Have You Never Been Mellow (song) explained
"Have You Never Been Mellow" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her 1975 fifth studio album of the same name. Written and produced by John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from the album in January 1975.
In the United States, the single became Newton-John's second consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart in March 1975. It also topped the Adult Contemporary chart,[1] and continued her success as a crossover artist when it peaked at number three on the Hot Country Songs chart.[2] It also became her fourth consecutive single to receive a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[3] The single also reached number one in Canada, and peaked at number ten in Newton-John's native Australia.
"Have You Never Been Mellow" was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Janis Ian's "At Seventeen".
Track listing
- "Have You Never Been Mellow" – 3:30
- "Water Under the Bridge" – 3:05
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
- A French cover recorded by Nicole Rieu, "Ma maison au bord de l'eau", was released in 1975.[16]
- Hank Marvin recorded an instrumental version on his 'Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate' album in 1977 (EMC 3215, 0C 062-06 553)
- The Seekers included a version on their 1980 album A Little Bit of Country
- Dionne Warwick performed the song in concert, a version of which is included on the DVD 'The Diva Of Soul Music Live In Concert'.[17]
- Billy Vaughn covered the track on his 1976 album Melodies of Love.
- The punk band the Feederz covered the song on their 1984 debut album "Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss?". The Nip Drivers was another punk band that covered it.
- In 1986, Japanese singer Megumi Shiina covered the song in Japanese under the title "Ai Wa Nemura Nai" (Love Never Sleeps), which was the theme song of the TV drama "Who Wears the Bridal Gown?"[18]
- The Dutch band Party Animals sampled the song in 1996 on their happy hardcore hit "Have You Ever Been Mellow". The song reached number one in the Netherlands.
- In 2001, Japanese singer and voice actress Rie Tanaka recorded the song (in English) for her album Garnet. Olivia's original version had been a big hit in Japan in 1975.
- Australian singer James Reyne covered the song (titled simply, "Mellow") on his 2004 release Speedboats for Breakfast. His version is a raucous, punk-influenced take on the song. (Reyne and Newton-John shared the same management in the late '80s and early '90s, and Newton-John sang backing vocals on Reyne's solo debut album.)
- In 2006, German DJ duo Tune Up! (DJ Manian and Yanou) released a Hands Up song entitled "Have U Ever Been Mellow" that sampled the song's lyrics.[19] This was later re-released on their 2010 album Ravers Fantasy.[20]
- The song was performed as part of the 2007 Broadway musical Xanadu.
- Australian singer Tex Perkins covered the track on his 2008 album No. 1's & No. 2's.
- Belgian liquid drum & bass prodigy Netsky sampled the song on his 2010 debut album Netsky (Hospital Records), using the vocals of Terri Pace on the song "Mellow".
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covered the song on their all Australian covers 2011 EP, Go Down Under.[21]
- In 2016, Dutch DJ duo Showtek released a Hardstyle song entitled "Mellow" that sampled this song's lyrics with Technoboy and Tuneboy.
- In 2017, Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sumioka covered the song on her album Colors.
- Juliana Hatfield covered the song on her 2018 album Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John.[22]
- Along with her later single "Xanadu", a remixed version by The Olivia Project appears in the Dance Dance Revolution series of video games.
Notes and References
- Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 181.
- Book: Whitburn, Joel . The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 248.
- United States. Have You Never Been Mellow. Olivia Newton-John. single.
- Web site: National Top 100 Singles for 1975. . 79 . . 29 December 1975 . 15 January 2022 .
- Web site: Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada . Bac-lac.gc.ca . 17 July 2013 . 2016-10-10.
- Web site: Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada . Bac-lac.gc.ca . 17 July 2013 . 2016-10-10.
- Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
- Web site: Adult Contemporary Music Chart . Billboard . 1975-03-08 . 2016-10-10.
- Book: Whitburn, Joel. Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996. Sheridan Books, Inc.. 2014. 978-0-89820-209-0.
- Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Overseas – Week of August 17, 2022. Billboard Japan. ja. 17 August 2022. 17 August 2022.
- CU.S Digital Song Sales: Week of August 20, 2022. subscription. Billboard. 16 August 2022.
- Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada. collectionscanada.gc.ca.
- Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada. collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 July 2013.
- Web site: The CashBox Year End Charts:1974 . 25 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120725004901/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1974YESP.html . 25 July 2012 . dead .
- Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-10.
- Web site: Encyclopédisque - Disque : Ma maison au bord de l'eau . Encyclopedisque.fr . 2016-10-10.
- Web site: Dionne Warwick – the Diva of Soul Music Live in Concert (2001, DVD). 7 December 2020. .
- Web site: 花嫁衣裳は誰が着る ドラマ主題歌. ja.
- Web site: Tune Up! – Feel Fine / Have U Ever Been Mellow (2006, 320kbps, File). Discogs. 13 February 2006 . 16 July 2020.
- Web site: Tune Up! – Ravers Fantasy (2010, 320kbps, File). Discogs. 22 October 2010 . 16 July 2020.
- Web site: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Go Down Under (EP Review) - Stereoboard UK . stereoboard.com . 15 August 2011.
- Web site: Erlewine. Stephen Thomas. Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John. AllMusic. 23 April 2018.
