Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
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Free Music Notes for Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Free Music Review: 50's fun with 70's production values
Hit: 5 Stars
Given the national funk the USA was in, the songs in Grease was also a longing for a funner, simpler time, when rock wasn't so complicated. Stylishly, it's 50's music, some with 70's disco sensibilities, 70's non-disco pop, and songs whose sound harken back to the stage play, clearly meant to stay within the confines of the movie.The order of songs on the soundtrack frontloads the theme song and singles in the first part before getting back in movie order for the rest. Now, in order of the movie...
After the brief "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing," comes the title song, the perfect marriage of the 50's, exemplified by singer, Frankie Avalon, and the catchy disco-like rhythms of the 70's, hardly surprising given that Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees penned this song.
"Summer Nights" the first duet between John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, featuring members of the cast, harkens back to its stage origins, with the differing versions of what went on in Danny and Sandy's fateful summer marked by vocal tradeoffs between the two, highlighted by predominantly male voices in Travolta's segment, female ones in Newton-John's.
"Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" too is a stagey song, sung by Stockard Channing when making fun of Sandy, with references to Elvis, Troy Donahue, and Doris Day making it a look back at the late 50's. The sugary pop ballad "Hopelessly Devoted To You" was tailor-made for Newton-John, a ballad alternately with steel guitars one moment, strings the next.
"Why this car is automatic, it's systematic, it's hydromatic. Why it's greased lightning!" For downright fun and energy, "Greased Lightning" bears the hallmark of Elvis and Eddie Cochrane-type rockers, an ideal song accompanying the spanking red hot rod fantasy sequence.
"It's Raining On Prom Night," sung by Cindy Bullens, is another vintage 50's-type slow ballad, and is the song that plays when Sandy goes to the jukebox, only to have Danny make fun of the jock she's hanging out with.
Frankie Avalon's slow-dance "Beauty School Dropout" is a nod back to the days when his "Venus" was a big hit, strings laden doo-wop style female accompaniment including Stockard Channing. This number was done in the guardian angel (Avalon) telling Frenchie to get her act together and go back to school.
"Rock And Roll Party Queen" can be briefly heard in the dance segment when the people start entering the decorated gym.
Another example of 50s/70s dynamic is Sha-Na-Na, who spearheaded a rock and roll revival movement. Their songs is one fun track after another, from Danny and the Juniors' "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay," the slow dance of "Those Magic Changes," Little Anthony's "Tears On My Pillow," Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," the climactic and fun-brimmed "Born To Hand Jive," and then a cover of "Blue Moon."
Travolta's solo song "Sandy," done after Sandy storms out of his car after his manhandling her, is more a defense than an apology, as he says in the monologue that she hurt him. The monologue he has inbetween the singing segments is more a hallmark of girl group songs like "Leader Of The Pack." Solo, Travolta's actually not bad, replicating 50's-style falsetto at times.
Next, is another Stockard Channing solo, "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" and a reprise of "Sandra Dee" by Olivia Newton-John, before the final blowout. In the interview segment of the video, Olivia Newton-John herself knew that with the bouncy bassline throughout the energetic "You're The One That I Want," the second Travolta duet, was going to be a hit, and it was. And in the movie, it's followed by the equally vivacious "We Go Together," which could've been a single.
Other notes: These were not included in the movie:"Alone At the Drive-In," "Freddy My Love," "Mooning," and "Rock N Roll Party Queen" were in the movie, because I don't remember them. Another exemplary soundtrack from the 70's and perhaps of all time.
Free Music Review: Grease!
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, Grease is obviously my favorite movie. The songs are mainly what makes it so great. I have like, practically every song from this album on my I-Pod (except for some of the ones that are not even featured in the movie). I'm only going to rate the songs that are actually sung by cast members, because they are the ones you probably won't skip.
1. Grease - Frankie Valli (4, it gets annoying sometimes)
2. Summer Nights - John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Cast (5, even the people who haven't seen Grease practically all know this song)
3. Hopelessly Devoted to You - (4.5 One of Olivia Newton-John's really big song hits, which she sings so beautifully, like an angel, which she probably is.)
4. You're the One That I Want (4.5 This song is great and all, but Sandy #2's singing is MUCH different lyrically than Sandy #1. I was kind of annoyed that when I was younger I couldn't sing one of SANDY'S lines!)
5. Sandy (4 This song is sweet, but it's nowhere as good a love song as Hopelessly Devoted. My brother makes fun of it all the time, but who cares? It's finally good that Danny's regretting what he did to poor Sandy for once.)
6. Beauty School Dropout (4, well, this song is kind of hard to relate to unless you're planning on dropping out of your high school and flunking beauty school as well. Frankie Avalon was the perfect Teen Angel for this song.)
7. Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (5, I love this song. I had and still have the nickname Rizzo, so my friends would constantly sing this song around me, but it grew on me. On my list of top 3, it is probably #2 behind Summer Nights. It's just so much fun.)
8. Greased Lightnin' (4, well, being a girl and all, it's hard to kind of get this song, because it does talk badly about chicks and admire car parts... well, whatever. Jeff Conaway was supposed to sing this song because in the play Kenickie sings it, but John Travolta sings it great, too.)
20. There Are Worse Things I Could Do (5, the first time I saw Grease I didn't really feel sorry for Rizzo, was it the viewers' fault she got pregnant? She really should've thought about staying at the sleepover. But now I feel sorry for her, and I love this song.It's #3 on my Top 3.)
21. Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise) (3.5, this is a song from the play, but why didn't they cut it out. I know Sandy is beginning to change for Danny, but really, who cares? We all know what's going to happen anyway.)
22. We Go Together - (4.5, I only gave this is a 4.5 instead of a 5 because I love it but I had to put subtitles on it to get the lyrics!)
Free Music Review: "Grease" is the word!
Hit: 5 Stars
This soundtrack album is the second biggest-selling in pop music history. The first is the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack. And both films starred John Travolta. Not only that,they were both originally released on the defunct RSO(Robert Stigwood Organization) label. I went through 2 LP copies of this album,as I said in the review for the DVD movie. There are actually 23 different recordings on the album. Track 24 is a repeat of the title theme(track 1). The title theme was written by ex-Bee Gee Barry Gibb and performed by Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons. The song is heard during the playing of the opening and closing credits in the film. SUMMER NIGHTS is about the summer romance of Danny Zuko(Travolta) and Sandy Dombrowski(Olivia Newton-John). ONJ performs HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU,later recycled for her GREATEST HITS VOLUME 2 album. YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT is another duet between Travolta and ONJ,also appearing on GHV2. SANDY is Danny's ode to his sweetheart(he sings this after being abandoned by Sandy at a drive-in theater in the film). BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUT is Frankie Avalon's advisory to Frenchy(Didi Conn). LOOK AT ME,I'M SANDRA DEE is sung by Rizzo or her portrayer,Stockard Channing. GREASED LIGHTNIN' is about the power of automobiles,sung by Travolta with moral support from Jeff Conaway(Kenickie). IT'S RAINING ON PROM NIGHT is OK,so is ALONE AT A DRIVE-IN MOVIE. Sha-Na-Na,as Johnny Casino & The Gamblers in the film,performs BLUE MOON,ROCK & ROLL IS HERE TO STAY,THOSE MAGIC CHANGES,HOUND DOG,TEARS ON MY PILLOW and BORN TO HAND-JIVE. MOONING,FREDDY MY LOVE and ROCK AND ROLL PARTY QUEEN are OK. Channing superbly performs THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO(the song is heard in "Connie & Carla" also,but not Channing's recording of it). There's a reprise of LOOK AT ME,I'M SANDRA DEE performed by ONJ. The Rydell High School seniors perform WE GO TOGETHER,heard in the final scene. LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING is an instrumental easy listening classic,heard in the very first scene before opening credits. This album is packed with still photos from the film. The one on the back cover of the LP and CD booklet is of the overall film cast. It would have been great if the title track was recorded by the Bee Gees. ONJ's manager John Farrar wrote or co-wrote some of ONJ's recordings on this album.Free Music Review: A great 'feel-good' 5 Stars
If "Grease" was meant to be a movie based in the 50s, why are there very little traditional rock'n'roll style tracks on this album? Ah, who care ?!! This soundtrack is simply a joy to listen to. Take away the fact most of the songs are cheesey and corny, what you have is an album that makes you feel good.Some tracks are more well-known than others, but is there anyone living in the Western world that doesn't know the words to these songs? And even if you don't, how many of you have added your own words and ju sung along to the tracks anyway?!
The highlights? Frankie Valli's "Grease" captures the 70s 'disco' sound perfectly, so it won't come as a surprise to discover this was written by one of the Bee-Gees. "Summer Nights, "You're The One That I Want", "Greased Lightning", "Hoplessly Devoted To You" and "Sandy" are all as popular today as they were 23 years ago.
But there are a few hidden gems to be found as album fillers, most noteably the contributions from the 'real' 1960s group 'Sha-Na-Na'. Tracks including: "Born To Hand Jive", "Tears On My Pillow", "Those Magic Changes" and "Blue Moon" prove it's unfair to associate the "Grease" soundtrack CD only with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Also, Stockard Channing's "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" also deserves a mention too.
Any naff songs? Yeah, but just a few. "Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee" reeks of 'naffness'(!), but on this soundtrack CD, the good outweigh the bad.
I first bought this soundtrack in the early 80s on vinyl (remember lp's?) and twice on audio cassette years later. Now I have two "Grease" CD's (inc. the 20th Anniversary Edition with CD-Rom). Now, if that isn't a recommendation you buy it, I don't know what is!
Just avoid anything associated with "Grease 2"!!!!
Jon:)
Free Music Review: FIND A PENNY PICK IT UP.....
Hit: 5 Stars
Moments after purchasing this soundtrack, I had chills that started multiplying, and I felt I was losing control. The power it was supplying
was electrifying to say the least. I thought that I better shape up cause...I needed something to set my heart on. Thought I better shape up,
understand, to my heart I MUST be true. Nothin' left, nothin' left for me to do. This is the one that I want!! Filled with affection to shy
to convey, meditate in some direction and feel my way. Am I sure? Yes, I'm sure deep down inside!!
My story is a sad story to tell, once a teenager ne'er do well. Most mixed up delinquent on the block. My future's so unclear, what's left of
my career now. Can't even get a trade-in on my smile. I'm a beauty school drop-out, no graduation day for me. Beauty school drop-out, missed
my midterms and flunked shampoo!! Well at least I could have taken time to wash and clean my clothes up after spending all that dough to have
the doctor fix my nose up.
Guess mine is not the first heart broken. My eyes are not the first to cry, I'm not the first to know, there's just no getting over you. Hello,
I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around and wait for you. But...baby can't you see, there's nothin' else for me to do I'm hopelessly
devoted to you. But NOW there's nowhere to hide since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head.
With this soundtrack, you'll be coasting through the heat lap trails!!