Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992

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.

Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992
Greatest hits album by Olivia Newton-John
Released	9 June 1992
Recorded	1971–1992
Genre	Pop country pop
Label	Geffen
Producer	Peter Asher Harding Curnow John Farrar David Foster Elton John Jeff Lynne Giorgio Moroder James Newton Howard Guy Roche Louis St. Louis Diane Warren Bruce Welch
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]

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

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