Olivia's first hit was the Bob Dylan song, If Not For You in 1971. This was followed by Let Me Be There in 1973 and If You Love Me in 74. Elvis and Olivia Newton John will always be connected through these two songs. Elvis himself stated how much he enjoyed both these John Rostill songs. Neither of them were recorded in the studio only in concert and were specificly for entertainment and fun purposes so he could interact with band members and fans. Let Me Be There was added to his setlist in January of 1974. While, If You Love Me was included from the end of 1976. Elvis and the band had alot of fun with both these numbers.
Let Me Be There in Your Mourning
Charlotte 20/03/1976
- Olivia and Grease -- The iconic movie Grease was Olivia's big break in the world of entertainment. The Australian superstar was well regarded in country music circles but worldwide fame had'nt quite struck until the Grease production which began in June of 1977. Almost to the day of Elvis's last live concert performance in Indianpolis on June 26th. Coincidently, the scene where the song ,"Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee" is featured and which references Elvis himself, was filmed on August 16th, the day of his death.
Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee
- She was cast alongside John Travolta who had just finished making Saturday Night Fever a few months before and was riding the wave of disco mania.The soundtrack for Fever was written by fellow Australians ,The Bee Gees as was the title song to Grease which was penned by Barry Gibb, himself . Grease had many Elvis connections due to it being set in the fifties but there is one, which leads us down memory lane and all the way, to the land of Oz. In one of the final scenes at the school fare where Rizzo is riding the Ferris Wheel. It takes us back to Roustabout in 1964 and Elvis singing,"Its a Wonderful World".
- The same wheel was used for both films.It was sold to Hawaii, following Grease and then brought to Australia in 1999 where it spent the next 19 years at the Glenelg, Semaphore Waterslide Park. It was only shut down at the start of June 2018. The symbolism of the Ferris Wheel is that of the wheel, the cycles of life and evolution. The Ferris Wheel also appears in the Elvis movie G.I.Blues where Tulsa sings Pocketful of Rainbows to Juliet Prowse and It Happened at the World's Fair.
- The Ferris Wheel -- George Washington Ferris Jr. was a civil engineer specializing in bridges and other structural steel designs. Paris had marked its 1889 world's fair with the Eiffel Tower, and Chicago was wanting something spectacular to be the centerpiece for its 1893 World's Columbian Exposition . The tower had the advantage of no moving parts, while Ferris's invention had to rotate. Ferris's design was 71 tons and had a 45 foot axle. After the fair, Ferris became immersed in a tangle of lawsuits about debts he owed suppliers and that the fair owed him. The wheel was then bought and moved to St. Louis for that city's 1904 world's fair. Two years later it was scrap metal . It is also known as the Big Wheel and is a similar idea to the Pleasure wheels of the 17th century where passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men. The Big Wheel became a permanent feature at all fairs and shows for over a century and continues to be popular for young and old alike.
- Elvis and Roustabout -- Elvis played the part of Charlie Rogers and it also starred many upcoming actors in Richard Kiel,Teri Garr and Raquel Welch. The soundtrack was Elvis final number one album on the billboard charts during the movie years. Songs on the album were written by Giant,Baum and Kaye, Joy Byers, Dolores Fuller and Ben Weisman. They included Brand New Day on the Horizon, Big Love Big Heartache and Poison Ivy League. A cover of the Leiber and Stoller song, Little Egypt Ying! Yang! which was originally recorded by the Coasters was also added to the soundtrack.
Coasters Little Egypt
The Ra Ra boys are being groomed for business some day. Poison Ivy League.
Raquel Welch in the blue dress.
- John Rostill -- He was a bassist and member of the English band The Shadows until the band split at the end of the sixties. This is when John joined up with the legendary Tom Jones until his premature death when at the age of 31 he was found dead in the studio on November 26th 1973.
Elvis and Olivia
O Come All Ye Faithful
