Grease
The Not So Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (Dummyup)
by Scott Hefflon
Cool idea, pretty lousy execution. While I’m all for campy nostalgia (although getting nostalgic about a nostalgic flick feels odd…) and silly theme comps, most of the bands here 1) aren’t very good, 2) don’t try very hard, 3) point out a whispered truth: Most of the songs in Grease were actually pretty lame. Sure, there were fave songs, and a chorus of a dog that, when feeling wistful, is all that comes back to you, thus you think the song ruled, dude! And a lot of the old standards, of course, were classics long before Grease, but Sha-na-na did cool covers (I have their greatest hits and usta watch their TV show, but then I usta watch Solid Gold, Sonny & Cher, and Donny & Marie, so why the hell would you ever listen to me?!? There was no cable back then, no Buffy or Ally, just The Big Three networks to chose from- not counting PBS, although in retrospect, it probably sucked a lot less then Charles in Charge on fuckin’ prime time).
As for this comp, don’t feel bad you’ve never heard of most of these chumps. And while a few covers are gems, convince a gullible friend to shell out the bucks for it, then burn yer own CDR of the few good tracks. This comp’s in the original order, for what it’s worth (divided into four sides, not that it doesn’t all fit easily on one CD), and the “good” stuff is spread throughout. Put it this way, if you liked Nobodys’ fun’n’sloppy “We Got Together” (was that the inspiration?), you’ve heard the best song here. A few others are decent – “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” by Atom and his Package, “Rock N’ Roll is Here to Stay” by Fighting Animals, “Tears on My Pillow” by The Parasites, “Rock N’ Roll Party Queen” by Dirt Bike Annie – but how tough are those songs, really? And while some songs just can’t be saved – much less translated to punk – the useless versions of “good” songs like “You’re the One that I Want” by J-Church, “Greased Lightnin'” by Ferd Mert, “Blue Moon” by The Larry Brrrds, “Hound Dog” by Blanks 77, and “Born to Hand Jive” by The Dread are just unforgivable. Actually, after searching for anything nice to say about any other song, I’d like to add “It’s Raining on Prom Night” by The Letterbombs to my fave list… I missed it the first coupla times cuz, well, I never gave much of a shit about the song. But to take a kinda loser song and turn it into a gem, well, that’s something to write about. And I love the new rant at the end… Right fuckin’ on! Songs and bands I couldn’t think of any clever way to bring up: “Grease” by Boris the Sprinkler, “Summer Nights” by Nothing Cool, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” by The Sheldrakes, “Sandy” by The Kung Fu Monkeys, “Beauty School Dropout” by Mixal Pricks, “Alone at the Drive-In Movie” by The Bicycles, “Those Magic Changes” by The Connie Dungs, “Mooning” by Violent 9, “Freddie, My Love” by The Rehabs, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” by Mary Me, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” by The Sprained Ankles, and “Rock N’ Roll Party Queen (Reprise)” by Jinx (instead of the “Grease,” thank God).
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