Album: Grease Soundtrack (1978)

Charted: 1 5

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• summer lovin' had me a blast
  
  summer lovin' happened so fast
  
  met a girl crazy for me
  
  met a boy cute as as can be
  
  summer days, driftin' away to-o uh-oh those su-u-ummer nights
  
  wella, wella, wella, huh
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  did you get very far?
  
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  like does he have a car?
  
  (du du uh-huh, du du uh-huh, du du uh-huh, du du du du du uh-uh du du uh-huh du du uh-huh...)
  
  she swam by me, she got a cramp
  
  he went by me, got my suit damp
  
  i saved her life, he nearly drowned
  
  he showed off, splashin' around
  
  summer sun, somethin's begun but uh-oh those su-u-ummer nights
  
  wella, wella, wella, huh
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  was it love at first sight?
  
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  did she put up a fight?
  
  took her bowlin' in the arcade
  
  we went strolling, drank lemonade
  
  we made out under the docks
  
  we stayed out 'till 10 o'clock
  
  summer fling, don't mean a thing
  bu oh-oh those su-u-ummer nights
  
  wella wella wella huh
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  but you don't gotta brag
  
  tell me more, tell me more
  
  cause it sounds like a drag
  
  (shooda bop bop shooda bop bop shooda bop bop shooda bop bop, shooda bop bop shooda bop bop shooda bop bop, yeah!)
  
  he got friendly, holdin' my hand
  
  she got friendly, down in the sand
  
  he was sweet, just turned 18
  
  she was good, you know what i mean
  
  summer heat, boy and girl meet, but oh-oh those su-u-ummer nights
  
  wella wella wella huh
  tell me more tell me more
  
  how much dough did he spend?
  
  tell me more tell me more
  
  could she get me a friend?
  
  it turned colder, that's where it ends
  
  so I told her we'd still be friends
  
  then we made a true love vow
  
  wonder what she's doing now
  
  summer dreams ripped at the seams
  
  but oh, those summer nights Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

• Padraig from Nowhere In ParticularSummer Nights is just the perfect musical number. It might not have the clever rhyme-wordplays of musicals like Company, but it does not need them - the fact that the girl tells a completely different story about the summer romance than the boy, and the boy is blatantly lying to impress his gang, and we thereby have the song set up the main premise, is clever enough in itself. Summer Nights drives the plot, and it is an ensemble piece that involves all the main characters with uh huh doo doo uh huh doo doo uh huh doo doo doo doo doo, dow doobie do doobie do doobie doobie, doobie dows and shoo bop bop shoo bop bop shoo bop bop shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop shoo bop bop shoo bop bop yeahs that are to die for.
  
  What I find kind of interesting about the movie version, because nobody ever mentions it when reviewing the film, is that ONJ's singing is angelic and delivered to absolute perfection, whereas Travolta is sort of laboring through. His main singing voice in the Tenor vocal compass is competent and pleasant enough but does not have that much of a range, so he resorts to crooning to cover up that he cannot hit certain notes, he changes pitches mid-song, and somehow, he gets away with it. IMDB even mentions that the very last note he sings was dubbed by Barry Gibb, and while this is entirely possible - Gibb wrote the title sequence song after all - I do not see why Travolta would not have been able to pull off a similar falsetto. Might be fake information.
  
  But back to the main issue: musical numbers should drive the plot and not stand on their own. Which is why jukebox musicals can never be real greats, as, if anything, for pre-existing songs to drive the plot, the respective plot points must be shoehorned in. I generally don't mind jukebox musicals if they feature great songs, but they are and will always be Second Tier.
• 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...
  Five songs featured in the movie made 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).

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