On The Road Again: septiembre 2025

sábado, 27 de septiembre de 2025

Olivia Newton-John "The Rumour (US 12″ Single & Video, MCA Records, MCA-23890)"

"The Rumour" is a song recorded by Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John for her thirteenth studio album of the same name (1988). It was released as the album's lead single in April 1988 through Mercury Records. The song was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and it features backing vocals and piano by John.

Billboard commented that the single was "benefiting from aggressive pop production and songwriting aid from label mate John, the distinctive songstress is set for a comeback." A reviewer from Cash Box said that "The Rumour" is "the snappiest tune that Olivia's done in a long stretch and she rises to the occasion delivering a heartfelt performance." Jonh Wilde from Melody Maker wrote, "Okay, I'm not trying to suggest that she's The Monkees or anything, but when she gets rocking like this, it's 23 skidoo and away before you know it. Stars like this are not going cheap. We have to give in. It's our duty. I'm entirely serious about all this. Boom, boom, boom. That's me humming the second verse."

Olivia Newton-John "Soul Kiss (US 12'' Single & Video, MCA Records, MCA-23593)"

"Soul Kiss" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her twelfth studio album, Soul Kiss (1985). It was released as the lead single from the album on 25 September 1985 by MCA Records. The song was produced by John Farrar and written by Mark Goldenberg.

Olivia Newton-John "Soul Kiss (2013 Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Paper Sleeve, SHM-CD, Japan, Universal Music, UICY-94717)"

Soul Kiss is the twelfth studio album by English-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 25 October 1985 by Mercury Records in Europe, by Festival Records in Australia, and by MCA Records in the United States. It reached No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 29 on the United States Billboard 200. The album was produced by long-time associate John Farrar, who also co-wrote four tracks; the cover art features photography of Newton-John by Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.

The album's title track was released as a single and reached No. 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, as well as No. 20 on the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart, and Number One in Norway. It is Newton-John's most recent US top-40 pop single and her second-to-last in Canada. The single reached No. 100 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also remixed into a 12-inch single mix, which featured a new Carib-influenced percussion overdub.

The follow-up single, "Toughen Up" (written for Tina Turner but rejected by her), failed to chart, except for a top-70 placement in Australia. A remix by Jellybean Benitez was released as a 12-inch single in 1986.

Writing for Rolling Stone, Davitt Sigerson gave the album a mixed review. "After a long period of corporate fine tuning, MCA released Olivia's Soul Kiss with a kinky Helmut Newton cover, a lean John Farrar production and a fun single, the album's title track. Originally (and wisely) passed on by Tina Turner, 'Soul Kiss' is just right for Newton-John. She proves once again that she is the best pure pop singer working today. Check her out live sometime, mark her for range, pitch, phrasing, energy, ballsiness and, yes, commitment to the songs, and see if you don't agree. Too bad the rest of the material doesn't match up. There are good songs, but no other bull's-eyes, and a pair of embarrassments." Sigerson would go on to produce Newton-John's next studio album, The Rumour in 1988.

In their review of the album, Billboard commented that "the pop diva returns with sophisticated production and a mixed bag of soft rockers and ballads. Beautifully packaged and well crafted, the collection should more than satisfy her faithful followers, although there's little here that promises to expand that following."

Cashbox stated that "Olivia Newton-John’s commercial track record is undeniable, and Soul Kiss should be another retail and radio coup for the vocalist. With fast movers like the title track and biting cuts like “Queen Of The Publication," Newton spreads her musical wings a bit, and with help from musicians like Lee Ritenour, Tom Scott and Steve Lukather, look for the highly polished “Soul Kiss” to be a hot seller during the Christmas rush."

AllMusic editor Joe Viglione retrospectively found that Soul Kiss "seems a bit contrived...Olivia seems to have abandoned her strongholds, adult contemporary and country, her superstar status not worthy of this temporary image, a transition which needed stronger material for this big a change." He also called the album "as a whole, [...] one of the weaker links in Olivia's remarkable chain.

At the time of the album's release, Newton-John was pregnant and not available for any in-person promotion of the album or its lead single. Although the album was not as commercially successful as her previous efforts, it peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It charted at No. 5 in Japan; and peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart.

Track listing

All tracks produced by John Farrar.

