Sandy

Album: Grease Soundtrack (1978)
Charted: 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a romantic ballad used in the movie Grease, where John Travolta's character bemoans that he lost his girlfriend through his own fault. Travolta had a minor career in music in the late 1970s, with minor hits "Let Her In" and "All Strung Out On You." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
  • Songwriter Louis St. Louis wrote the song for the movie after being promoted from dance arranger to music manager. He explained in an interview with Theater Mania: "Trouble ensued with the music producer. [So] I became the music producer. Two weeks later I'm sitting in a trailer with Allan Carr, one of the main producers, and he said, 'John [Travolta] wants a new song.' Olivia [Newton-John] now had 'Hopelessly Devoted,' [together] they had 'You're The One That I Want,' and Carr said, 'John wants a song for the drive-in…Go back to the hotel and write it.'

    When you come out of the Paramount lot, there's the famous arch. Just past the arch is a light to turn on Melrose to go north and it's a really long light. This was in the days of cassette recordings. I always had one handy. I took the tape recorder and went, 'Stranded at the drive-in, branded a fool, what will they say, Monday at school?' Light change. I got to the hotel fifteen minutes later and wrote the song in twenty minutes. I took the song to Allan Carr the next morning at seven thirty, he approved it, I took it to the line producer at ten thirty, he approved it, we played it for Robert Stigwood on the phone at one o'clock, he approved it, four o'clock we played it for Travolta, he approved it, four thirty it was my song, and four days later I had a ten-thousand-dollar check and I went out and I bought a brand new car: Honda Prelude, navy blue, tan interior, loaded."

Comments: 3

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 7, 1964, Johnny Crawford performed his covered version of "Sandy"* on the Dick Clark ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
    At the time the song was at #108 on Billboard's Bubbling Under the Top 100 chart, that would also be it's peak position on any of the Billboard's national charts...
    His three preceding releases also contained girl's names; "What Happened To Janie" {didn't chart}, "Cindy's Gonna Cry" {peaked at #72 in 1963}, and "Judy Loves Me" {reached #95 in 1964}...
    Besides "Cindy's Gonna Cry" and "Judy Loves Me", the Los Angeles native's six other Top 100 records were "Daydreams" {#70 in 1961}, "Patti Ann" {#43 in 1962}, "Cindy's Birthday" #8 in 1962}, "Your Nose Is Gonna Grow"{#14 in 1962}, "Rumors" {#12 in 1963}, and "Proud" {#29 in 1963}...
    John Ernest Crawford will celebrate his 72nd birthday later this month on March 26th {2018}...
    * And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, seven 'Sandy' records have made the Top 100 chart; "Little Sandy Sleighfoot" by Jimmy Dean {#32 in 1957}, Sandy" by Larry Hall {#15 in 1960} "Sandy" by Dion {#21 in 1963}, "Sandy" by Ronny & the Daytonas {#27 in 1966}, "Summer and Sandy" by Lesley Gore {#65 in 1967} and Springsteen's "Sandy" by the Hollies {#85 in 1975}...
    In addition, in the 1978 movie 'Grease', John 'Danny' Travolta performed a song titled "Sandy"...?
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn June 13th 1978, the movie version of "Grease" had its world premier in New York City; and three days later on June 16th it opened in theaters across the U.S.A. and Canada...
    "Sandy" didn't chart in the U.S. but five songs featured in the movie did make Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; "Grease" by Frankie Valli (#1 for 3 weeks), "You're the One That I Want" by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (#1 for 1 week), "Hopelessly Devoted to You" by Newton-John (#3), "Summer Nights" by Travolta & Newton-John (#5), and "Greased Lightin'" by Travolta (#47)...
    And on July 23rd, 1978 the movie's soundtrack album reached #1 (for 12 non-consecutive weeks) on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart (the album also peaked at #1 in the United Kingdom and Australia).
  • Jenni from Nowhere, OhThe release of the movie/musical Grease(which contains this song) was in 1978.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

N.W.A vs. the World

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.