Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture

Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Released April 14, 1978
Recorded 1977–1978
Studio Filmways/Wally Heider Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California; United Western Studios, Los Angeles, California; Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, California; Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida
Genre
Length 63:14
Label RSO
Producer
Olivia Newton-John albums chronology
Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits
(1977) 		Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
(1978) 		Totally Hot
(1978)
Singles from Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
  1. "Grease"
    Released: May 6, 1978
  2. "You're the One That I Want"
    Released: May 17, 1978
  3. "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
    Released: August 7, 1978
  4. "Summer Nights"
    Released: August 25, 1978
  5. "Sandy"
    Released: September 29, 1978
  6. "Greased Lightnin'"
    Released: 1978

Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 1978 film Grease. It was originally released by RSO Records and subsequently re-issued by Polydor Records between 1984 and 1991. It has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, also ranking amongst the biggest selling soundtrack albums of all time. The song "You're the One That I Want" was a U.S. and UK No. 1 for stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

Besides performers John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the album also featured songs by rock and roll revival group Sha Na Na as well as the hit song "Grease", a tune written by Barry Gibb (of the Bee Gees) and sung by Frankie Valli (of The Four Seasons) that was an additional U.S. No. 1.

Background

The soundtrack was released on April 14, 1978, two months ahead of the film's release. As with most musicals of the period, the vocal takes recorded for the album release–and in some cases the instrumental background as well–do not lock to picture but were recorded during entirely different soundtrack sessions often months prior or subsequent to the performances used for lip sync in the film.

The cover gives credit to, and prominently features, the two stars of the film—John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John—although they only appear on seven of the 24 tracks. Sha Na Na performed many of the 1950s numbers in the film, the recordings of which also appear on the soundtrack. Stockard Channing sings lead on two of the tracks; the two tracks remain her only significant contribution to recorded popular music to date. The title track is featured twice on the soundtrack and performed by Frankie Valli, who had no other connection with the film.

The entirety of the score written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey for the Broadway musical was included on the soundtrack and/or in the film, with the exception of two songs: "Shakin' at the High School Hop" (originally composed to open Act II of the musical) and "All Choked Up" (the song originally written into the spot where the film used "You're the One that I Want") were both left out of both the film and the soundtrack. Not all of the songs were included in the film; songs cut from the film were performed on the soundtrack by Louis St. Louis and Cidny (then Cindy) Bullens or converted to instrumentals. Songs in the musical that were not performed by Rizzo, Danny, Sandy, the Teen Angel, or Johnny Casino & the Gamblers were given to those characters or to St. Louis and Bullens; these included Sandy's original feature number "It's Raining on Prom Night" (given to Bullens and used as a jukebox background song), Marty's "Freddy, My Love" (given to Bullens), Doody's "Those Magic Changes" (given to Johnny Casino & the Gamblers), Kenickie's "Greased Lightnin'" (given to Danny), and both of the songs originally attributed to a character named Roger that was written out of the film, "Mooning" and "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen" (both given to St. Louis; "Mooning" was replaced in function in the film by the 1930s standard "Blue Moon," performed by the Gamblers). Rizzo's 11 o'clock number "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was only kept in the film at Channing's fervent insistence, as she felt the song (and the storyline behind it) was necessary to prevent Rizzo from becoming a one-dimensional caricature.

The most successful songs from the soundtrack were written specifically for the film. They included the Billboard number-one hits "Grease", "You're the One That I Want" and the Academy Award-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You". In the UK, the album proved even more successful where "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" (a song carried over from the original musical) reached No.1 for nine and seven weeks respectively, while "Grease", "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy" all became top three hits. The soundtrack album hit the top of the charts in the US during the summer of 1978, replacing The Rolling Stones' Some Girls. In the UK, it remained at the top of the charts for 13 consecutive weeks. As of 2011, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" are still among the 20 best-selling singles of all time in the UK (at Nos. 6 and 19 respectively). "Greased Lightnin'," another carryover from the stage version, was also released as a single, reaching the top 20 in the UK but narrowly missing the top 40 in the U.S. in part because of the lyrical content not being permitted on U.S. radio.

Two of the bass players who recorded on the Grease soundtrack were members of Toto. One of these, David Hungate, also performed on Newton-John's album Totally Hot with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Other musicians on the soundtrack had previously worked with Elton John, Steely Dan, Bee Gees and others. The Grease album, as well as the soundtrack for the film, were recorded and mixed by David J. Holman.

The album has sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. in the SoundScan era (beginning 1991) in addition to the 8 million shipped in the years 1978–1984.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Record Guide C+

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic retrospectively rated the soundtrack four-and-a-half stars. He stated that "the originals hold up better than the '50s tunes" due in large part to Sha Na Na's workmanlike performances of the latter. Erlewine added however that the original songs "are so giddily enjoyable that everything works". He also said that "the sleek pop production the movie's soundtrack boasts and the cast's enthusiastic performances go a long way in making this Grease the definitive Grease." The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 21st Annual Grammy Awards.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, except where noted.