"Toughen Up" Graham Lyle/Terry Britten 3:51
"Soul Kiss" Mark Goldenberg 4:32
"Queen of the Publication" John Farrar/Steve Kipner/Tom Snow 3:55
"Emotional Tangle" Farrar/Billy Thorpe 4:05
"Culture Shock" Kipner/Paul Bliss 3:52
"Moth to a Flame" Kipner/Bliss 3:46
"Overnight Observation" Farrar/Snow 4:27
"You Were Great, How Was I?" (duet with Carl Wilson) Farrar/Snow 3:46
"Driving Music" Kipner/Tommy Emmanuel 3:41
"The Right Moment" Gerry Rafferty 3:44
"Electric" Keane/Landau/Gordon 3:49
"Soul Kiss" (Extended 12" remix version) Goldenberg 7:01

Issued in a gatefold card replica LP sleeve ('papersleeve') with folded insert and obi.

Recording information:

Recorded And Mixed At Moonee Ponds Studios

Orchestra Recorded At Ocean Way Studios

Allen Sides – recording, mixing

Tim Wilson – recording assistant, mix assistant

Larry Brown – additional recording

Rik Pekkonen – additional recording

Bernie Grundman – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)

Olivia Newton-John "Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (Japan, EMI, CP35-3046)"

Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (titled Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 3 in Australasia) is a greatest hits album by Olivia Newton-John released on 3 September 1982 in North America, Australasia, Scandinavia, South Africa and certain Asian and Latin American territories. It was her second greatest hits album released in North America and her third in other territories (following First Impressions and Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits).

The album compiled most singles released by Newton-John since the release of her 1977 Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits album from her following albums and soundtracks. The album included two new recordings; "Heart Attack" and "Tied Up", both of which were actually recorded during the sessions for the Physical album.

An album with similar cover art titled Olivia's Greatest Hits was released simultaneously in Europe (excluding Scandinavia) and certain Asian and Latin American territories. This compilation fully spanned Newton-John's career up to that point, starting with singles from If Not for You.

The album was certified multi-platinum in both the United States and Canada.

Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 includes songs released by the singer between 1978 and 1982. The North American edition contains ten tracks while other editions contain fourteen tracks. The two new songs ("Heart Attack" and "Tied Up") were released as singles to promote the album and reached numbers 3 and 38 on the US pop charts, respectively. "Heart Attack" was a Number One Single in France, while "Tied Up" became a surprise chart-topper in Cyprus.

Olivia's Greatest Hits (also released as 20 Grootste Hits in the Netherlands and 20 Grandes Exitos in Argentina) includes songs released by Newton-John between 1971 and 1982. "Heart Attack" and "Tied Up" were also included on this collection.

The album only climbed to No. 16 on the Billboard 200, but spent over 80 weeks on the chart and ultimately ranked as the No. 10 album of 1983. This was the longest-charting album of Newton-John's career and her first non-soundtrack album to rank in the year-end Top 10. The album was certified double platinum by the RIAA in the US.

Olivia's Greatest Hits also peaked at number 8 with a 38-week chart run in the UK and became her only platinum certified non-soundtrack album there. 150,000 copies were shipped in Canada initially. The album hit #1 in her native Australia, her third album to do so after the soundtracks to Grease and Xanadu.

The album was well received by music critics. JT Griffith from AllMusic website gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that the album "remains the best choice for casual fans who only want the roller-rink hits".

In their review, Billboard noted that "Newton-John's second hits collection reaffirms that she and John Farrar consistently make some of the best singles in the business, from silky ballads like "Magic" to frenetic workouts like "You're The One That I Want." Half of the songs here are from Newton-John's two feature films, "Grease" and "Xanadu." Also included are two new songs, the current single "Heart Attack" and a sinuous midtempo piece called "Tied Up" which Farrar cowrote with Lee Ritenour. Our only gripe is that this should have been a 12-cut LP and included the major hits "Summer Nights" and "Deeper Than The Night."

Tracklist:

"Heart Attack" 3:07
"Magic" (from the Xanadu soundtrack, 1980) 4:28
"Physical" (from Physical, 1981) 3:43
"Deeper Than the Night" (from Totally Hot, 1978) 4:16
"Hopelessly Devoted to You" (from the Grease soundtrack, 1978) 3:05
"Make a Move on Me" (from Physical, 1981) 3:17
"Landslide" (from Physical, 1981) 4:01
"A Little More Love" (from Totally Hot, 1978) 3:27
"You're the One That I Want" (with John Travolta, from the Grease soundtrack 1978) 2:47
"Tied Up" 4:27
"Suddenly" (with Cliff Richard, from the Xanadu soundtrack, 1980) 4:03
"Totally Hot" (from Totally Hot, 1978) 3:11
"The Promise (The Dolphin Song)" (from Physical, 1981) 4:28
"Xanadu" (with Electric Light Orchestra, from the Xanadu soundtrack, 1980) 3:30

