Oct 14th in Pop History

On this day, October 14th, in…

• 1974 - Nashville veterans worry about the sanctity of country music when Olivia Newton-John wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. It was for the song If You Love Me (Let Me Know). Olivia was born in England, raised in Australia. Nashville purists were jealous she had taken Nashville by storm.

Olivia Newton-John is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and activist. She is a four-time Grammy Award winner whose chart career includes five US number ones and another ten Top Tens on the Billboard Hot 100 and two Billboard 200 number-one albums, If You Love Me (Let Me Know) (1974) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975).

So first she took Nashville by storm, and then she turned around and took the pop music world by storm. She took no prisoners. Eleven of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four 2× platinum) have been certified Gold by the RIAA. She has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best selling music artists of all time.

I’ve seen her in concert before and she has so many hits that she does a great show. If you’re not familiar with the great sounds of Olivia, check out the Spotify link below.

Olivia Newton-John on Spotify

The Best of Olivia Newton-John

Also, on this day, October 14th, in:

• 1955 - Buddy Holly, Larry Welborn, and Bob Montgomery open for Bill Haley & the Comets in Lubbock, Texas. Eddie Crandell (a Nashville talent scout), who saw the show later arranges for Holly to record his first demo

• 1957 - Although it was banned by some US radio stations for its suggestive lyrics, The Everly Brothers had their first # 1 on the US singles chart with Wake Up Little Susie