Various Artists - The Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture Grease (1978)

My wife loves this movie; of course that means I love it, too. So I'm quite familiar with both the movie and it's soundtrack. Plus, I'll never pass up a chance to see and hear Olivia Newton-John ("Tell me about it, stud."). The soundtrack is a mixed bag of '50s sounding roots rock, typical show tunes, and '70s soft rock. Still, taken as a whole, it's been a part of my life so the variety is actually a positive. The soundtrack album has shipped more than 40 million copies, so if you don't own a copy, you probably know someone who does.

Don't tell anyone, but we also enjoy watching the tawdry Grease 2, but we don't own the soundtrack so it won't be making an appearance on this blog. Sorry.

If you are at any social event where middle aged women are present, put on this disc and you'll hear screams of delight followed by singing and, if you're lucky, bad recreations of scenes from the movie.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #1 (12 weeks between July 29 - Oct 28, 1978)
• CashBox: #1 (16 consecutive weeks)

Tracks:  This disc is the musical equivalent of a bag of potato chips - you can't stop after one and the songs taste really good for a while, then they sort of lose their appeal near the bottom of the bag. (I realize that's a horrible metaphor, but I'm going with it anyway.) Of the new tunes written specifically for the movie, my favorites are the title track (written by disco savant Barry Gibb), Hopelessly Devoted To You, and You're The One That I Want. Of the songs taken from the original musical by Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs, I like Summer Nights, Sandy (especially the hilariously cheesy spoken interlude), Greased Lightin', Those Magic Changes, and Born To Hand Jive. But I don't skip any - I've got to eat the whole bag in one sitting.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  4 immediately come to mind, but I'm sure there are many more:

1) My sister had a copy of the two LP soundtrack album. I remember absentmindly trying to pick up the pencil from the cover as it lay on the floor.

2) I was involved in a high school production of Grease in the fall of 1981. I won't go into too many details, but it wasn't a good production and it wasn't a good experience for me.

3) When my oldest son was very young (maybe 4 or 5), he would often want to watch our VHS copy of this movie. He called the movie "Dance."

4) During a holiday party in the not-too-distant past, we put in a Blu-Ray copy of the movie (Rockin' Rydell Edition) with the sing-along lyrics at the bottom. Hilarity ensued during Greased Lightin' as grown adults screamed "I didn't know these lyrics were so filthy!" That didn't keep us all from singing them anyway (alcohol may have been involved, but I admit to nothing).