Total length: 51:50

Oasis "Be Here Now (Japan, Epic, ESCA 6767)"

Be Here Now is the third studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released on 21 August 1997 by Creation Records. The album was recorded at multiple recording studios in London, including Abbey Road Studios, as well as Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey. Although most tracks retain the anthemic quality of previous releases, the songs on Be Here Now are longer and contain many guitar overdubs. Noel Gallagher said this was done to make the album sound as "colossal" as possible. The album cover features a shot of the band members at Stocks House in Hertfordshire. It is the last Oasis studio album to feature founding members guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan as the two left in 1999, and the first to entirely feature Alan "Whitey" White on drums, having joined the band two years prior.

Following the worldwide success of their first two albums, Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), the album was highly anticipated. Oasis' management company, Ignition, were aware of the dangers of overexposure, and before release sought to control media access to the album. The campaign included limiting pre-release radio airplay and forcing journalists to sign gag orders. The tactics alienated the press and many industry personnel connected with the band and fuelled large-scale speculation and publicity within the British music scene.

Preceded by the lead single "D'You Know What I Mean?", Be Here Now was an instant commercial success, becoming the fastest-selling album in British chart history and topping the albums chart in 15 countries. It was the biggest selling album of 1997 in the UK, with 1.47 million units sold that year. As of 2016, the album has sold eight million copies worldwide. It has been certified 6× Platinum in the UK and Platinum in the US, being Oasis' third and final Platinum album in the latter country.

According to co-producer Owen Morris, the recording sessions were marred by arguments and drug abuse, and the band's only motivations were commercial. While initial reception for Be Here Now was positive, retrospective reviews have been more negative, with many calling it bloated and over-produced. The band members have had differing views of the album: Noel has severely criticised it, while Liam Gallagher has praised it, calling the album his favourite Oasis album. Music journalists such as Jon Savage and Miranda Sawyer have pinpointed the album's release as marking the end of the Britpop movement. In 2016, the album was reissued with bonus tracks, including a new remix of "D'You Know What I Mean?"

By the summer of 1996, Oasis were widely considered, according to guitarist Noel Gallagher, "the biggest band in the world ... bigger than, dare I say it, fucking God." The commercial success of their previous two albums had resulted in media frenzy in danger of leading to a backlash.

Earlier that year, Oasis members holidayed with Johnny Depp and Kate Moss in Mick Jagger's villa in Mustique. During their last stay on the island, Noel wrote the majority of the songs that would make up Be Here Now. He had suffered from writer's block during the previous winter, and said he wrote only a single guitar riff in the six months following the release of (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. Eventually, he disciplined himself to a routine of songwriting where he would go "into this room in the morning, come out for lunch, go back in, come out for dinner, go back in, then go to bed." Noel said "most of the songs were written before I even got a record deal, I went away and wrote the lyrics in about two weeks." Oasis producer Owen Morris joined Gallagher later with a TASCAM 8-track recorder, and they recorded demos with a drum machine and a keyboard.

In August 1996, Oasis performed two concerts before crowds of 250,000 at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire; more than 2,500,000 fans had applied for tickets. The dates were to be the zenith of Oasis's popularity, and both the music press and the band realised it would not be possible for the band to equal the event. By this time, infighting had broken out in the band. On 23 August 1996, vocalist Liam Gallagher refused to sing for an MTV Unplugged performance at London's Royal Festival Hall, pleading a sore throat. He attended the concert and heckled Noel from the upper balcony. Four days later, Liam declined to participate in the first leg of an American tour, complaining that he needed to buy a house with his then-girlfriend Patsy Kensit. He rejoined the band a few days after for a key concert at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, but intentionally sang off-key and spat beer and saliva during the performance.

Amongst much internal bickering, the tour continued to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Noel finally lost his patience with Liam and announced he was leaving the band. He said later: "If the truth be known, I didn't want to be there anyway. I wasn't prepared to be in the band if people were being like that to each other." Noel rejoined Oasis a few weeks later, but the band's management and handlers were worried. With an album's worth of songs already demoed, the Gallaghers felt that they should record as soon as possible. Their manager, Marcus Russell, said in 2007 that "in retrospect, we went in the studio too quickly. The smart move would have been to take the rest of the year off. But at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. If you're a band and you've got a dozen songs you think are great, why not go and do it."