Original 1978 release

Side One
No. Title Writer(s) Vocals Length
1. "Grease" Barry Gibb Frankie Valli 3:24
2. "Summer Nights"  
3:35
3. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" John Farrar Olivia Newton-John 3:04
4. "You're the One That I Want" John Farrar
  • John Travolta
  • Olivia Newton-John
 2:48
5. "Sandy"
John Travolta 2:31
Total length: 15:22
Side Two
No. Title Writer(s) Vocals Length
6. "Beauty School Dropout"   Frankie Avalon 3:59
7. "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee"  
1:40
8. "Greased Lightnin'"  
3:13
9. "It's Raining on Prom Night"   Cindy Bullens 2:51
10. "Alone at a Drive-In Movie"   Instrumental 2:24
11. "Blue Moon"
Sha-Na-Na 2:18
Total length: 16:25
Side Three
No. Title Writer(s) Vocals Length
12. "Rock n' Roll Is Here to Stay" David White Sha-Na-Na 2:03
13. "Those Magic Changes"   Sha-Na-Na 2:18
14. "Hound Dog" Jerry Leiber · Mike Stoller Sha-Na-Na 1:24
15. "Born to Hand Jive"   Sha-Na-Na 4:37
16. "Tears on My Pillow"
Sha-Na-Na 2:02
17. "Mooning"  
  • Louis St. Louis
  • Cindy Bullens
 2:15
Total length: 14:39
Side Four
No. Title Writer(s) Vocals Length
18. "Freddy, My Love"   Cindy Bullens 2:48
19. "Rock n' Roll Party Queen"   Louis St. Louis 2:11
20. "There Are Worse Things I Could Do"   Stockard Channing 2:22
21. "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" (reprise)   Olivia Newton-John 1:40
22. "We Go Together"  
  • John Travolta
  • Olivia Newton-John
 3:00
23. "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (Instrumental)"
Orchestral 1:23
24. "Grease" (reprise) Barry Gibb Frankie Valli 3:24
Total length: 16:38

CD release

The CD of the soundtrack has been released twice in the US. In April 1991 it was released through Polydor Records as a single disc replicating the sequence of the original 1978 RSO LP. In September 2003 it was released by PolyGram as a 2-CD digitally-remastered "Deluxe Edition" containing additional tracks. As with the LP and single-disc CD, the songs are not presented in the order replicating their appearances in the movie.

Deluxe edition bonus disc
No. Title Writer(s) Vocals Length
1. "Grease" (Instrumental version) Barry Gibb Gary Brown, saxophone 3:23
2. "Summer Nights" (Sing-a-long version)     3:34
3. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (Sing-a-long version) John Farrar   3:03
4. "You're the One That I Want" (Sing-a-long version) John Farrar   2:32
5. "Sandy" (Sing-a-long version) Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon   2:30
6. "Greased Lightnin'" (Single version)   John Travolta 3:20
7. "Rydell Fight Song" (Previously unreleased instrumental)     0:20
8. "Greased Up and Ready to Go" (Previously unreleased instrumental)     4:49
9. "Grease Megamix" ("You're the One That I Want"/"Greased Lightnin'"/"Summer Nights") John Farrar
Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey		 John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John 4:49
10. "Grease The Dream Mix" ("Grease"/"Sandy"/"Hopelessly Devoted to You") Barry Gibb
Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon
John Farrar		 Frankie Valli, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John 3:59
11. "Summer Nights" (Martian remix)   John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John 3:37
12. "You're the One That I Want" (Martian remix) John Farrar John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John 3:25

40th anniversary vinyl reissue

In August 2018, Polydor reissued the vinyl album to celebrate its original release in 1978. Released on 180g vinyl and mastered in half speed, it was the first time since its original release that it had used the original RSO record label in the artwork. No information was provided on who or where the record was half speed mastered.

Performers

Vocalists

Musicians

Production

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) 14× Platinum 1,010,000
Austria — 70,000
Belgium (BEA) Gold 40,000
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada) Diamond 1,115,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) 7× Platinum 140,000‡
Finland — 40,000
France (SNEP) Platinum 1,300,000
Germany (BVMI) 5× Gold 1,750,000
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) Platinum 20,000*
Italy (FIMI)
sales since 2009 		Platinum 50,000‡
Japan — 442,410
Netherlands — 1,000,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) 6× Platinum 250,000
Norway (IFPI Norway) Platinum 250,000
Singapore — 9,000
Singapore (RIAS)
reissue 		Gold 8,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE) 3× Platinum 300,000^
Sweden — 150,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) 9× Platinum 2,700,000‡
United States (RIAA) 8× Platinum 16,899,000
Summaries
Southeast Asia — 80,000
Worldwide — 30,000,000

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also