Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack) [SOUNDTRACK]

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.

Now its back - and many of the movie's fans who sing along with the songs in the theatre were not even born when the movie first came out. Much as it reminds me of my advancing age, I am thrilled that a movie musical - and, lets face it a pretty silly one at that - can still inspire such passionate support.

GREASE was not exactly new to me that summer of 1978 - having already seen the Broadway show which had premiered 6 years earlier and would continue for another 3 years after the release of the film. But the stage show is really a different animal: the kids are tougher, and the score was orchestrated for a more authentic 50s feel.

GREASE, the film, smoothed out the rough edges and cleaned up some of the rougher language. It also fiddled with the song lineup cutting "Freddy My Love", "Mooning", "Alone at a Drive-in Movie" and "All Choked Up" and adding a handful of genuine 50s tunes as well as the songs "Sandy", "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "You're the One that I want" and the title song - all of which are vast improvements. In fact, it might be smart for a Broadway producer to find a way to include these songs in future stage revivals.

The soundtrack album has been a best-seller for years now, but the CD transfer makes the same mistake that marred the original 2 LP set: The songs are in the wrong order making it impossible to follow the story. The CD booklet is no help as it offers no synopsis or notes of any kind.

To correct this glaring error one must program the CD to play: #23, #24, #2, #7, #3, #8, #9, #6, #19, #12, #13, #16, #14, #15, #11, #5, #20, #21, #4, #22 & #1.

Note that #10, #17 & #18 are not used in the film.