Song of the Day: 'Magic' by Olivia Newton-John

With thanks to Jimbo, who reminds us of one of the most life-changing dates in LGBTQ history. "Xanadu" must be the best soundtrack to a box-office bomb ever, with nary a miss on it.

 Over the years I have already used "Don't Walk Away" -- YES, I adore the ELO side as well! -- and "Suddenly" (which nearly outed me as a teen) as my Song of the Day -- so why not celebrate four decades since the film's release with its finest moment of all?

UPDATE:



Our girl got the message.

Song of the Day: ‘Don’t Walk Away’ by Electric Light Orchestra

I write this knowing I may have my childhood Olivia Newton-John Fan Club membership retroactively revoked, but I just watched “Xanadu” in its entirety -- from start to finish -- for the first time over the weekend. Of course I had the soundtrack -- you may recall that Tammy Nicholas questioned why I “always sang the girl part” of “Suddenly” in the summer of 1980 -- and I even saw (and loved) the Broadway musical. But the film came and went at theaters -- and who had time for movies what with all of those babysitting gigs? Then the reviews were so negative that I never really bothered to buckle down and watch it on cable or video, despite it being readily available. Having finally finished watching it I must say I’m a fan.

Olivia and the soundtrack are timeless and perfect -- the Tubes are used to great effect and ELO has never sounded more alive -- with the whole thing playing like an early music video. And what Michael Beck’s low-rent Andy Gibb shtick lacks is compensated by the joy of seeing Gene Kelly onscreen, especially in his dance scene with ONJ. Obviously not a brilliant film, but one definitely worthy if its cult classic status. 

Olivia Newton-John Is Xanadu-ing a New Guy

Two years after her deadbeat dad lover, Patrick McDermott, went "missing" on the high seas (well, from a fishing boat off San Pedro, California), Olivia Newton-John was "found" on the red carpet with a new man on her arm -- natural health guru "Amazon" John Easterling. The happy couple made their debut at the Helen Hayes Theatre for the opening night of "Xanadu" on Broadway, the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of her stinker 1980 film of the same name that's already breaking box office records.

The cast celebrated opening night with a gala afterparty at Providence on West 57th Street:

Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson; Olivia Newton-John.

Cheyenne and Olivia bond; An injured James Carpinello, whom Cheyenne is temporarily replacing. (Let's see if that switcharoo still goes into effect now that tickets sales are on fire.)

Olivia shows off her Xana-jewels ...
(Photos via WireImage)