Peak
1
Weeks
22
Score
4,267
Chart Year
1978
. For this project, Stigwood was interested in Gibb's pen, but not his voice, since The Bee Gees sound ingrained with Saturday Night Fever and he wanted Grease to have its own identity. Frankie Valli, who could sing in a similar high vocal range to Gibb, was asked to record it. Thanks to his many previous hits, Valli provided a familiar sound, but one that was not saturated on Pop radio, as he hadn't had a hit for a while. Gibb did sing backup on the track. Speaking with Billboard magazine in a 2013 interview, Valli explained how he came to record this song. "Barry Gibb called and said, 'I wrote a song. I think it's for you. It's going to be the title song for this motion picture," Valli recalled. "My manager at the time was Allan Carr, who was partners in Grease with Robert Stigwood. He called and said, 'What do you want to do? Do you want to be in the movie? Or sing the title song?' Well, I had already heard the title song, and I loved it. I called [famed arranger] Don Costa up and told him to come over right away and hear this song. He said, 'If you don't record this song, you're crazy.' So I said, 'What's the song if I want to be in the movie?' And they said 'Beauty School Dropout.' It was done by Frankie Avalon. It never became a hit, but he made a lot of money from it being on the soundtrack. But 'Grease' was one of the biggest records I ever had in my career." This was not used in the stage production of Grease - it was written specifically for the movie. The song doesn't make any specific references to the movie, but elegantly expresses its theme: individuality. It explicitly empowers the title: It's got a groove, it's got a meaning Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Grease is the way we are feeling In the bridge, the song gets transcendental: This is the life of illusion Wrapped up in trouble Laced with confusion What are we doing here? (This was three years before Joe Walsh released "A Life Of Illusion.") The lyrics was quite a departure for Valli: The Jersey Boy typically sang about girls and romance, not spiritual discovery. This was Valli's second US #1 hit as a solo artist. Three years earlier, he hit the top spot with "My Eyes Adored You," and before that he had an astonishing five #1 hits with The Four Seasons. When he was approached about "Grease," Valli didn't have a record deal - the single was released on Robert Stigwood's RSO label, which issued the soundtrack. Valli quickly landed a deal with Warner Brothers, but never scored another hit on the Hot 100. "Grease" was Valli's only #1 not co-written by Bob Crewe or Bob Gaudio. Peter Frampton played lead guitar on this track. With its disco beat, this song is way out place for the '50s, which is when Grease takes place. Audiences didn't seem to mind this anachronism: the single went platinum, and the soundtrack sold over 8 million copies in America. >> Barry Gibb produced this song with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, who worked on the music to the movie Saturday Night Fever. The Bee Gees never recorded a studio version of this song, but included it on their 1997 live set One Night Only, which was recorded at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Their performance was augmented by Frankie Valli's recorded vocals, which come in for the second verse. The performance was also released on DVD; during this song there are lots of shots of Olivia Newton-John, who earned a seat in the front row. This was the second US #1 hit from the Grease soundtrack, following "You're The One That I Want," which was released ahead of the movie and hit the top spot on June 10, 1978, six days before the film hit theaters. The title track benefited from the success of the movie, which was a summer blockbuster. "Grease" rose up the Hot 100 in July and reached #1 on August 26. On January 31, 2016, the Fox network aired a live musical version of Grease, which opened with Jessie J performing this song in a long tracking shot that traversed the set and introduced much of the cast, including Boys II Men, who played the Teen Angel and did some of their "Motownphilly" harmonies in this opening number.
solve my problems and I see the light We got a lovin' thing, we gotta feed it right There ain't no danger we can go too far We start believing now that we can be who we are Grease is the word They think our love is just a growing pain Why don't they understand? It's just a crying shame Their lips are lying only real is real We stop the fight right now, we got to be what we feel Grease is the word Grease is the word, is the word that you heard It's got groove it's got meaning (Grease) grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Grease is the way we are feeling We take the pressure and we throw away Conventionality belongs to yesterday There is a chance that we can make it so far We start believing now that we can be who we are Grease is the word Grease is the word, is the word that you heard It's got groove it's got meaning (Grease) grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Now, grease is the way we are feeling This is the life of illusion (illusion) Wrapped up in trouble (trouble), laced with confusion What are we doing here? We take the pressure and we throw away Conventionality belongs to yesterday There is a chance that we can make it so far We start believing now that we can be who we are (be who we are) Grease is the word Grease is the word, is the word that you heard It's got groove it's got meaning (Grease) grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Now, grease is the way we are feeling (Grease) grease is the word, is the word that you heard It's got groove it's got meaning (got a groove, got a meaning) (Grease) grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Now, grease is the way we are feeling Grease is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word Is the word
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 27, 1978 | 69 | 57 |
| 2 | Jun 3, 1978 | 54 | 72 |
| 3 | Jun 10, 1978 | 45 | 81 |
| 4 | Jun 17, 1978 | 39 | 87 |
| 5 | Jun 24, 1978 | 31 | 95 |
| 6 | Jul 1, 1978 | 26 | 100 |
| 7 | Jul 8, 1978 | 16 | 110 |
| 8 | Jul 15, 1978 | 11 | 115 |
| 9 | Jul 22, 1978 | 6 | 120 |
| 10 | Jul 29, 1978 | 5 | 121 |
| 11 | Aug 5, 1978 | 3 | 123 |
| 12 | Aug 12, 1978 | 2 | 124 |
| 13 | Aug 19, 1978 | 2 | 124 |
| 14 | Aug 26, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 15 | Sep 2, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 16 | Sep 9, 1978 | 6 | 120 |
| 17 | Sep 16, 1978 | 18 | 108 |
| 18 | Sep 23, 1978 | 23 | 103 |
| 19 | Sep 30, 1978 | 45 | 81 |
| 20 | Oct 7, 1978 | 62 | 64 |