Olivia Newton-John

Totally Hot

Before she got Physical, she was Totally Hot.

Review Score:

(10/10)
After I bought and listened to PHYSICAL, I just had to hear TOTALLY HOT. However, thanks to MCA Records pulling this and the original ablums from print, it was only available through import. I finally found it in a store in San Franciso and bought it. It was worth every penny. When the first notes of "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting" came through the speakers, I knew I was in for a treat. The song gives real clues to the music scene in 1978, and besides that it well written. "Dancing Round And Round" has country influence, but it is a better piece than some of the songs on MAKING A GOOD THING BETTER. Olivia's own song "Talk To Me" is really great, with a neat horn section, and Olivia's outstanding vocals. "Deeper Than The Night" should be a classic. "Borrowed Time" is another song Olivia wrote and is one of the albums great slow songs. "A Little More Love" is a classic in both Olivia's catalog, and in pop music. Outstanding vocal arrangements, terrific lyrics, I can't help but listen twice. This is the albums most daring cut, the song that would help transform Olivia's image, before "Physical". "Never Enough" like "Borrowed Time" and "Dancing Round And Round" represents Olivia's roots in country music. "Totally Hot" is another song that should be a classic. With a bouncing horn section and great vocal group she made this a hit. "Boats Against The Current" is gorgeous, tender, and powerful. She ends the album on a fun note, with her version of the classic "Gimmie Some Loving". The song was rearranged with a different tempo and large vocal group, she couldn't have picked a better ending. TOTALLY HOT is quite as consisitent as PHYSICAL, but is far more adventurous and varied. She covers a large number of genres, giving tributes to her past recordings, and hints of the ones she would make in a short time. MCA Records should issue this one on CD, it definitely belongs in her catalog.

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