I got chills. They're multiplyin'.

Pick of the Week

“You’re The One That I Want”, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, 1978.

Marie Osmond did not want the role in ‘Grease’ because she did not like the way the character Sandy ended up acting.  Henry Winkler did not want the role of Danny, because he was done with the ‘50s tough guy thing.

This left the door wide open for Olivia Newton-John to change her image and for John Travolta to surge – and history was changed forever.

In the seventies along with the other great ground-breaking female artists such as Linda Ronstadt and Carly Simon, Olivia Newton-John had a string of huge hits, and the Grammy awards to prove it. These were the mellowest songs on the planet and  made us think of her as this sweet Australian girl who was as delicate as her voice and look. The moment we saw Olivia strut out in the spandex and leather as Sandy in ‘Grease’ we knew the good-girl act was over - or was that possible?

John Travolta an ex ‘sweat-hog” from the schlocky ‘70’s show “Welcome Back Kotter” was fresh off the lighted disco floor of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ready to sing.  Really? This was a bit weird and still is to this day, but he was the right call as the chemistry was right for the movie and he surprisingly held his own to the veteran Olivia.

The soundtrack from ‘Grease’ came out as an expensive double album at the time I recall, but I still sucked it up and  bought it, as well as the huge Olivia Newton-John poster which hung from my bedroom wall that summer.

Olivia  was never entirely able to shake her good-girl image even when she did “Let’s Get Physical”. John Travolta however was always kind of the bad boy and continued to have great success in his career.

Although the plot of “Grease” itself was weak the music was great. The title song ‘Grease’ by the great Frankie Valli went to number one, with three other top-5 songs including “You’re the One That I Want” charting.

The power they were supplyin’ was electrifyin’!