"Twist of Fate" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Olivia Newton-John | ||||
from the album Two of a Kind | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | 21 October 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | David Foster | |||
Olivia Newton-John UKsingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Olivia Newton-John USsingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Twist of Fate" on YouTube |
"Twist of Fate" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for the soundtrack to the 1983 film Two of a Kind . Written by Peter Beckett and Steve Kipner and produced by David Foster,the song was released as the first single from the album on 21 October 1983. It reached the top five on the pop charts in Australia,Canada and the US.
In 1978 John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starred in Grease ,a big-screen adaptation of the 1972 Broadway musical of the same name. Its success elicited offers to reunite them in another film;Travolta read the screenplay for Two of a Kind and persuaded Newton-John to star in it with him. [1] His character in the film is an unsuccessful inventor who has been unknowingly selected to determine the fate of humanity. After he attempts to rob a bank where the teller (Newton-John) gives him a bag full of deposit slips and keeps the money for herself,fate brings them together again in a fatal accident. They are brought back to life when the hands of time are turned back under the condition,unbeknownst to them,that the two make sacrifices for one another before a week has lapsed so that God does not destroy the human race. The song,which was written by Peter Beckett and Steve Kipner and produced by David Foster, [2] alludes to the wrongdoings of the characters but mostly centers around the fact that they get a second chance at life.
"Twist of Fate" made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated 5 November 1983 and peaked at number 5 during its 18 weeks there. [3] It also reached number 4 in Australia, [4] number 5 in Canada [5] and South Africa, [6] number 20 in Switzerland, [7] number 22 in New Zealand, [8] number 33 in Belgium, [9] number 42 in the Netherlands [10] and number 57 in the UK. [11] A 12-inch single with an extended version of the song got as high as number 51 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in the US. [12]
A duet with Travolta from the film,"Take a Chance",was included as the B-side of the 7-inch single in the US,where it peaked at number 3 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, [13] as well as in Canada,where it hit number 1 on the same chart in RPM magazine. [14]
In their review of the single,the editors of Billboard magazine described it as "a strong dance-rocker that floats Newton-John's light voice over a booming,bass-heavy rhythm track." [15] Cash Box wrote that the song "shows an urgent David Foster production full of throbbing bass lines and multi-layered keyboard parts." They noted of Newton-John that "her full-throttled vocal performance bodes extremely well for a successful new beginning." [16] Robin Smith of Record Mirror ,however,wrote,"Our Livvy's heart just isn't in this one." [17]
In the music video for "Twist of Fate",Newton-John sings on a black soundstage surrounded by three raised jury boxes filled with people mostly shown in shadows. Scenes from the movie either start or end as still frames that are presented to the singer and the jury as large photographs. Travolta enters as she finishes the song. The video was directed by Brian Grant. [18]
"Twist of Fate" was listed on the reports that MTV provided to Billboard that indicated what videos were in rotation on the cable network and made its first appearance there in the 3 December 1983 issue,which indicated that it had been added to their playlist as of 21 November. [19]
A collection of videos for Newton-John's songs from Two of a Kind was also titled Twist of Fate . The collection was nominated for Best Video,Short Form at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to David Bowie's Jazzin' for Blue Jean . [20]
In 2017,the song was featured in the second season of the Netflix series Stranger Things and included on the soundtrack album, Stranger Things:Music from the Netflix Original Series . The album was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. [21]
All tracks produced by David Foster except "Coolin' Down" and "Jolene",produced by John Farrar.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [28] | Gold | 50,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Stephen Alan Kipner is an American-born Australian songwriter and record producer, with hits spanning a 40-year period, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words", and Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle", for which he won an Ivor Novello Award for International Hit of the Year. Other hits he has writing credits on include Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break", 98 Degrees' "The Hardest Thing", Dream's "He Loves U Not", Kelly Rowland's "Stole", The Script's "Breakeven" and "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", American Idol Kris Allen's top 5 debut "Live Like We're Dying", Cheryl Cole's "Fight for This Love", Camila Cabello's "Crying in the Club" and James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go".
"I Honestly Love You" is a song recorded by Olivia Newton-John and released in 1974 on the album Long Live Love in the United Kingdom and If You Love Me, Let Me Know in the United States. The song became a worldwide pop hit, her first number-one single in the United States and Canada. The single was first released in Australia as "I Love You, I Honestly Love You", as per its chorus. The song was written by Jeff Barry and Australian singer and composer Peter Allen. The latter recorded it around the same time for his album Continental American.
"Physical" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her 1981 eleventh studio album of the same name. It was released as the album's lead single in 1981. The song was produced by John Farrar and written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, who had originally intended to offer it to Rod Stewart. The song had also been offered to Tina Turner by her manager Roger Davies, but when Turner declined, Davies gave the song to Newton-John, another of his clients.
