StreamingSoundtracks.com - Grease - Frankie Valli, John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Frankie Avalon, Stockard Channing, Cindy Bullens, Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey, Sha-Na-Na, Louis St. Louis & Cindy Bullens (...)

#	Track Listing	Length	Played
01	Grease Frankie Valli	3:19	86
02	Summer Nights John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	3:34	140
03	Hopelessly Devoted To You Olivia Newton-John	3:01	55
04	You're The One That I Want John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	2:47	121
05	Sandy John Travolta	2:31	49
06	Beauty School Dropout Frankie Avalon	3:57	80
07	Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee Stockard Channing	1:38	44
08	Greased Lightning John Travolta	3:12	87
09	It's Raining On Prom Night Cindy Bullens	2:49	46
10	Alone At The Drive-In-Movie (Instrumental) Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey	2:23	74
11	Blue Moon Sha-Na-Na	2:19	26
12	Rock 'n' Roll Is Here To Stay Sha-Na-Na	2:01	27
13	Those Magic Changes Sha-Na-Na	2:17	22
14	Hound Dog Sha-Na-Na	1:22	20
15	Born To Hand Jive Sha-Na-Na	4:37	87
16	Tears On My Pillow Sha-Na-Na	2:02	21
17	Mooning Louis St. Louis & Cindy Bullens	2:13	73
18	Freddy My Love Cindy Bullens	2:45	41
19	Rock 'n' Roll Party Queen Louis St. Louiss	2:09	77
20	There Are Worse Things I Could Do Stockard Channing	2:20	49
21	Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise) Olivia Newton-John	1:28	34
22	We Go Together John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	2:59	99
23	Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (Instrumental) Sammy Fain & Paul Francis Webster	1:23	77
24	Grease (Reprise) Frankie Valli	3:21	47

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Reviewers Rating

1 review done for this album.

Where the original remains, it’s done well

By:	LadyInque
Date:	25 Aug 2011
Rating:

There is a school of thought which says that no matter how bad an adaptation of a story from one medium to another might be, it cannot damage the original. Usually I agree, except in the case of Grease. This 1978 film was adapted from an off-Broadway musical of the same name. The original musical was a raw little show about high-schoolers in 1950s America, complete with cussing and raunchy language. The songs were very much in the 1950s style, though the lyrics were often bitingly funny, poking fun at the mores and stereotypes of the time. The movie, on the other hand, is a bloated thing which tones down all the rawness of the original, casts people who look forty in the teen roles, adds a lot of unnecessary plot (something about drag racing), and drops some of the original numbers in favor of new ones that don’t work. Unfortunately, this is the version that everyone seems to have watched at slumber parties growing up, so whenever Grease is performed on stage, it frequently amps up the camp and even changes the script and songs to line up with the film. The adaptation has, in some real ways, destroyed the original. And on this album, the songs are out of order. For a musical, I think that’s unforgivable.

For all that, I will say that some of the casting of the movie is very good, and when it sticks to the songs that belong to the show, it succeeds. So it goes with the soundtrack album. Travolta makes a great Danny Zuko. “Summer Nights” is wonderful, as is “Greased Lightning,” two of the more popular tracks. “Beauty School Drop-out” is okay, sung by an icon, and at least the lyrics are intact. On the other hand, “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” and “There are Worse Things I Could Do” are songs for the most developed character in the show, Betty Rizzo, and probably would come across better if Stockard Channing could really belt them. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “Sandy” are fine if you like the songs, but the latter replaced “Alone at the Drive-In.” On the album, this song is included as an instrumental, which is totally unfair, because the song is funny, and the replacement doesn’t do anything except remove the innuendo. (Well, what do you think Danny wanted to go to the drive-in for?) Likewise, “You’re the One that I Want” replaces “All Choked Up,” which was a better song.

Some numbers from the show are on the album, performed by Sha-Na-Na (“Those Magic Changes” and “Hand Jive”). The others are covers of period songs. This is a group I can only describe as a novelty act. Performing covers is about all they do. I think the worst offender is the title song. Sure, it’s sung by Frankie Valli, but it’s really a terrible song. The lyrics are awful, and the musical style has nothing to do with the 1950s setting for the story.

In the end, I know that people will request what they like from the movie, because for most people, that’s what they know best. Go ahead and have fun. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find a copy of the original cast recording with Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau. If you do find it, take a listen and hear what you’re missing.

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