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Totally Hot

Olivia Newton-John - Totally Hot Audio CD

A fair review of the Olivia Newton-John "Totally Hot" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Olivia Newton-John reviews here, or go back to the Olivia Newton-John tabs.

Band: Olivia Newton-John
Title: Totally Hot
Rating:

Release Date: 1998-02-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Please Don't Keep Me Waiting 2: Dancin' Round and Round 3: Talk To Me 4: Deeper Than the Night 5: Borrowed Time 6: A Little More Love 7: Never Enough 8: Totally Hot 9: Boats Against the Current 10: Gimme Some Lovin'

Totally Hot - totally fab!
I love this album, bought it when I was 12, first one I ever bought and still love it so much! My all time fave Livvy track is Boats Against The Current, and I adore her backing on Borrowed Time. . . takes me way back. . . a couple of duff ones tho - Talk To Me and Totally Hot not great, everything else superb! Olivia at the top of her game in 78 and easy to see why! With obviour thanks to John Farrar, her producer and writer of many of her great songs! Buy it!!!!.

sure she's hot!
Outstanding are "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting" and "Talk to Me". Olivia is hot--the last four tracks here are not.
"Borrowed Time" and "A Little More Love" may be a cut above but three stars is the max for this one.

A tiny bit better than 'A Celebration In Song'.
As other reviewers have stated, 'Physical' is a more polished and overall successful attempt at a rock album, but there's something just so charming and RIGHT about The Hot. Quite rightly a fan favourite, 'Totally Hot' is perhaps Olivia Newton-John's best and most memorable album.

Released in November 1978 after a blistering year for Olivia with the success of 'Grease' and it's massive soundtrack, one wonders if TH was a somewhat rushed affair to cash in on O's new (slightly) naughty girl image that the last 10 minutes of the movie had created. If so, Olivia and producer John Farrar were very lucky as the album went platinum and lead to another good five years of Olivia being a global superstar.

Lead single 'A Little More Love' hit #3 in the States and is widely regarded as one of her best ever singles, far more interesting than anything on the 'Grease' soundtrack and and the finest cut on the album. 2nd single 'Deeper Than The Night' hit #11, it's a pretty powerful pop song though it has to be said that although she does her best, Olivia isn't quite up to the song vocally. It's something that surfaces on most of the uptempo material, the daft wailing at the end of ALML, the hopelessly out-of-her-depth shrieking throughout the title track and the lost-in-the-mix throat-shredding shouting on 'Gimme Some Lovin'

The album's opening track, 'Please Don't Keep Me Waiting' escapes this despite featuring Olivia wailing an odd duet with a vocoder. At nearly six minutes it's the album's most adventurous cut and I'm still surprised it wasn't considered as third single instead of the under-performing title track.

The ballads on TH still stand the test of time. The beautiful 'Dancin' 'Round And 'Round' remains one one of her best country tunes and 'Boats Against The Current' is one of her most enduring mature songs. It has to be said that towards the end of the song she tends to shout where Streisand would soar but it's still a great achievement for ONJ. 'Never Enough' despite a cloying lyric is lovely too and Olivia's own 'Borrowed Time' is another highlight. Only the horn-ridden, O penned 'Talk To Me' lets the side down. It's not a fantastic song and the production has always sounded weak to me.

So there you have it, an almost perfect 10 track album and Olivia Newton-John's best ever work, IMO. I know I've nitpicked about some of the vocals but believe me, this is perhaps my favourite album ever and I've played it constantly throughout the last 30 years. Olivia was never better, despite the occasional, rough edges than here.

Totally Hot .. No kidding
First, I just have to thank you the land down under for your faboo Olivia Newton-John remastered imports - they are so much better than the MCA CDs . .

But now onto one of the best of the bunch, After Grease, our Olivia held onto those tight leather pants and created a whole new image for herself, one of a hot, blonde rock chick who could take a pop single and add sexiness to it while still staying somewhat middle of the road sweet. Her 1978 album Totally Hot and it's cover said all it needed to but a make over and the success of Grease didn't necessarily guarantee a huge new career and that's where the songs had to come in. Luckily, her main songwriter and producer John Farrar was on the same wavelength as Livvie and they created a slew of rocking little pop songs including the guitar laced "A Little More Love. "

The song opens with a rocky little pop guitar hook, "Night is draggin' her feet" and a guitar kick up comes in, "I wait alone in the heat", and Olivia's sexiness begins to shine through, "I know/ know that you'll have your way/ til you have to go home/ `No's a word I can't say. . . " and the song shifts into a catchy pop beat, "Cause it gets me nowhere to tell you `no'/ and it gets me nowhere to make you go" before shifting into the real part of the chorus and Livvie's vocals go higher, "Will a little more love make you start dependin'?/ will a little more love bring a happy ending?/ will a little more love make it right?/ will a little more love make it right?" and of course she throws in some of those off the charts Livvie screeches I so adore, and we end up with a perfect single to introduce the new and improved post-Grease Olivia Newton-John.

But Totally Hot is more than just that top ten single as Olivia didn't pull out any stops - it's not even just lookin' sizzlin' and totally hot on the album sleeve - there's another great single found in "Deeper Than The Night" but the brilliance of that which is Olivia is everywhere.

Opening with a piano/bass/almost dance song "Please Don't Keep Me Waitin'" turns into Olivia as an instrument - she is shrieking and scatting at the end and you can't tell if it's a synthesizer or her voice - it's one of the oh so many reasons I love her.

As anyone who knows our girl knows - she loves her ballads and she loves her country music so we have both in "Dancin' Round And Round" which isn't nearly as stimulating as her other two ballads - "Boats Against The Current" and my ultimate fav "Borrowed Time" which has super trouper Olivia vocal overdubs. Plus she rocks out a little (in pop style) with a cover of "Gimme Some Lovin'" and the excellant title track. You must have this you simply must.

Best Tracks: "A Little More Love", "Totally Hot", "Deeper Than The Night", "Borrowed Time" - oh who am I fooling they're all great!

.

Bought Two!
The songs are so-o-o well-done, and the title track is, indeed, Totally Hot!. I purchased this Import for Clinton Kelly (TLC's What Not To Wear), and then a second copy for myself.

You can see a complete list of all Olivia Newton-John discography, or go back to the Olivia Newton-John tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.