explores lyrical themes such as love and 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 10 million copies worldwide.

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.

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. 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 albums such as The Rumour and Gaia: One Woman's Journey.


Physical's 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.