Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992

Greatest hits album by

Olivia Newton-John

Released

9 June 1992

Recorded

1971–1992

Olivia Newton-John chronology

Warm and Tender
(1989)

Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992
(1992)

Gaia: One Woman's Journey
(1994)

Singles from Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992

"I Need Love"
Released: June 1992
"Deeper Than a River"
Released: August 1992

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992 is the third greatest hits album by English-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 9 June 1992 by Geffen Records. It is the first compilation to contain both her country and pop hits. The album contained four new tracks: lead single "I Need Love" (produced by Giorgio Moroder), US Adult Contemporary top-20 single "Deeper Than a River", "Not Gonna Be the One" and a cover version of Brenda Lee's 1960 US number one "I Want to Be Wanted". A tour was planned to promote the album, but had to be cancelled when Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Transcription

Release

The album was released with different track listings in different territories in order to feature her biggest hits in each region. Although the album did not chart highly in the US, it was a long-term big seller and eventually certified Gold.^[2] The album was a bigger success in the UK and Australia.

Track listing

*Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992* – American edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Deeper Than a River"	Diane Warren	Guy Roche Warren	4:19
2.	"Not Gonna Be the One"	Seth Swirsky	John Farrar	3:12
3.	"I Want to Be Wanted"	Giuseppe Spotti Alberto Testa Kim Gannon	Peter Asher	3:26
4.	"I Need Love"	Stephen A. Kipner John Lewis Parker	Giorgio Moroder	4:12
5.	"Twist of Fate from Physical 2021 deluxe edition"	Kipner Peter Beckett	David Foster	3:43
6.	"Physical from Physical"	Kipner Terry Shaddick	Farrar	3:43
7.	"Magic from Xanadu"	Farrar	Farrar	4:25
8.	"Deeper Than the Night from Totally Hot"	Tom Snow Johnny Vastano	Farrar	3:35
9.	"A Little More Love from Totally Hot"	Farrar	Farrar	3:27
10.	"You're the One That I Want from Grease" (with John Travolta)	Farrar	Farrar	2:47
11.	"Summer Nights from Grease" (with John Travolta)	Jim Jacobs Warren Casey	Louis St. Louis	3:36
12.	"Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease"	Farrar	Farrar	3:00
13.	"Please Mr. Please from Have You Never Been Mellow"	Bruce Welch John Rostill	Farrar	3:24
14.	"Sam from Don't Stop Believin'"	Farrar Hank Marvin Don Black	Farrar	3:37
15.	"Have You Never Been Mellow from Have You Never Been Mellow"	Farrar	Farrar	3:28
16.	"If You Love Me (Let Me Know) from If You Love Me, Let Me Know"	Rostill	Farrar	3:12
17.	"I Honestly Love You from Long Live Love"	Peter Allen Jeff Barry	Farrar	3:36
Total length:				54:19

*Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992* – European and Japanese editions
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"If Not for You from If Not for You"	Bob Dylan	Welch Farrar	2:53
2.	"Banks of the Ohio from If Not for You"	Traditional	Welch Farrar	3:16
3.	"What Is Life from Olivia"	George Harrison	Welch Farrar	3:26
4.	"Take Me Home, Country Roads from Music Makes My Day"	Bill Danoff Taffy Nivert John Denver	Farrar	3:17
5.	"I Honestly Love You from Long Live Love"			3:37
6.	"Have You Never Been Mellow from Have You Never Been Mellow"			3:30
7.	"Sam"			3:42
8.	"You're the One That I Want from Grease" (with John Travolta)			2:48
9.	"Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease"			3:06
10.	"Summer Nights from Grease" (with John Travolta)			3:35
11.	"A Little More Love from Totally Hot"			3:29
12.	"Xanadu from Xanadu" (with Electric Light Orchestra)	Jeff Lynne	Lynne	3:28
13.	"Magic from Xanadu"			4:31
14.	"Suddenly from Xanadu" (with Cliff Richard)	Farrar	Farrar	4:00
15.	"Physical from Physical"			3:43
16.	"The Rumour from The Rumour"	Elton John Bernie Taupin	John James Newton Howard	3:56
17.	"Not Gonna Be the One"			3:04
18.	"I Need Love"			4:13
19.	"I Want to Be Wanted"			3:26
20.	"Deeper Than a River"			4:19
21.	"Warm and Tender from Warm and Tender" (Japanese bonus track)	Olivia Newton-John Farrar	Farrar	3:22
Total length:				71:21

*Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992* – Australian edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Need Love"			4:14
2.	"Deeper Than a River"			4:20
3.	"Not Gonna Be the One"			3:06
4.	"I Want to Be Wanted"			3:31
5.	"If Not for You from If Not for You"			2:56
6.	"Banks of the Ohio from If Not for You"			3:19
7.	"Let Me Be There from Music Makes My Day"	Rostill	Welch Farrar	3:01
8.	"I Honestly Love You from Long Live Love"			3:38
9.	"If You Love Me (Let Me Know) from If You Love Me, Let Me Know"			3:16
10.	"Have You Never Been Mellow from Have You Never Been Mellow"			3:33
11.	"Don't Stop Believin' from Don't Stop Believin'"	Farrar	Farrar	3:40
12.	"Sam from Don't Stop Believin'"			3:45
13.	"A Little More Love from Totally Hot"			3:30
14.	"Physical from Physical"			3:44
15.	"Make a Move on Me from Physical"	Farrar Snow	Farrar	3:19
16.	"Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease"			3:07
17.	"Xanadu from Xanadu" (with Electric Light Orchestra)			3:29
18.	"Magic from Xanadu"			4:31
19.	"Twist of Fate from Physical 2021 deluxe edition"			3:42
20.	"Soul Kiss from Soul Kiss"	Mark Goldenberg	Farrar	4:33
21.	"The Grease Megamix from The Definitive Collection" (with John Travolta)	Farrar Jacobs Casey	Farrar St. Louis Harding Curnow	4:51
Total length:				73:05

