Olivia Newton John ~ Physical

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Maximum80s2
February 21, 2009

"Physical" is a 1981 song written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick and performed by Olivia Newton-John. 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, 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.
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, particularly Adult Contemporary stations; 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 and spawned a music video. The revamped acoustic version of the song was released on the 2002 Olivia duet album (2) as a bonus track.
The song ranks at #6 on Billboard's All Time Top 100.

The video featured a lusty Olivia, dressed in a tight leotard, working out in a gym with several overweight men, who eventually transform into attractive muscular young men. The gym setting may have been partly an attempt to divert attention from the overt sexual connotations of the term "physical". This was further emphasised 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 video won a Grammy Award for Video Of The Year in 1983. The song was banned in South Africa for its suggestive lyrics.
Like her first number-one single, "Physical" sold over two million copies, being certified platinum.
The video was featured on Pop-Up Video on VH1. [info courtesy: wikipedia.org]

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