AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Olivia Newton-John

Artist:Olivia Newton-John f/John Travolta
Song:You're The One That I Want
Album:Definitive Collection





Generally when Hollywood turns a hit Broadway musical into a film they make plenty of changes. And that was certainly true of the 1978 film Grease. You're The One That I Want was the biggest hit from the film and only one of the four top ten hits from the film was in the original musical. The film was produced by record company mogul Robert Stigwood and producer Allan Carr. They produced Saturday Night Fever for Paramount and that success got them Grease. The big thing about Saturday Night Fever was the success of the soundtrack album. Paramount bought the film rights to Grease. At first they wanted Henry Winkler from the TV series Happy Days to star. But Winkler was concerned about typecasting and he decided against it. They cast Travolta after Saturday Night Fever made him a star. Travolta asked for director Randal Kleiser who directed him in The Boy In The Plastic Bubble. And Travolta also pushed for the hiring of Olivia Newton-John despite her having very little acting experience. But she was a huge singing star and they felt it could work after her screen test. They did keep many of the songs written for the show by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and their song Summer Nights was a top ten hit. But the other three hits were written for the movie. Grease written by Barry Gibb and sung by Frankie Valli was the first single and it topped the charts. You're The One That I Want was the second single and it also topped the charts. That song and Hopelessly Devoted To You were written and produced by Olivia's usual producer John Farrar. They really wanted to showcase Olivia and obviously that approach was very successful. The soundtrack is available on CD. But I suggest this Olivia Newton-John budget comp which also includes a 1998 remix of You're The One That I Want. Paramount produced Grease 2 but it wasn't that successful. Of course Travolta has been a big star for years. He did have a brief career as a teen idol recording artist that I might look at someday. Olivia continued to have success in music. She appeared in a couple of films including the 1983 film Two Of A Kind which reunited her with Travolta. But the film bombed and Olivia returned to music. Here's Olivia Newton-John featuring John Travolta performing You're The One That I Want in the 1978 film Grease.