*The Singles: Australasian Tour Souvenir* – 1998 bonus disc
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"No Matter What You Do from Gaia: One Woman's Journey"	Newton-John	Newton-John Murray Burns Colin Bailey	4:22
2.	"Don't Cut Me Down from Gaia: One Woman's Journey"	Newton-John	Newton-John Burns Bailey	4:15
3.	"It's Always Australia for Me from The Rumour Japan Version"	John Capek Newton-John	Davitt Sigerson	3:19
4.	"Can't We Talk It Over in Bed from The Rumour"	Sandy Linzer Irwin Levine	Hank Medress Linzer	3:55
5.	"The Rumour from The Rumour"			3:59
6.	"Please Mr. Please from Have You Never Been Mellow"			3:24
7.	"Jolene from Come On Over"	Dolly Parton	Farrar	3:07
8.	"Don't Cry for Me Argentina from Making a Good Thing Better"	Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice	Farrar	6:02
9.	"Heart Attack from Physical 2021 deluxe edition"	Kipner Paul Bliss	Farrar	3:08
10.	"Toughen Up from Soul Kiss"	Terry Britten Graham Lyle	Farrar	3:49
Total length:				38:00

Charts

1992 chart performance for *Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992*
Chart (1992)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[3]	15
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[4]	7
UK Albums (OCC)^[5]	12
US Billboard 200^[6]	121

1995 chart performance for *Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992*
Chart (1995)	Peak position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[7]	2

Certifications

Certifications for *Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[8]	Gold	35,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[9]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ AllMusic review
^ "American album certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992". Recording Industry Association of America.
^ "Australiancharts.com – Olivia Newton-John – Back to Basics - The Essential Collection 1971-1992". Hung Medien.
^ "Charts.nz – Olivia Newton-John – Back to Basics - The Essential Collection 1971-1992". Hung Medien.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
^ "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 35. 2 September 1995. p. 21. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1992 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
^ "American album certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971-1992". Recording Industry Association of America. 23 July 1998.

v t e Olivia Newton-John
Albums Singles Videography Tours Awards and honours
Studio albums	If Not for You Olivia Let Me Be There Long Live Love Have You Never Been Mellow Clearly Love Come On Over Don't Stop Believin' Making a Good Thing Better Totally Hot Physical Soul Kiss The Rumour Warm and Tender Gaia: One Woman's Journey Back with a Heart 2 Indigo: Women of Song Stronger Than Before Grace and Gratitude Christmas Wish A Celebration in Song This Christmas Liv On Friends for Christmas
Compilations	If You Love Me, Let Me Know First Impressions Greatest Hits Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992 The Definitive Collection Magic Gold 40/40: The Best Selection Hopelessly Devoted: The Hits Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection (Vol. 1) Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection (Vol. 2)
Live albums	Love Performance Highlights from The Main Event One Woman's Live Journey Olivia's Live Hits Two Strong Hearts Live
Soundtracks	Grease Xanadu Two of a Kind A Few Best Men
EPs	Hotel Sessions
Video releases	Olivia Physical Olivia in Concert Twist of Fate Soul Kiss Olivia Down Under The Main Event Video Gold Live at the Sydney Opera House
Singles	"Till You Say You'll Be Mine" "If Not for You" "Banks of the Ohio" "What Is Life" "Just a Little Too Much" "Take Me Home, Country Roads" "Let Me Be There" "Long Live Love" "I Honestly Love You" "If You Love Me, Let Me Know" "Have You Never Been Mellow" "Please Mr. Please" "Something Better to Do" "Let It Shine" "Come on Over" "Jolene" "Don't Stop Believin'" "Every Face Tells a Story" "Sam" "Making a Good Thing Better" "You're the One That I Want" "Hopelessly Devoted to You" "Summer Nights" "A Little More Love" "Deeper Than the Night" "Totally Hot"/"Dancin' Round and Round" "I Can't Help It" "Rest Your Love on Me" "Magic" "Xanadu" "Suddenly" "Physical" "Make a Move on Me" "Landslide" "Heart Attack" "Tied Up" "Twist of Fate" "Soul Kiss" "The Best of Me" "The Rumour" "Reach Out for Me" "When You Wish Upon a Star" "The Grease Megamix" "Grease: The Dream Mix" "I Need Love"
Featured singles	"You Have to Believe"
Other songs	"Me and Bobby McGee" "If" "Help Me Make It Through the Night" "If You Could Read My Mind" "Angel of the Morning" "Everything I Own" "God Only Knows" "The Air That I Breathe" "Love Is Alive" "Ring of Fire" "Slow Dancing"
Concert tours	Physical Tour One Woman's Journey Tour Heartstrings World Tour A Summer Night with ONJ Summer Nights Two Strong Hearts Live
Related articles	Toomorrow (soundtrack) Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You Max Born Pat Carroll John Farrar Tottie Goldsmith Chloe Lattanzi (daughter) Matt Lattanzi (first husband) Emerson Newton-John (nephew)
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This page was last edited on 18 January 2024, at 10:25