-
SNF, Grease, Urban Cowboy
What do these soundtracks all have in common? John Travolta, of course! What an amazing run he had in the late 70’s, early 80’s with his hit tv show, ‘Welcome Back Kotter’, then the phenomenon ’Saturday Night Fever’ in 1977, the follow up smash ‘Grease’ in 1978 and the country hit ‘Urban Cowboy’ in 1980. At that time John Travolta was THE biggest star in Hollywood. What was also amazing was the number of hits that came from each of the soundtracks released for those films. Each album stands on its own, of course, and in my opinion has withstood the test of time.
I know many still refuse to accept disco as a valid music genre but that era of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ produced a lot of hits and paved the way for a lot of people to have a good time. There are so many great dance songs from that album and so many hits, particularly for the already established musicians and songwriters, The Bee Gees. I have said this once and I will say it again, they should have not been judged just on this one album alone.
The thing about ‘Grease’ is that it came so close on the heels of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and yet people embraced it as it took people back to what appeared to be a more innocent time. Also some great hits from this album, particularly for Olivia Newton John and for her, I don’t know if the movie was a blessing or a curse as she never did have another hit film after this and outside of her release, ‘Totally Hot’, never really had another hit album again either.
Now the next album, ‘Urban Cowboy’, is one I admittedly took too as I was not into any country at that time. However, since then I have had more of an appreciation for it. But many people took to this movie and the music, including riding the famous bull at Gilley’s Saloon and people taking to line dancing like crazy.
These albums might not be for everyone but no one can deny the impact they had on the music industry.
Log in to reply.