on the turntable
Xanadu, The Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1980
Last weekend, my husband and I went to go see the New Pornographers in concert at the Homewood Library. We are fans of the singer Neko Case, and she is in the New Pornographers. They are a "super group" - a band made up of talented people from other groups. So, what does that concert have to do with Xanadu, a movie-musical from 1980, where Olivia Newton John plays an artist's muse, coming to life out of a mural, singing and dancing on roller skates??
Well, at the New Pornographers concert, one song stood out to us as not quite like the rest. And yet, it sounded very familiar. I thought, This sounds like it could be in Xanadu!
When we got home, I played the record, but there was not a match. That song was not on the record. So why, why, why were visions of Xanadu dancing in my head?
Then, my husband found the song on-line. It was called Don't Bring Me Down, and it was by the Electric Light Orchestra.
Electric Light Orchestra... I flipped over my Xanadu record album, and there it was: Electric Light Orchestra! So, I was right to think of Xanadu-- Don't Bring Me Down is indeed a lot like Xanadu's I'm Alive, The Fall, Don't Walk Away, and All Over The World... because they are all by the same British rock group. And that big neon circle Olivia is holding on the back of the album? It says ELO. I never really noticed that before! Side A of Xanadu, with the songs Olivia sings, are all by John Farrar. Side B is the ELO side, with all songs by Jeff Lynne.
I feel a little bit satisfied with myself for making a musical connection, a lot like when you realize what movie an actor was in before, or guessing the correct question watching Jeopardy. (Pats self on back.) Xanadu, then, had to be my next blog.
My sister and I listened to this album a lot when we were kids. I was thrilled to rediscover it a few weeks ago when I found a copy in mint condition for just a dollar at Half Price Books.
My husband got the movie from the library to watch with me recently on my request, but he didn't quite share my excitement when he tried to watch it with me. He found it hard to get into and corny, and really overall not awesome. While the soundtrack was a huge hit when the movie first came out, the movie itself was a critical flop that became a cult classic only later. Many people hated it. But I like it for the nostalgia. See, to a little girl as I was when I first saw it, a musical with romance and roller skates makes an EXCELLENT movie! And so, for you, in all its roller disco glory, the one ELO song Olivia also sings on, the title track, Xanadu! (My favorite part is in the middle of the song when Olivia, in a weird glittering goddess outfit she wears for just a few seconds, turns into a bunch of lights shaped like a rocket ship and then reappears in a new outfit with 80s-style ribbon barrettes and white leg warmers.)
P.S.
Xanadu has a Pittsburgh connection, too. Gene Kelly is in Xanadu, and he is from Pittsburgh!
Last weekend, my husband and I went to go see the New Pornographers in concert at the Homewood Library. We are fans of the singer Neko Case, and she is in the New Pornographers. They are a "super group" - a band made up of talented people from other groups. So, what does that concert have to do with Xanadu, a movie-musical from 1980, where Olivia Newton John plays an artist's muse, coming to life out of a mural, singing and dancing on roller skates??
Well, at the New Pornographers concert, one song stood out to us as not quite like the rest. And yet, it sounded very familiar. I thought, This sounds like it could be in Xanadu!
When we got home, I played the record, but there was not a match. That song was not on the record. So why, why, why were visions of Xanadu dancing in my head?
Then, my husband found the song on-line. It was called Don't Bring Me Down, and it was by the Electric Light Orchestra.
Electric Light Orchestra... I flipped over my Xanadu record album, and there it was: Electric Light Orchestra! So, I was right to think of Xanadu-- Don't Bring Me Down is indeed a lot like Xanadu's I'm Alive, The Fall, Don't Walk Away, and All Over The World... because they are all by the same British rock group. And that big neon circle Olivia is holding on the back of the album? It says ELO. I never really noticed that before! Side A of Xanadu, with the songs Olivia sings, are all by John Farrar. Side B is the ELO side, with all songs by Jeff Lynne.
I feel a little bit satisfied with myself for making a musical connection, a lot like when you realize what movie an actor was in before, or guessing the correct question watching Jeopardy. (Pats self on back.) Xanadu, then, had to be my next blog.
My sister and I listened to this album a lot when we were kids. I was thrilled to rediscover it a few weeks ago when I found a copy in mint condition for just a dollar at Half Price Books.
My husband got the movie from the library to watch with me recently on my request, but he didn't quite share my excitement when he tried to watch it with me. He found it hard to get into and corny, and really overall not awesome. While the soundtrack was a huge hit when the movie first came out, the movie itself was a critical flop that became a cult classic only later. Many people hated it. But I like it for the nostalgia. See, to a little girl as I was when I first saw it, a musical with romance and roller skates makes an EXCELLENT movie! And so, for you, in all its roller disco glory, the one ELO song Olivia also sings on, the title track, Xanadu! (My favorite part is in the middle of the song when Olivia, in a weird glittering goddess outfit she wears for just a few seconds, turns into a bunch of lights shaped like a rocket ship and then reappears in a new outfit with 80s-style ribbon barrettes and white leg warmers.)
Click to viewP.S.
Xanadu has a Pittsburgh connection, too. Gene Kelly is in Xanadu, and he is from Pittsburgh!