Grease (song)

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey had written a different title track for Grease for its original Chicago production, but this song was discarded when the show was picked up on Broadway.[3]

Barry Gibb was commissioned to compose a new title song for the Robert Stigwood film of the stage musical Grease.[4] The song was recorded separately from, and significantly later than, the rest of the film's songs. Shortly after filming of the 1978 musical film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Gibb invited castmate Peter Frampton to play guitar on the Grease session. Gibb himself provided backing vocals. The other musicians were some of those from the Andy Gibb album that was being made around the same time.[5] Frankie Valli could sing in a vocal range similar to Gibb's and, as a result, was asked to record it. When Valli recorded “Grease”, he did not have a recording contract,[2] but after the single was released on the RSO label, which issued the soundtrack, Valli quickly landed a deal with Warner Brothers. "Grease" remains Valli's most recent hit on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

"Grease" was one of four original songs in the film that were not part of the original musical, and it was the only one not performed by the cast. The film's director, Randal Kleiser, did not like the added songs because they did not fit the late-1950s/early 1960s style either musically or lyrically. This was especially true of "Grease," which used disco instrumentation and a contemporary 1970s beat; it was nonetheless left in.[5]

"Grease" became a number one single in the United States in 1978 and also reached number forty on the R&B charts in the same year.[7] In 1978, Valli released a follow-up album, the title of which—Frankie Valli... Is the Word—echoes the "grease is the word" lyric contained in the chorus of "Grease".[8]

The Bee Gees never recorded a studio version of this song. However, they later performed the song in their One Night Only tour from 1997 until 1999, and they included a performance with Valli on their live album One Night Only.

The film's opening title sequence animation was done by animator John David Wilson's Fine Arts Films studio.[9]

• Frankie Valli — lead vocals
• Barry Gibb — backing vocals
• Peter Frampton — guitar
• George Terry — guitar
• Harold Cowart — bass
• Ron Ziegler — drums
• Karl Richardson — engineer
• Gary Brown — saxophone

• "Grease" was covered by experimental metal band Dog Fashion Disco and included as a hidden track on their album Committed to a Bright Future.
• The song's chorus is sung by Mike Patton on the Mr. Bungle song "Travolta" (later renamed "Quote Unquote") from the band's self-titled major label debut album.
• The song was covered by Italian singer Mina in her 1986 album Si, buana.
• Craig McLachlan covered the song in 1993 and it reached #44 in the UK.
• Part of the song were interpolated in "Joints & Jam", a 1998 single by The Black Eyed Peas
• "Blue Angels" a 1998 song by Pras also sampled the song
• The song was covered by UK girl group Girls Aloud
• It was sampled by De La Soul on their 1991 song "A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays".
• A single "The Word" by the group Dope Smugglaz was released in 1998. It was later remixed by PMT for the 2001 soundtrack to the motion picture Swordfish.
• The opening horn line was sampled in the 2001 single "Rock the Party" by British pop group Five, as well as in the track "I Want You" by Paris Hilton on her debut album in 2006.
• In 2011, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks to recap Fringe episode 3.07, "The Abducted." [39]
• Jessie J performed a special arrangement of the song for the 2016 Fox special Grease: Live. Her performance is shot in one take.[40]
• Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White covered the song in their duo album "Gentlewoman, Ruby Man" in 2017 [41]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics