June 7, 2024

20,000 vinyl LPs 364: Grease with a corkscrew & a Duck's Ass

 ~  
vinyl LP front cover detail
photo of album cover by Styrous®


The first Broadway production of Grease opened on June 7, 1972; when it closed in 1980, the 3,388-performance run of Grease was the longest yet in Broadway history, it was surpassed by A Chorus Line on September 29, 1983.            
          
 
vinyl LP front cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®

 
Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, it was named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers and set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School in Northwest Chicago (based on Taft High School in Chicago, Illinois, and named after rock singer Bobby Rydell), the musical follows ten working-class teenagers.            
 
 
 
vinyl LP back cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 
 
Having been a Greaser when I was in high school in the fifties, I related to Grease in a BIG way. I had a pompadour hairstyle complete with an Elephants Trunk in front (well, the best I could come up with was a corkscrew and I had never heard it called an Elephants Trunk until I researched this article) and a ducktail (commonly called a duck's ass or DA) in the back, all thanks to pounds of pomade. The hair was VERY heavily pomaded (greased, thus, the term Greaser), combed back around the sides, and parted centrally down the back of the head to create the DA. My mother was always furious about my greasy pillow cases.      




Adrienne Barbeau appeared as Rizzo with Timothy Meyers as Kenickie who was a 1972 nominee for Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical.       
 
Replacements later in the run included Jeff Conaway as Danny, Candice Earley as Sandy who was also in Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar; Peter Gallagher as Danny, Richard Gere as Sonny, Ilene Graff as Sandy, Randee Heller as Rizzo, Marilu Henner as Marty, Judy Kaye as Rizzo, Marcia Mitzman Gaven as Rizzo, Patrick Swayze as Danny, John Travolta as Doody and Treat Williams as Danny.           
 
 
 
 
vinyl LP back cover
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®
 

 
 
 
 
vinyl LP back cover details
detail photos by Styrous®
 
 
As usual, I have favorite songs, Greased Lightnin', of course, and Born To Hand Jive are at the top of my list.           
 
 
 
 
vinyl LP back cover details
detail photos by Styrous®
 
 
 
Grease went on to become a West End hit, a successful feature film, two popular Broadway revivals in 1994 and 2007, and a staple of regional theatre, summer stock, community theatre, and high school and middle school drama groups. It remains Broadway's 17th longest-running show.        
      
In 1978 Grease was adapted as a feature film also named Grease starring John Travolta (who had been in stage productions in a different role) and British-Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John. The film version changed some plot elements, characters, and songs while adding new songs and elaborating on some plot elements only alluded to in the musical.       
    

vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
 
 
There have been professional productions of Grease in Argentina, Austria, Canada and Mexico. A Spanish revival ran successfully at Teatre Victòria, Barcelona from October 3, 2006, to January 6, 2008. After a short national tour, the production was transferred to Teatro Nuevo Alcalá, Madrid, where it ran from October 14, 2008, to January 31, 2010, and then continued touring Spain until it finally closed on August 1, 2010, becoming one of Spain's all-time longest running musical productions, with 1,090 performances.        
 

vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
 
   
Tracklist:
       
Side 1:
        
A1 - Alma Mater
A2 - Alma Mater (Parody) - 2:46
A3 - Summer Nights - 3:40
A4 - Those Magic Changes - 2:45
A5 - Freddy, My Love - 3:04
A6 - Greased Lightnin'    2:28
A7 - Mooning - 2:44
A8 - Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee - 1:56
A9 - We Go Together - 2:23
       
Side 2:
       
B1 - It's Raining On Prom Night - 2:26
B2 - Born To Hand Jive, Featuring – Grease Company* - 4:20
B3 - Beauty School Dropout, Featuring – Grease Choir* - 3:02
B4 - Alone At A Drive-In Movie - 2:49
B5 - Rock 'N' Roll Party Queen - 1:35
B6 - There Are Worse Things I Could Do - 2:44
B7 - Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise) - 2:16
B8 - All Choked Up, Featuring – Grease Company* - 3:21
B9 - We Go Together (Reprise), Featuring – Grease Company* - 1:57
       
Credits:
       
    Directed By – Tom Moore (4)
    Directed By [Staging Musical Numbers & Dances] – Patricia Birch
    Directed By, Arranged By [Vocal & Dance] – Louis St. Louis
    Engineer – Fred Christy
    Music By, Lyrics By – Jim Jacobs (2), Warren Casey
    Orchestrated By – Michael Leonard
    Presenter – Anthony D'Amato (2), Kenneth Waissman, Maxine Fox
    Producer – Arnold Maxin
    Producer [Associate] – Landy McNeal
    Technician [Sound By] – Jack Shearing
    Vocals [Betty Rizzo] – Adrienne Barbeau (tracks: A5, A8, B6)
    Vocals [Burger Palace Boy] – Daniel Deitch (tracks: A2, A3, A4, A6, A9, B4)
    Vocals [Cha-cha Di Gregorio] – Kathi Moss (tracks: B1)
    Vocals [Danny Zuko] – Barry Bostwick (tracks: A3, B4, B8)
    Vocals [Doody] – James Canning (tracks: A4, B5)
    Vocals [Eugene Florczyk] – Tom Harris (2) (tracks: A1)
    Vocals [Frenchy] – Marya Small (tracks: A5, B3)
    Vocals [Jan] – Garn Stephens (tracks: A5, A7)
    Vocals [Kenickie] – Timothy Meyers (tracks: A6)
    Vocals [Marty] – Katie Hanley (tracks: A5)
    Vocals [Miss Lynch] – Dorothy Leon (tracks: A1)
    Vocals [Patty Simcox] – Ilene Kristen (tracks: A1)
    Vocals [Pink Lady] – Joy Rinaldi (tracks: A2, A3, A4, A9)
    Vocals [Roger] – Walter Bobbie (tracks: A7, B5)
    Vocals [Sandy Dumbrowski] – Carole Demas (tracks: A3, B1, B7, B8)
    Vocals [Sonny] – Jim Borrelli (tracks: B9)
    Vocals [Teen Angel, Johnny Casino] – Alan Paul (tracks: B2, B3)
    Vocals [Vince Fontaine] – Don Billett (tracks: B9)
       
Notes:
       
"A New 50's Rock 'N Roll Musical"
Recorded at Media Sound, NY, NY.
Also numbered MGS 2812 & 2813 (A & B).
       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
        
    Matrix / Runout (Side 1): A-1 KL-1-SE-34-AS-1-K MASTERDISK G.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Side 2): A-1 KL-1-SE-34-BS-1-K MASTERDISK G.K.
 
Various – Grease - The Original Broadway Cast Album
Label:    MGM Records – 1SE-34 OC, Lion Records (4) – none
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1972
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical


         
Viewfinder links:         
Adrienne Barbeau          
Warren Casey          
Jeff Conaway             
Marilu Henner            
Jim Jacobs        
Olivia Newton John        
Bobby Rydell         
Christine K. Simonson              
Patrick Swayze           
John Travolta        
Treat Williams             
        
Net links:               
Playbill ~ Grease        
        
YouTube links:        
         
Born To Hand Jive            
Greased Lightnin'        
Grease Original Cast (complete)        
Elephants Trunk and DA/Ducktail (2 min., 58 secs.)       
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Friday, June 7, 2024      
       
 
 















No comments:

Post a Comment

PLEASE NOTE: comments are moderated BEFORE they are posted so DO NOT appear immediately.

Thank you.