In 2006, Noel agreed that the band should have separated for a year or two instead of going into the studio. However, Morris later wrote: "It was a mistake on everyone's part, management very much included, that we didn't record Be Here Now in the summer of 1996. It would have been a much different album: happy probably." He described the Mustique demos as "the last good recordings I did with Noel", and said his relationship soured following the Knebworth concert.

Recording began on 7 October 1996 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London. Morris described the first week as "fucking awful", and suggested to Noel that they abandon the session: "He just shrugged and said it would be all right. So on we went." Liam was under heavy tabloid focus at the time, and on 9 November 1996 was arrested and cautioned for cocaine possession at the Q Awards. A media frenzy ensued, and the band's management made the decision to move to a studio less readily accessible to paparazzi. Sun showbiz editor Dominic Mohan recalled: "We had quite a few Oasis contacts on the payroll. I don't know whether any were drug dealers, but there was always a few dodgy characters about."

Oasis's official photographer Jill Furmanovsky felt the media's focus, and was preyed upon by tabloid journalists living in the flat upstairs from her: "They thought I had the band hiding in my flat." In paranoia, Oasis cut themselves off from their wider circle. According to Johnny Hopkins, the publicist of Oasis's label Creation Records, "People were being edged out of the circle around Oasis. People who knew them before they were famous rather than because they were famous." Hopkins likened the situation to a medieval court, complete with kings, courtiers, and jesters, and said: "Once you're in that situation you lose sight of reality."

On 11 November 1996, Oasis relocated to the rural Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey. Though they reconvened with more energy, the early recordings were compromised by the drug intake of all involved. Morris recalled that "in the first week, someone tried to score an ounce of weed, but instead got an ounce of cocaine. Which kind of summed it up." Noel was not present during any of Liam's vocal track recordings. Morris thought that the new material was weak, but when he voiced his opinion to Noel he was cut down: "[So] I just carried on shovelling drugs up my nose." Morris had initially wanted to just transfer the Mustique demo recordings and overdub drums, vocals, and rhythm guitar, but the 8-track mixer he had employed required him to bounce tracks for overdubs, leaving him unable to remove the drum machine from the recordings.

Noel, wanting to make the album as dense and "colossal" feeling as possible, layered multiple guitar tracks on several songs. In many instances he dubbed ten channels with identical guitar parts, in an effort to create a sonic volume. Creation's owner Alan McGee visited the studio during the mixing stage; he said, "I used to go down to the studio, and there was so much cocaine getting done at that point ... Owen was out of control, and he was the one in charge of it. The music was just fucking loud." Morris responded: "Alan McGee was the head of the record company. Why didn't he do something about the 'out of control' record producer? Obviously, the one not in control was the head of the record company." He said that he and the band had been dealing with personal difficulties the day and night before McGee visited the studio.

The cover image was shot in April 1997 at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes, head of the Playboy Clubs in the UK until 1981. It shows the band standing by the swimming pool outside the hotel, surrounded by various props. For the photo shoot, a white 1972 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was lowered into the swimming pool and half submerged in the water.

Photographer Michael Spencer Jones said the original concept involved shooting each band member in various locations around the world, but when the cost proved prohibitive, the shoot was relocated to Stocks House. Spencer remarked that the shoot "degenerated into chaos", adding that "by 8 pm, everyone was in the bar, there were schoolkids all over the set, and the lighting crew couldn't start the generator. It was Alice in Wonderland meets Apocalypse Now." Critics have tried to read into the selection of the cover props, but Johns said Gallagher simply selected items from the BBC props store he thought would look good in the picture. Two props considered were an inflatable globe (intended as a homage to the sleeve of Definitely Maybe) and the Rolls-Royce, suggested by Arthurs.

Jones has said that the partially submerged Rolls-Royce was in reference to Keith Moon's oft-fabled sinking of a Lincoln Continental into a hotel swimming pool in 1967. The release date in each region was commemorated on the calendar pictured on the sleeve; Harris said the dating "[encouraged] fans to believe that to buy a copy on the day it appeared was to participate in some kind of historical event." The album cover also spurred controversy from a legal viewpoint. In the case of Creation Records Ltd v. News Group Newspapers Ltd, the court decided that the collection of objects brought together for the album cover was insufficient in creating an artwork that could be protected by copyright.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Noel Gallagher.