A Record a Week: Grease - The Soundtrack

SIDE 1.
GREASE
SUMMER NIGHTS
HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU
YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
SANDY

SIDE 2.
BEAUTY SCHOOL DROP-OUT
LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE
GREASED LIGHTNIN'
IT'S RAINING ON PROM NIGHT
ALONE AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
BLUE MOON

SIDE 3.
ROCK N' ROLL IS HERE TO STAY
THOSE MAGIC CHANGES
HOUND DOG
BORN TO HAND JIVE
TEARS ON MY PILLOW
MOONING

SIDE 4.
FREDDY, MY LOVE
ROCK N' ROLL PARTY QUEEN
THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO
LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE (Reprise)
WE GO TOGETHER
LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDOR THING
GREASE (Reprise)

Another alphabetical mishap, current me is slapping the me who put these records in order.

Watching the movie, it's easy to forget that it actually was released in the disco era. It's all about the rock n' roll in the film, yet the album starts off with the Barry Gibb produced title track. Listening to the record, I was confused for a minute and actually had to say to myself 'is this film more disco than I remember?'

Well no, it isn't...it's just that song. This album includes that song as well as all of the great songs from the movie (Greased lightnin', Summer Nights, You're the one That I Want, We Go Together) and all the ones that I had forgotten due to how banal they are (Beauty School Drop-Out, Sandy, There are Worse Things I Could Do), as well as some songs I don't remember at all from the film and one entire side done by Sha Na Na (which may or may not have appeared in the movie at all..now that I think about it, probably in the dance-a-thon scene).

I probably have purposely watched this movie maybe twice, but have 'second-hand' seen it 100 times or so. I wasn't entirely into musicals (especially movie form) when I was younger, but I've come around on them. Also, this was a time when John Travolta wasn't as crazy as he is now. If I remember correctly, my sister watched this movie so many times the vhs tape got fuzzy. I don't think I even consciously watched it all the way through until well into the time when DVDs were a thing, probably some time when it was on tv.

Enough about the movie though, this isn't Random Movie Review. This record was a fun listen for nostalgic purposes and also because the upbeat songs are really, really fun. Those songs, while perhaps not being on my iPod, are good ones to have to play at a BBQ or a wedding or anywhere group dancing could break out at any given time.

A Record a Week: Footloose, the Soundtrack

SIDE 1.
FOOTLOOSE (Kenny Loggins)
LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY (Deniece Williams)
ALMOST PARADISE (Mike Reno and Anne Wilson of Loverboy/Heart respectively)
HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO (Bonnie Tyler)

SIDE 2.
DANCING IN THE STREETS (Shalamar)
I'M FREE (HEAVEN HELPS THE MAN) (Kenny Loggins)
SOMEBODY'S EYES (Karla Bonoff)
THE GIRL GETS AROUND (Sammy Hagar)
NEVER (Moving Pictures)

Before six degrees of Kevin Bacon, before coke-addled Chris Penn ballooned and then passed away came the 1908's dancing-oppressed small-town story Footloose. Released when I was only a wee tot, I grew up with this soundtrack and the movie. I am not sure as an adult if this movie is any good or not, but I certainly remember them both fondly.

Full of excellent 80's dancing hits, this soundtrack is great, perhaps missing only Pat Benetar's 'Love is a Battlefield'. Listening to this record provided great dancing opportunity for my daughter and me.

The first five songs on this album are the best of the lot. They remind me that although the 80's provided a lot of lackluster music in my opinion. However, the 80's offered talented singers and guitarists that didn't have the luxury of auto-tune and multi-layered tracks. The result was that the songs were able to be reproduced live without pumping extra tracks through the house speakers or adding terrible effects to the vocals. It was a glory time for stadium music and even better, there was no Nickelback.