They burst into raunchy song and dance moves, as they renovate Kenickie’s old car (that he bought from the wages of his summer job) into a lean, mean, racing machine called Greased Lightning. One of Grease’s most iconic hit songs is Greased Lightning, sung by Danny and his fellow T-Bird gang members, including his best friend Kenickie. Written by Barry Gibb and sung by Frankie Valli, the title track, Grease, sold seven million copies worldwide and reached number one in the US and number three in the UK. Its biggest hit was You’re the One That I Want, performed by Travolta and Newton-John, which was number one in the UK and the US. However, as with all good romantic comedies, it all turns out well in the end.ĭespite its commercial success, the film received only one Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for Sandy’s ballad, Hopelessly Devoted to You.

Sandy is befriended by dizzy Frenchy who is a member of streetwise girl gang the Pink Ladies.Īs Frenchy tries to introduce the innocent Aussie into the gang, there’s some resistance from gang leader Rizzo – Danny’s former fling. His arrogant, bad boy personality shocks his former love. They are both shocked when Sandy is unexpectedly sent to Rydell High for the autumn term and bumps into Danny again.īack with his gang, Danny has to hide his real feelings for Sandy, who is a “square”. He meets naïve Australian expat Sandy during the summer holidays and has a light-hearted romance with her. Travolta’s Danny Zuko is the swaggering leader of teenage gang the T-Birds. The film version of Grease was also toned down, with some of the song lyrics being altered to make it acceptable for mass consumption and the mainly teenage cinema audiences. Subsequent live performances on Broadway and in the West End revealed a toned-down version of the original score. The rock ‘n’ roll score of the original stage show in Chicago was described as raunchy, aggressive, raw and even vulgar. The title, Grease, related to the slicked-back, greased, Teddy-boy style of the youths’ hair. The plot follows a group of working-class teenagers as they experience the difficulties of peer pressure, love, values, morals, politics, rebellion, gang warfare, teenage pregnancy and other social issues. It became the biggest musical hit ever, even surpassing the Sound of Music! 40 years later, it remains the fourth highest grossing musical in history.īased on the 1971 stage show of the same name, Grease was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and set in 1959, at the fictional Rydell High School. Grease was a massive commercial success, grossing $394.9 million at the worldwide box office. The film charts their romance, with all its comic mishaps, to a soundtrack of original rock ‘n’ roll songs.

The musical romantic comedy, Grease, was one of the biggest hit films of 1978, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John as Danny and Sandy – two very different high school students who fall in love in 1950s America.

Greased lightning