Olivia Newton-John

Soul Kiss

The kiss of death for Olivia's popular music career

Review Score:

(10/10)
Oh dear, and she was going so well too!! From her early country hits to the uber-hits she experienced through her movie-musicals "Grease" and "Xanadu", Olivia was on top for ten years straight. She even managed to survive such disasters as her 1983 film "Two Of A Kind" (this film wasn't just a bomb, it was ATOMIC) and turn them into positive experiences, the soundtrack of which gave her a #3 hit. However, it seems very little could salvage the commerical car-crash that was "Soul Kiss". Certainly Olivia remains a prominent public figure and has released semi-successful records since, but this musical venture "Soul Kiss"ed her career goodbye.

My question is, why. The main reason that springs to mind is that Olivia simply went too far for the conservative record-buying public. We giggled as she lived out her highschool bad girl fantasy in spandex for the 1978 film "Grease", and we had nervous titterings as she sung about "getting physical" in 1981. However, when faced with the image of Olivia straddling a leather couch on the front cover, and topless on the back, well it's rather like seeing a nun out of her habit, isn't it - is it right for us to look?

"Soul Kiss" was Olivia's equivalent of Madonna's "Erotica" phase. Except of course, no "Sex" book. In fact, no directly smutty photography. In FACT, there's very little "sex" here except for some very coy references. So if Madonna could get away with what she did, why couldn't Olivia?

Simple. Olivia's "Soul Kiss" project was too far ahead of its time. Seven years before Madonna wanted you to "put your hands all over [her] body", Olivia was singing about how she wanted to "get down on [her] knees and thank you baby". And that's about as "sexy" as Livvy gets. A far cry from the in-your-face sexuality of Madonna's "Erotica" period, even this subtle and at times very witty portrayal of sexuality was too much for the world back in 1985.

It's a crying shame, really, because the album is bloody good. Producer John Farrar effectively replicated the highly successful "Physical" record, with a few extra bloops and bleeps from synthesisers of the time. It has to be said, his production is as strong as ever on this record - perhaps even more so. The title track remains one of the album's most standout tracks, a slow infectious R'n'B groove as Olivia's silky vocals slip and slide around the seductive melody, as does the fun opening track "Toughen Up" which reinvents Olivia as a reggae-rocker a la Tina Turner's early eighties efforts. "Culture Shock" is probably the most "controversial" track on the record, playfully describing a love-triangle with Olivia telling her partner she loves him but she doesn't want to give up her lover. Perhaps it was this brave statement of pro-feminism that the patriarchal world of 1985 really didn't want to hear...

On the sillier (or is it camper?) side of things, Olivia portrays a taxi-driver in the pulsating "Driving Music", the innocent victim of a doctor's impure thoughts on the narrative "Overnight Observation", and a journalist wanting that million-dollar headline on "Queen Of The Publication". With such scenarios, delivered in sparkling synthesised atmospheres, it's no wonder this is the Olivia album most embraced by pink crowd. Even Kylie Minogue couldn't get away with such blatant manipulation of the gay audience... and yet "Soul Kiss" shows that Olivia could. And DID.

The album's real gems come in the form of "Moth To A Flame", a thumping eighties rocker which contain some of the most incredible vocals that Ms Newton-John ever captured on record. In fact, this entire album is a show-case for Olivia's range, from low growls to the "banshee" wails which sadly disappeared from her repertoire after this release. "You Were Great, How Was I?" with Carl Wilson is homage to the fifties doo-wop sound reinterpreted in an eighties context which works wonderfully, but it is the two ballads on this album which really allow Olivia to excel. Renowned for her breathy vocals, "Emotional Tangle" is a superb John Farrar track with Olivia's trademark backing vocals mingling with her lead. The album's closer, "The Right Moment" is an spine-tingler with Olivia adlibbing some high-pitched notes for a minute or so at the song's conclusion, so high they easily rival modern-diva Mariah Carey's ability.

So after a moderately successful first single (the title track), "Soul Kiss" disappeared into oblivion ... and the homes of fervent gay Olivia fans worldwide. It is here that this record is worshipped for what it is ... a woman so often stereotyped by popular media breaking out of the mould, experimenting, and pulling it off beautifully. It's just a shame that so many people will never get to experience this guilty pleasure.

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