Tin Tin was a pop rock band, which first formed in Australia as the Kinetics in 1966. They relocated to the United Kingdom in 1969 and were renamed as Tin Tin, which comprised Steve Kipner, Steve Groves, John Vallins and Geoff Bridgford (drums). In 1970 they issued a single, "Toast and Marmalade for Tea", which was a No. 10 hit on the Go-Set National Singles Chart in June the following year. It also reached No. 20 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next single, "Is That the Way?" (1971), peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"You're the One That I Want" is a song performed by American actor and singer John Travolta and Anglo-Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John for the 1978 film version of the musical Grease. It was written and produced by John Farrar, and released in 1978 by RSO Records as the second single from Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture. The song is one of the best-selling singles in history to date, having sold over 4 million copies in the United States and the United Kingdom alone, with estimates of more than 15 million copies sold overall.
"The Grease Megamix" is a megamix released in 1990 to commemorate the video release of Grease. The single was credited to John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John and released via Polydor Records. It was created by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow for PWL by the request of Polydor Records, who supplied copies of the original multi-track recordings. The megamix topped the charts of Australia and Spain and became a top-five hit in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Physical is the eleventh studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released through MCA Records on 13 October 1981. The album was produced and partly written by her long-time record producer John Farrar. Recorded and mixed at David J. Holman's studio in Los Angeles additional recording at Ocean Way, Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and her most successful studio album. Musically, the album features considerable use of synthesizers, and it explores lyrical themes such as love and relationships, sex, and environmental protection. Upon its release, while the album was a success it received positive reviews from music critics, many of them considering it to be Newton-John's best effort. The album charted high in several countries, including the United States, Japan and Newton-John's native Australia, becoming one of the most successful albums of the early 1980s. It also ranks among the best-selling albums by Australian solo artists, selling more than ten million copies worldwide.
"Summer Nights" is a popular song from the musical Grease. Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, its best-known version was recorded by American actor and singer John Travolta and British-Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John for the 1978 big-screen adaptation of the musical, and released as a single that same year. It was released in August 1978 as the fourth single from the movie's soundtrack album and became a massive hit worldwide during the summer of 1978. Parts of the song were introduced to a new audience when it was re-released in the 1990s as part of a megamix of several songs from the movie version.
Soul Kiss is the twelfth studio album by English-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 25 October 1985 by Mercury Records in Europe, by Festival Records in Australia, and by MCA Records in the United States. It reached No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 29 on the United States Billboard 200. The album was produced by long-time associate John Farrar, who also co-wrote four tracks; the cover art features photography of Newton-John by Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.
"Hopelessly Devoted to You" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John for Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (1978). It was written and produced by John Farrar and originally performed by Newton-John in the film version of the musical Grease (1978). The song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart. On the country chart, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" peaked at number 20 and was her first top 20 country hit in two years. Newton-John performed the song at the 21st Grammy Awards in 1979. The song was released in Australia in August 1978 and peaked at number two.
"Make a Move on Me" is a song recorded by singer Olivia Newton-John for her eleventh studio album. Physical (1981). It was written by John Farrar and Tom Snow, and produced by the former. The follow-up single to the number-one hit "Physical", it was released in January 1982 and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 that April. It also became her twelfth and final single to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"A Little More Love" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her tenth studio album, Totally Hot (1978). Written and produced by Newton-John's long-time record producer John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from Totally Hot in November 1978 and became a worldwide hit single.
"Suddenly" is a duet performed by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard from the soundtrack Xanadu, and is the love theme from the 1980 film of the same name. It was written and produced by John Farrar.
Two of a Kind: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name released in 1983 by MCA Records and features songs by the film's star Olivia Newton-John, as well as songs from various other artists.
"Landslide" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her eleventh studio album, Physical (1981). Written and produced by John Farrar, the song was released in several countries as the third and final single in April 1982.
"Heart Attack" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her second greatest hits album Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982). Written by Paul Bliss and Steve Kipner, and produced by John Farrar, the song was the first single released from the album and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.
"Let Her In" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Gary Benson, and released as a single in 1973. It was covered by John Travolta in 1976, and was released as the first single from Travolta's self-titled second album. Travolta's version was a hit, spending five months on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and peaking at number 10. It also reached number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. On the Cash Box chart, the song peaked at number five. In Canada, "Let Her In" reached number seven on the RPM Top Singles chart.
"Soul Kiss" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her twelfth studio album, Soul Kiss (1985). It was released as the lead single from the album on 25 September 1985 by MCA Records. The song was produced by John Farrar and written by Mark Goldenberg.
The singles discography of British-Australian recording artist Olivia Newton-John consists of 70 singles, three as a featured artist and 25 promotional recordings. She was a four-time Grammy award winner who amassed five number-one and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles, seven Top Ten Billboard Hot Country singles, and two number-one Billboard 200 solo albums. Ten of her singles topped Billboard's adult contemporary music singles chart. Eleven of her singles have been certified gold by the RIAA. She sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
"I Need Love" is a song recorded by Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, one of four new tracks recorded for the compilation album, Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992 and released as the first single from the record. The song was produced by Giorgio Moroder and written by Steve Kipner who had also penned Newton-John's hits "Physical", "Heart Attack" and "Twist of Fate". The song was a minor hit in the U.S. and U.K. and was later covered by Australian group Girlfriend.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)