Twist of Fate (Olivia Newton-John song)

Background and lyrics

In 1978 John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starred in Grease, a big-screen adaptation of the 1972 Broadway musical of the same name. Its success elicited offers to reunite them in another film; Travolta read the screenplay for Two of a Kind and persuaded Newton-John to star in it with him. His character in the film is an unsuccessful inventor who has been unknowingly selected to determine the fate of humanity. After he attempts to rob a bank where the teller (Newton-John) gives him a bag full of deposit slips and keeps the money for herself, fate brings them together again in a fatal accident. They are brought back to life when the hands of time are turned back under the condition, unbeknownst to them, that the two make sacrifices for one another before a week has lapsed so that God does not destroy the human race. The song, which was written by Peter Beckett and Steve Kipner and produced by David Foster, alludes to the wrongdoings of the characters but mostly centers around the fact that they get a second chance at life.

Commercial performance

"Twist of Fate" made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 49 in the issue of the magazine dated 5 November 1983 and peaked at number 5 the week ending 7 January 1984. The song charted for 18 weeks. It also reached number 4 in Australia, number 5 in Canada and South Africa, number 20 in Switzerland, number 22 in New Zealand, number 33 in Belgium, number 42 in the Netherlands and number 57 in the UK. A 12-inch single with an extended version of the song got as high as number 51 on Billboards Dance Club Songs chart in the US.

A duet with Travolta from the film, "Take a Chance", was included as the B-side of the 7-inch single in the US, where it peaked at number 3 on Billboards Adult Contemporary chart, as well as in Canada, where it hit number 1 on the same chart in RPM magazine.

Critical reception

In their review of the single, the editors of Billboard magazine described it as "a strong dance-rocker that floats Newton-John's light voice over a booming, bass-heavy rhythm track." Cash Box wrote that the song "shows an urgent David Foster production full of throbbing bass lines and multi-layered keyboard parts." They noted of Newton-John that "her full-throttled vocal performance bodes extremely well for a successful new beginning." Robin Smith of Record Mirror, however, wrote, "Our Livvy's heart just isn't in this one."

Music video

In the music video for "Twist of Fate", Newton-John sings on a black soundstage surrounded by three raised jury boxes filled with people mostly shown in shadows. Scenes from the movie either start or end as still frames that are presented to the singer and the jury as large photographs. Travolta enters as she finishes the song. The video was directed by Brian Grant.

"Twist of Fate" was listed on the reports that MTV provided to Billboard that indicated what videos were in rotation on the cable network and made its first appearance there in the 3 December 1983 issue, which indicated that it had been added to their playlist as of 21 November.

A collection of videos for Newton-John's songs from Two of a Kind was also titled Twist of Fate. The collection was nominated for Best Video, Short Form at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to David Bowie's Jazzin' for Blue Jean.

Appearances in other media

In 2017, the song was featured in the second season of the Netflix series Stranger Things and included on the soundtrack album, Stranger Things: Music from the Netflix Original Series. The album was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Track listing and formats

All tracks produced by David Foster except "Coolin' Down" and "Jolene", produced by John Farrar.

• Australian 7-inch single (Interfusion Records)

1. "Twist of Fate" (Beckett, Kipner) – 3:39
2. "Coolin' Down" (Farrar)– 3:57

• UK 7-inch single (EMI Records)

1. "Twist of Fate"
2. "Jolene" (Dolly Parton)

• US/Canadian 7-inch single (MCA Records)

1. "Twist of Fate" – 3:39
2. "Take a Chance" (with John Travolta) (Foster, Steve Lukather, Olivia Newton-John) – 4:05

• US 12-inch single – Promo Only (MCA Records)

1. "Twist of Fate (Extended Version)" – 5:18
2. "Twist of Fate" – 3:39

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Bibliography

• {{citation

References

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2. (1983). "Two of a Kind: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". MCA Records.
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4. (17 July 2013). "Item: 7433 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca.
5. (5 November 1983). "Billboard's Top Single Picks > Pop > Olivia Newton-John—Twist of Fate".
6. . (5 November 1983). ["Reviews > Singles > Feature Picks > Olivia Newton-John"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1983/CB-1983-11-05-OCR-Page-0007.pdf#search=%22olivia%20travolta%20take%20chance%22). *Cash Box Publishing Co., Inc.*.
7. Smith, Robin. (29 October 1983). "Olivia Newton-John: "Twist of Fate"".
8. Grein, Paul. (14 January 1984). "Vid Music Reviews > Olivia Newton-John, "Twist of Fate"".
9. (3 December 1983). "Video Music Programming".
10. {{Harvnb. O'Neil. 1999
11. Arcand, Rob. (February 10, 2019). "Grammys 2019 Winners: The Complete List (Updating Live)".
12. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970-1992". Australian Chart Book.
13. (21 January 1984). "RPM 50 Singles". RPM.
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15. . (14 January 1984). ["Cash Box Top 100 Singles"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1984/CB-1984-01-14-OCR-Page-0004.pdf#search=%22olivia%20twist%22). *Cash Box Publishing Co., Inc.*.
16. (3 December 1983). "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec". [[Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
17. "Kent Music Report No 548 – 31 December 1984 > National Top 100 Singles for 1984". [[Kent Music Report]].
18. BigKev. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Hung Medien.
19. . (January 5, 1985). "Top 100 Singles of 1984". *[[RPM (magazine)*.
20. (1984-12-22). "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles".
21. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984". [[Cashbox (magazine).