Making A Good Thing Better
Encyclopedia
Making a Good Thing Better is an album by Olivia Newton-John
, released 1977.
Newton-John was in a dispute with MCA records at the time of the recording and was in negotiations to be released from MCA, thus the label did not promote the album. At the time, Newton-John sued for her release from MCA, claiming they had not promoted her music, resulting in diminished chart placement. She attempted to promote the album and single, appearing on the cover of Us Weekly on August 23, 1977 and making a promotional clip of the song that aired on NBC's "The Midnight Special".
Olivia Newton-John went on to sign on to do Grease
, the movie and came to agreement to stay with MCA records, though her recordings from the movie were on RSO
and Sad Songs) reaching a shockingly low No. 87 on the Pop chart and No. 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was Newton-John's first single not to reach the AC Top 10 since 1972's "What Is Life." The cover art is the same as what was re-issued for 2005's "Gold" CD. The original album featured a gatefold cover similar to her Greatest Hits packages, though only one vinyl LP album was contained inside.
Side Two
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
, released 1977.
Reception
The album peaked at No. 34 Pop and No. 13 Country. It was Newton-John's first album not to reach the Country Top 10. The album also ended Olivia's streak of six consecutive gold albums from 1974's "Let Me Be There" through 1976's "Don't Stop Believin'."Newton-John was in a dispute with MCA records at the time of the recording and was in negotiations to be released from MCA, thus the label did not promote the album. At the time, Newton-John sued for her release from MCA, claiming they had not promoted her music, resulting in diminished chart placement. She attempted to promote the album and single, appearing on the cover of Us Weekly on August 23, 1977 and making a promotional clip of the song that aired on NBC's "The Midnight Special".
Olivia Newton-John went on to sign on to do Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
, the movie and came to agreement to stay with MCA records, though her recordings from the movie were on RSO
RSO
RSO or R.S.O. may refer to:* Regional Security Officer, a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent in charge of security at a U.S. Embassy...
Singles
The soul-sounding title track was the album single (with Don't Cry For Me, ArgentinaDon't Cry for Me, Argentina
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a song from the 1978 musical Evita with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Sung by the title character Eva Perón, it was titled “It's Only Your Lover Returning” before Rice settled on the eventual name...
and Sad Songs) reaching a shockingly low No. 87 on the Pop chart and No. 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was Newton-John's first single not to reach the AC Top 10 since 1972's "What Is Life." The cover art is the same as what was re-issued for 2005's "Gold" CD. The original album featured a gatefold cover similar to her Greatest Hits packages, though only one vinyl LP album was contained inside.
Track listing
Side One- Making a Good Thing Better
(Pete WingfieldPete WingfieldPete Wingfield is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer and music journalist.-Career:...
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Drums and Percussion: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Electric Guitars: John FarrarJohn FarrarJohn Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....
, Jay GraydonJay GraydonJay Graydon is a Los Angeles songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". Jay Graydon has mastered many...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - Slow Dancing
(Jack TempchinJack TempchinJack Tempchin is an American musician and singer-songwriter, best known for writing the Eagles classic "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and co-writing their hits "Already Gone", "The Girl From Yesterday," "Somebody," and "It's Your World Now."...
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Drums: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Piano: Greg Mathieson
Acoustic Slide Guitar: John FarrarJohn FarrarJohn Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....
Acoustic Guitar: Jay GraydonJay GraydonJay Graydon is a Los Angeles songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". Jay Graydon has mastered many...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - Ring of FireRing of Fire (song)"Ring of Fire" or "The Ring of Fire" is a country music song popularized by Johnny Cash and co-written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore. The single appears on Cash's 1963 compilation album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash...
(June Carter - Merle KilgoreMerle KilgoreWyatt Merle Kilgore was an American singer, songwriter, and manager.-Early life:Although born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Merle Kilgore was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the son of Wyatt and Gladys B. Kilgore...
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Drums and Percussion: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Harmonica: Tommy Morgan
Fiddle: Byron BerlineByron BerlineByron Berline is an American fiddle player.-Biography:Berline started playing the fiddle at age five and quickly developed a talent for it. In 1965, he recorded the album Pickin' and Fiddlin with the Dillards... - Coolin' Down
(John FarrarJohn FarrarJohn Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....
)
Drums and Percussion: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - Don't Cry for Me Argentina (from the operaMusical theatreMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Evita)
(Compoed by Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
- Lyrics by Tim RiceTim RiceSir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
)
Orchestra Arranged and Conducted by Peter Meyers
Side Two
- Sad Songs
(Billy and Bobby Alessi)
Drums and Percussion: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Electric Guitar: Jay GraydonJay GraydonJay Graydon is a Los Angeles songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". Jay Graydon has mastered many...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - You Won't See Me Cry
(Joe Falsia - Stephen SinclairStephen SinclairStephen Sinclair is a New Zealand film and television writer and emerging director.As a screenwriter, Sinclair has worked with director Peter Jackson on Meet the Feebles, Braindead and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He has directed several short films, including Home Video and Ride, which...
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Drums: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician... - So Easy To Begin
(Jules ShearJules ShearJules Mark Shear is a US singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Pittsburgh in 1952. Although he has had only one minor hit as a performer , he has recorded almost 20 albums to date...
)
Drums: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - I Think I'll Say Goodbye
(Jim Rushing - Marshall ChapmanMarshall ChapmanMarshall Chapman is an American singer-songwriter and author.Chapman, the daughter of a cotton mill owner, was taken to an Elvis Presley concert in 1957 and says the experience changed her from a southern debutante to a nascent rock and roller...
)
Drums: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician... - Don't Ask A Friend
(Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
)
Drums: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
Strings Arranged and Conducted by James Newton-Howard - If Love Is Real
(Randy EdelmanRandy EdelmanRandy Edelman is an American film and TV score composer.-Life and career:Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played...
)
Drums and Percussion: Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
Bass: Lee SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
HarmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
: Randy EdelmanRandy EdelmanRandy Edelman is an American film and TV score composer.-Life and career:Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played...