Artist:Olivia Newton-John f/Cliff Richard
Song:Suddenly
Album:Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2: Deluxe Edition
Olivia Newton-John's 1980 single Suddenly was a much bigger deal in England than here because it featured Cliff Richard who at one time was the British Elvis. He still appears on British TV. Suddenly is from the 1980 film Xanadu. It's on the soundtrack album. But it's also on comps by both artists. After Olivia's debut film Grease made her a potential movie star, the films Xanadu (1980) and Two of a Kind (1983) were so bad that her potential was killed. Olivia concentrated more on music. The soundtrack album for Xanadu was very successful. The album was certified 2XPlatinum and the singles Magic and Xanadu were big hits. Half of the soundtrack album was produced by Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra. The other half was written and produced by Olivia's usual producer John Farrar. Along with Cliff Richard, Olivia also recorded with The Tubes and Gene Kelly. Farrar pitched the song as a duet and he suggested Richard to record it. Suddenly reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the British Singles chart. Suddenly is available on this comp which was originally released by MCA in 1982. EMI released a very similar comp in 1983 with the same cover. So you need to watch out when you are shopping for this. This Deluxe Edition which has four bonus tracks was released in 2023 by Primary Wave who owns Olivia's catalog. Olivia sold it to them in 2020. As most should know, Olivia had cancer and died on Aug. 8, 2022 at age 73. Here's the video of Suddenly by Olivia Newton-John featuring Cliff Richard from Olivia's ABC TV special Hollywood Nights that aired before the Oscar broadcast on Apr. 14, 1980.
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