#1413: Yvonne Elliman

80s Snapshot:

• Number of songs on Hot 100: 1
• Highest peak position: 88
• Cumulative weeks on Hot 100: 1

Our global journey through the 80s will take us to Hawaii today, with stops at London, Broadway and the top of the Hot 100. Yvonne Elliman was born and raised in Honolulu, and moved to London after graduating high school to pursue her music career. Shortly after re-locating to England, she was discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who were in the process of putting together their breakthrough work Jesus Christ Superstar.

Elliman was cast as Mary Magdalene for the concept album, which was released in 1970 and also featured Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan as Jesus and Murray Head as Judas (both of whom we’ll hear more from down the road). The album became a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, ultimately finishing as the top album in Billboard’s 1971 year-end chart. In addition to Murray Head’s “Superstar” (which peaked at #14 on the Hot 100 in its third run on the chart), two of Elliman’s contributions to the album were released as singles. Elliman’s version of “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” was released shortly after Helen Reddy began her prolific Hot 100 career with a cover version that was starting to climb the charts. In a chart rarity of multiple versions of a song charting concurrently, Reddy’s rendition peaked at #13 in June 1971 and Elliman’s peaked at #28 that same month.

In anticipation of Jesus Christ Superstar opening on Broadway in October 1971 (with Elliman still a part of the cast), “Everything’s Alright” was also released as a single, enjoying a 6-week run on the Hot 100 and peaking at #92 during the week of the show’s opening. Elliman was a part of the Broadway cast for the show’s full 700 performance run, and also played Mary Magdalene in the 1973 film version directed by Norman Jewison (earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy). She and Barry Dennen (who played Pontius Pilate) were the only actors to appear on the original album, the Broadway cast and the 1973 film.

After her first two albums (1972’s self-titled effort and 1973’s Food Of Love) failed to chart or generate any hit singles, she received a big break when she was tapped to provide backing vocals for Eric Clapton’s version of “I Shot The Sheriff”. The song became Clapton’s first and only #1 on the Hot 100 in 1974, and soon after Elliman was signed to RSO (Clapton’s label). While she would lend her voice to several of Clapton’s albums over the next few years, her partnership with another act signed to RSO would prove even more fruitful.

Her first album with RSO, 1975’s Rising Sun, also failed to hit the albums chart. However, her funky cover of the folk standard and one-time #1 hit “Walk Right In” bubbled under the Hot 100 at #109, hinting at the potential for chart success outside of Superstar. As the lead single for her next album, she covered an album track from RSO’s most successful act, the Bee Gees. 1976 was the beginning of the Gibb brothers’ ascent from massively successful act to ubiquitous, world-dominating superstars. That rising tide carried all ships, and the gentle soft-rocker “Love Me” became Elliman’s second Top-40 hit, peaking at #14 on the final chart of 1976 and also reaching #5 on the Easy Listening chart.

That momentum was followed up by her similarly-smooth cover version of “Hello Stranger”, which had been a #3 hit for Barbara Lewis in 1963. Equally successful on the Hot 10, “Hello Stranger” peaked at #15 on the Hot 100 and was even bigger on the Easy Listening chart, spending 4 weeks at No. 1. Now an established hit singles act on RSO, she was in careful consideration for the development of the forthcoming Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album that was set to prominently feature songs written by and performed by the Bee Gees. Elliman was initially set to record “How Deep Is Your Love”, given her previous success on the charts with ballads.

The Bee Gees ultimately kept “How Deep Is Your Love” and took it to #1, but Elliman was given “If I Can’t Have You”, a more disco-tinged number that represented a new step in her musical sound. As with every other single from Saturday Night Fever, Elliman’s song became a huge hit in its own right, reaching #1 in May 1978 and becoming one of a whopping seven Number One hits written by the Gibbs in 1978. Fresh off that huge success, Elliman was tapped to sing the title track of another 1978 John Travolta film soundtrack (not Saturday Night Fever or Grease), but the jazzy ballad “Moment By Moment” only reached No. 59 on the Hot 100.

Now committed to the disco sound that was dominating the late 70s, Elliman leaned in even further with her 1979 album Yvonne. The single “Love Pains”, a down-the-middle disco number without the Bee Gees’ writing or backing vocals, did moderately well on the Hot 100. It reached a peak of #34 in December 1979, and was in the process of its descent when it spent a final week at #88 on the first chart of 1980. That one week would wind up being her only Hot 100 appearance in the decade: her cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic “Your Precious Love” (a duet with Stephen Bishop recorded for the soundtrack to the 1980 film Roadie) bubbled under at #105.

After a busy decade that saw her reach success in virtual all forms of media (her Broadway, film and music successes were also joined by a guest role in 1978 on Hawaii Five-O), Elliman stepped out of the public eye to focus on raising her family. After a hiatus of almost 25 years, she released a self-written EP Simple Needs in 2004. In the two decades since, she has continued to sporadically perform and make public appearances, many of which celebrate the continued success and cultural cache of Jesus Christ Superstar.

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