Have You Never Been Mellow (song)

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"Have You Never Been Mellow"
HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW.jpg
Single by Olivia Newton-John
from the album Have You Never Been Mellow
B-side"Water Under the Bridge"
Released21 January 1975
Recorded1974
StudioAbbey Road Studios (London, England)
Genre
Length3:31
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)John Farrar
Producer(s)John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John singles chronology
"I Honestly Love You"
(1974) 		"Have You Never Been Mellow"
(1975) 		"Please Mr. Please"
(1975)

"Have You Never Been Mellow" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her 1975 sixth studio album of the same name. Written and produced by John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 21 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 on 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 received 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".

Charts[]

Cover versions[]

  • A French cover was recorded by Nicole Rieu, "Ma maison au bord de l'eau", was released in 1975.[13]
  • Hank Marvin recorded an instrumental version on his 'Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate' album in 1977 (EMC 3215, 0C 062-06 553)
  • Dionne Warwick performed the song in concert, a version of which is included on the DVD 'The Diva Of Soul Music Live In Concert'.[14]
  • 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.
  • 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.[15] This was later re-released on their 2010 album Ravers Fantasy.[16]
  • 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.[17]
  • 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 in her album Colors.
  • Juliana Hatfield covered the song on her 2018 album Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John.[18]
  • Along with her later single "Xanadu", a remixed version by The Olivia Project appears in the Dance Dance Revolution series of video games.

References[]

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 181.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 248.
  3. ^ "American single certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Have You Never Been Mellow". Recording Industry Association of America.
  4. ^ "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 1975-03-08. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  5. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  6. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  7. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  8. ^ "Charts.nz – Olivia Newton-John – Have You Never Been Mellow". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  9. ^ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  10. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  11. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  13. ^ "Encyclopédisque - Disque : Ma maison au bord de l'eau". Encyclopedisque.fr. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  14. ^ "Dionne Warwick – the Diva of Soul Music Live in Concert (2001, DVD)". Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Tune Up! – Feel Fine / Have U Ever Been Mellow (2006, 320kbps, File)". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Tune Up! – Ravers Fantasy (2010, 320kbps, File)". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Go Down Under (EP Review) - Stereoboard UK". stereoboard.com. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  18. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

External links[]

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