Tag Archives: 1978 in Music

Olivia Newton-John: A LITTLE MORE LOVE, a top-5 Billboard Hot 100 chart hit in 1978 from the no. 7 album, Totally Hot.

FEATURE IMAGE: Olivia Newton-John, November 24, 1978. “File:Aankomst zangeres Olivia Newton John op Schiphol Olivia Newton John in de persk, Bestanddeelnr 930-0132.jpg” by Bert Verhoeff / Anefo is marked with CC0 1.0.

In a recording career that spanned over five decades, the singer, actress, environmentalist and animal rights activist, won 4 Grammy Awards, had 5 no.1 hit singles and several Platinum-selling singles and albums.

In 1978 Olivia Newton-John starred in “Grease” which grossed over $150 million worldwide (over $680 million in 2022 dollars). The movie musical produced three hit singles that year: “You’re the One That I Want” sung with John Travolta (no.1), “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (no.3) and “Summer Nights” (no.5). Newton-John also appeared in 1978 in the film “Xanadu,” whose soundtrack went Double Platinum. With Totally Hot released in November 1978, Newton-John had another top-ten album (no.7) and single, A Little More Love (no.4). Though Totally Hot reinforced the singer’s new sexier image, it still reached No. 4 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

A Little More Love is a song recorded and released as a single in October 1978 by Olivia Newton-John. It was her follow-up to her latest hit single Summer Nights, released in August 1978, which reached no.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single A Little More Love anticipated the release of Newton-John’s 10th studio album, Totally Hot, on November 21, 1978 where the song appeared as the lead track on side 2. .

A Little More Love became a worldwide top-ten hit single in 1979. Both the new album and single were another wildly successful collaboration for Olivia Newton-John and John Farrar, her record producer and songwriter, in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

A Little More Love peaked at no.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979 and Totally Hot became Newton-John’s first top-ten album (no.7) on the Billboard 200 chart since Have You Never Been Mellow in 1975.

In the course of 1979, when My Sharona by The Knack, Y.M.C.A. by Village People, Ring My Bell by Anita Wood, Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees, and Heart Of Glass by Blondie were some of Billboard’s year-end top 20 singles, Olivia Newton-John’s A Little More Love ranked no. 17.

Note: British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John died of cancer on Monday, August 8, 2022. Newton-John was 73 years old.

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