This Christmas (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John album)
| This Christmas | ||||
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| Studio album by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John | ||||
| Released | November 9, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2012 | |||
| Genre | Christmas, pop, traditional pop | |||
| Length | 43:20 | |||
| Label | UMe | |||
| Producer | John Farrar, Dave Grusin, Mark Hartley (exec.), Phil Ramone, James Taylor, Randy Waldman | |||
| Olivia Newton-John chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Courier | (positive) |
| Edmonton Journal | |
| The Guardian | |
| The Independent | |
This Christmas is a Christmas album by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, released on November 9, 2012 by Universal Music Enterprises. The first time that Travolta and Newton-John worked together was on the musical film Grease (1978), which they performed the songs "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights". Both the film and the songs were a commercial phenomenon. This album is the first new artistic work they have done together since the 1983 film Two of a Kind (which features the song "Take a Chance", performed by them). This Christmas is also the twenty-fifth studio album, following the 2008 release A Celebration in Song, and the third all-new Christmas album by Newton-John.
In March 2012 Newton-John was interviewed by Malaysian newspaper The Star and was asked when was the last time which she talked with Travolta, her answered: "About a month ago. We’re working on a project together. [...] It’s not about Grease!". In late September the virtual shops of Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com listed an album named This Christmas by Travolta and Newton-John, set to be released on November 13, 2012. Rav Holly, from Rav Media Group, posted on Facebook a photo with Travolta and Newton-John, and stated that the company was making the album photoshoot. An official statement came on October 2, with a post on Olivia's official website and Facebook page.
My desire was to make This Christmas an intimate album, not something too ostentatious or showy. I wanted people to be able to play it around the house or in the car during the holidays, and make us part of your celebration. Gathering around house listening to Christmas music has always been an important part of that time of the year to my family.
According to statement, This Christmas is "the audio equivalent of those classic network TV specials hosted from the stars’ homes, an intimate, warm set of traditional holiday songs [...]". The album producer was the Grammy Award-winner composer Randy Waldman. All tracks are covers of classic Christmas songs, except "I Think You Might Like It", which was targeted as the "You're the One That I Want sequel." The song was written by Newton-John long-time collaborator John Farrar, who also wrote "You're the One That I Want", according to Newton-John: "If it wasn’t for that song, we wouldn’t be here talking about it 30 years later." The album also features the well-known musicians Kenny G, Barbra Streisand, Chick Corea, Cliff Richard, Tony Bennett, Count Basie Orchestra and James Taylor as special guests on some tracks. All of the album tracks were recorded in one take.
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Wikipedia