The great thing about music is it takes you back to a time and place. Sometimes, it's sad. Sometimes, it's happy.
Olivia Newton John died Monday. Cancer. 73.
To me, ONJ will always be the woman you see above. Sweet. Pretty. Early 70's pop with almost a country feel. It was a time of dominant AM radio. My biggest worries were studying for that junior high school history test and getting my Frisbee out of the neighbor's tree.
Dick Clark played her early pop hits on Saturday afternoons. They were always in Casey Kasem's American Top 40 on Sundays.
Olivia Newton John's image shifted in the late 70's and early 80's. "Grease." "Physical." "Xanadu." I really didn't care for the sexed up Olivia Newton John. It had nothing to do with her appearance. Music from "Grease" was all over the radio, and it simply wore me out. It was an okay movie, not a great movie. "Physical" came around at a time when I was rocking on the radio.
Hearing her songs now, especially the early ones, will make me sad, but I will think of when they were new, and I'll smile.
