Posts tagged olivia newton-john

Juliana, interviewed by Victoria Wasylak for Vanyaland:

VW: As someone who’s been an influence on you, what qualities of hers [Olivia Newton-John] have you tried to put into your own music?

JH: I don’t know if I’d call her an influence, it’s more like I liked what her music made me feel. It made me feel happy in a visceral way, like the sound of her voice was just very pleasing to my sensibilities. I just felt an affinity with her sense of melody and harmony, because I also love to sing really wide-ranging melodies, with lots of layers of harmonies and vocals. I think it’s like a shared sensibility, maybe. Her voice is not rock and roll, and my voice is not rock and roll either. I always wanted to have a rock and roll voice but I didn’t, so I guess I was truly drawn to her because she also had a kind of non-rock voice, and that was part of the affinity I had for her.

VW: When you went about recording this album, did you change anything in any of the songs?

JH: It was a challenge to decide with each song how much I wanted to veer away from the original and how close I wanted to stay. There were choices I was making for each song. Some of them are pretty faithful to the original versions, whereas other ones I kind of reinterpreted a little. There’s a song called “Make A Move On Me,” which Olivia’s version is kind of swing, but we straightened it up so it’s more of a caveman rock feel. “Hopelessly Devoted To You” is really pretty close [to the original], I didn’t change a whole lot, except I added one distorted guitar in the chorus. Just little choices. It depends on the song how close it is to the original. Like an instinct, each song seemed to tell me what it needed.

Ahead of Juliana's show at ONCE Ballroom on April 6, she has been interviewed by Blake Maddux for The Somerville Times. Topics include the new album, further reflective thoughts on Pussycat, and this little curiosity about writing:

TST: It has been 10 years since When I Grow Up: A Memoir was published. Do you plan to write another book?

JH: Well, I’m always writing, and I think at some point I’ll try to get another book together, but nothing is really taking shape yet as a book. But I’m definitely writing all the time. I’ll make another book at some point, but it’s not really happening yet. I’ve actually written a couple books since my last book came out, but I didn’t want to publish them.

Juliana was interviewed by Joe Belock for WFMU's Three Chord Monte show yesterday:

Juliana's stellar 30-plus year career as a singer/songwriter/guitarist has included work with the Blake Babies, the Lemonheads, The Juliana Hatfield Three, a dozen solo records and many other collaborations. Her latest project is "Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John," and she checks in with Three Chord Monte to discuss how hopelessly devoted to the Aussie pop legend she is.

Want to know which album by another artist Juliana has thought about covering in its entirety? Listen away. As well as the interview, you can hear 5 songs from the upcoming album: Have You Never Been Mellow, Totally Hot, A Little More Love, Hopelessly Devoted To You, and Physical.

It's a 3 hour show but handily there's a playlist so you can jump straight to the timestamps for the interview and song segments.

In an article by Ed Symkus for Wicked Local, Juliana talks about her band line up for next week's Somerville show showcasing the Olivia Newton-John album:

“Usually at my shows it’s me, bass, and drums,” said Hatfield. “But this time I’ve got more people than usual. I’ll be singing and playing guitar, and there’s Ed Valauskas on bass, Magen Tracy on keyboards, Mike Oram on guitar, Eric Edmonston on drums, and a couple of other guests. We’ll do a lot of the new album, but not every song. And we’ll probably go as far back as my first (solo) album ‘Hey Babe,’ which was just reissued for its 25th anniversary.”

There's also reference to planning her next album.

Juliana, interviewed by Robert Ham for Billboard about the new album:

RH How was the process of recordings these songs? To hear the album, it sounds like it was a lot of fun to put together.

JH It was actually very challenging, especially after coming off of my last album. With Pussycat, the recording of that was really fast and seamless. This stuff was really challenging. The songwriting, for one thing. Some of it is pretty complex. A lot of chords and melodies. I wanted to do as many songs as I could in the original key she sang them in. Some of the melodies are just so sick, a lot of stuff is really high in my range which is kind of a weak spot for me. It was hard. There were moments where I thought, “I don’t know if I can do this.” I almost wanted to quit because it was so challenging. For me, it was just a puzzle. What do I want to reinterpret? What do I want to copy?

Then there was the problem that some of the songs were so iconic, like “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” My first instinct was to just copy all of her vocal inflections exactly. But then I thought, “I can’t because it’s too iconic. There’s no way I’ll ever measure up.” It’s a little bit my own but I’m not disrespecting the original.

RH Were there songs you wanted to do but had to abandon because they were too hard to pull off?

JH There was the duet with Cliff Richard, “Suddenly.” That one has like a billion chords. It’s kind of nuts. We recorded the basic tracks and then there’s the question of who can sing it with me. I asked a few people. One person said, “No,” and a couple of others were interested. Then other songs needed my attention so I ended up abandoning it because it was just going to be too complicated. I hope to get back to it eventually and finish it.

The interview also touches on the Hey Babe vinyl reissue, Become What You Are, and Pussycat.

For Womens History Month, Juliana has written an article for Tidal about Olivia Newton-John's impact and influence throughout her life:

Olivia was sweet and strong. Quietly confident from the very beginning, she did the work on each stage and in every appearance, without any hurried desperation for attention.Some people don’t understand that Olivia is a soulful singer. They think she is a sugary confection, empty calories. That this is not serious. That her songs don’t acknowledge the dark side. But they do. There’s darkness all over the place. It’s just that she doesn’t aim for it and stew in it like some of us do. She gives it a nod and then turns away from it and toward the light.

Juliana, announcing the sale of two new t-shirts at julianahatfield.com:

I won't be touring my new "Juliana Hatfield sings Olivia Newton-John" album, so we won't be selling them on the road.

Orders are now being taken on her official site:

julianahatfield.com/for-sale

Juliana has announced her new album of Olivia Newton-John covers. Marvellous!

It will be released on April 13, 2018, via American Laundromat Records, titled "Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John".

Juliana:

I have never not loved Olivia Newton-John. Her music has brought me so much pure joy throughout my life. I loved her when I was a child and I love her still. Her voice and her positive energy and her melodies have stood the test of time and they give me as much pleasure now as they ever did. Listening to her is an escape into a beautiful place. She has inspired me so much personally and I just wanted to give something back; to share some of these tremendous songs, reinterpreted, with love, by me

American Laundromat Records:

One dollar from the sale of every album will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre (ONJ Centre), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing patients with cancer access to leading medical treatment, breakthrough research, and the best in wellness and supportive care.

Artwork

Track List:

1. I Honestly Love You
2. Suspended In Time
3. Have You Never Been Mellow
4. A Little More Love
5. Magic
6. Physical
7. Totally Hot
8. Don't Stop Believin'
9. Please Mr. Please
10. Hopelessly Devoted To You
11. Xanadu
12. Dancin' 'Round And 'Round
13. Make A Move On Me
14. I Honestly Love You (Reprise)*

*Track 14 is not on the vinyl LP but included on the digital download card.

Bonus 7-Inch Track List

1. Deeper Than The Night
2. Heart Attack

Availability

The release date is scheduled for April 13, 2018.

Vinyl, CD, and Cassette versions are available via a multitude of ordering options at American Laundromat Records, with some options also available through Cargo Records UK.

Original Olivia Songs

Here are unofficial Apple Music and Spotify playlists of all but one of the original Olivia songs Juliana is covering. (I made this using songs licensed for streaming in the UK. Hopefully they'll work worldwide)

Apple Music
Spotify