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With the fifteenth anniversary imminent, summer 1998 found the Now albums firmly established and in rude health. It's slightly curious that the first track on this album was released in 1990 to promote the film's release on video; this doesn't make it the oldest track ever to appear on a Now album or even to open one, but this is surely the longest gap after a record had actually charted. Admittedly, a re-issue of 'You're The One That I Want' (which unsurprisingly features prominently here) had reached the Top 10 around this time as part of the 20th Anniversary hype, but even so it feels faintly perverse for that to be replaced by this already dated-sounding artefact; presumably there were some licensing problems somewhere down the line.
I should probably spell out at this point that I've never actually seen Grease on stage or screen, although inevitably it's not totally unfamiliar to me, and I knew at least two of the songs long before I'd heard this. I also know that the sequence here doesn't follow the original narrative. After a quick feint with the intro from 'Greased Lightnin', the aforesaid 'You're The One That I Want' shows up and... well, it annoys me a bit to be honest, especially the Travolta part. We're suddenly yanked out of this by a drum solo and some psuedo-Art Of Noise sound effects, and then 'Greased Lightnin' kicks off in earnest; it wasn't for some time that I realised Travolta sings lead on this too, as the voice is so different. And it's a song about a car, so it's gone some way to winning me over already. Hard to believe they got away with that "pussy wagon" line though - maybe it's because the rest of the song is so camp... It's followed by a clapping solo(!) and then what could generously be called a segue into 'Summer Nights', which deservedly makes up almost half the total running time. For me it's the best song here, and of course comes with two movements itself, shading from the upbeat narration (about half of which is cut here, but the right half) to the sadly smiling end. It's just a pity that I spend the whole thing knowing he's about to ruin it with that "Eau" just before the end.
So, a record that's less than the sum of its parts, but at least doesn't peak to soon. Not the worst opener ever, but quite possibly the most baffling. It's reminiscent of 1958, 1978 and 1988 but never 1998.
Available on: Grease - 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
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