BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Re-Rip Newly Remastered + Bonus Track!

Originally I posted this one on May 4, 2010. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!

 “Physical” is a song by Australian recording artist Olivia Newton-John for her twelfth studio album Physical. It was released in September 1981, by MCA Records as the lead single from the project. The song was written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, who originally intended to offer it to British singer-songwriter Rod Stewart, while production was handled by John Farrar.

The song was an immediate success, shipping 2 million copies in the United States, being certified Platinum, and spending 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately becoming Newton-John’s biggest American hit. The song reached number 7 on the UK chart in November. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and won the Billboard Award for Top Pop Single. “Physical” went on to become the biggest-selling single of the entire decade in the US.

Recorded in early 1981, it first rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in America in November 1981 and stayed there for 10 weeks, until near the end of January 1982. In terms of chart placement, it was the most popular single of her career in the U.S., as well as her final number-one (to date). Billboard ranked it as the number one pop single of 1982 (since the chart year for 1982 actually began in November 1981), and it was also the most successful song on the Hot 100 during the entire decade of the 1980s. The famous guitar solo is performed by Toto’s guitarist Steve Lukather.

“Physical” was both preceded and followed in the #1 chart position by recordings of the duo Hall & Oates. “Private Eyes” yielded its top spot to “Physical” in November 1981, and “Physical” yielded to “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” the following January. “Physical” held “Waiting for a Girl Like You” by Foreigner at #2, off the top of the Hot 100 for nine weeks, and “I Can’t Go For That” held Foreigner’s hit at #2 for the tenth and final week.

The single, slightly edgier than she had been known for in the past (such as her songs from Grease and her country-pop ballad “I Honestly Love You”), proved to be immensely popular both in America and in the United Kingdom, despite the fact that the song was censored and even banned by some radio stations; due to its sexual content, for example the line: “There’s nothing left to talk about unless it’s horizontally”, in spite of Newton-John’s status as the reigning queen of soft-rock music at the time, “Physical” peaked at only number twenty-nine on the AC chart (its follow-up, the slightly softer-edged “Make a Move on Me,” found more acceptance at AC radio and went to number six AC as well as number five pop.) The song was a big dance hit, crossed over to the Billboard R&B chart peaking at #28 there, and spawned a music video.

The music video was directed by Brian Grant.

The video featured a lusty Olivia, dressed in a tight leotard, as a gym teacher trying to make several overweight men healthy. She repeatedly tries to make the men lose weight, but her plans fail and she leaves the room to take a shower. Suddenly, the men work out on their own, and they transform into muscular attractive men. In one part, one muscular man glances at his overweight self. Olivia is shocked when she sees this, and starts to flirt with them. At the end, two of the men secretly go out, holding hands, implying they are gay. Olivia is surprised to see this, and so she and one of the overweight men play tennis. The gym setting may have been partly an attempt to divert attention from the overt sexual connotations of the term “physical”. This was further emphasized by the twist comedy ending of the video, when the transformed men who are now oblivious to Newton-John’s advances are ultimately revealed to be gay (this was also a source of controversy; MTV frequently cut the ending when it aired the video, and the sometimes sensuous nature of the video also led to it being banned outright by some broadcasters in Canada and the United Kingdom).

The Olivia Physical video (where “Physical” music video was included) won a Grammy Award for Video of the Year in 1983. The video was featured on Pop-Up Video on VH1 and was the first video to air on Beavis and Butt-Head, on which they changed the channel to “I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones.

A Newton-John duet with Jane Lynch aired on the “Bad Reputation” episode of the television series Glee on May 4th, 2010 on the FOX television network in the US. Newton-John and Lynch recreated the songs music video for the episode. This version charted at #89 in 2010.

ABOUT THE 12″:
Released only in France and Mexico this 12″ contains the only official “Long Version” of “Physical”. As a bonus I included the “Extended Live Version” of “Physical” which was released as the b-side of the “I Honestly Love You” UK 12″ re-issued in 1983 to promote the album “Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2”. “Physical” was recorded live during Olivia’s 1982 Let’s Get Physical World Tour.

SIDE A:
Physical (Special Disco Mix) 7:04
Written By – Steve Kipner , Terry Shaddick–

SIDE B:
The Promise (The Dolphin Song) 4:30
Written By- Olivia Newton-John

Physical (Extended Live Version) (Bonus Track) 7:33
Written By- Steve Kipner , Terry Shaddick–
Recorded Live In Concert 1982

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:Pathé Marconi EMI, EMI – 2C 052 52904 Z
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: France
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic
Style: Pop Rock, Synthpop
Credits: Producer – John Farrar
Mixed By – David J. Holman
Photography – Herb Ritts

NOTES:
Original version appears on the MCA album:
“PHYSICAL”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi