Frankie Valli -- Grease

 

Scott of podcast "Holly Jolly X'masu" (and by the way, he has his latest on summer Xmas songs) and I were having a talk the other day, and he mentioned that his family was able to catch Frankie Valli in concert recently. At 89, the man still has it although I'm not sure whether he can still hit those stratospheric heights with his voice. I remember getting to first know Valli and The Four Seasons via those K-Tel record commercials. There was "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man" from the early 1960s. Just getting back to Valli himself, I remember remarking "Can a guy's voice sound that high?!".

But just when I was thinking that The Four Seasons were going to remain eternally on K-Tel, I ended up watching "Grease" on the big screen. I've already mentioned through a ROY article last year about the late Olivia Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted to You", the showstopper ballad that she sang midway through the movie. Well, I found out earlier that the 1950s-set motion picture had also been injected with a disco theme song in the opening credits which were pretty funky itself, to say the least. 

And indeed it was Valli behind "Grease", the theme song for greasers everywhere. I was kinda figuring that the song sounded rather contemporary for an old rock-and-roll flick but hey as the years have passed, even Valli's "Grease" has picked up some of that lovely sepia and nostalgia (especially with those strings). The Barry Gibb-penned single was released in May 1978, and it hit No. 1 in America, Canada, and the Netherlands. In fact, it would end up as the No. 6 single of the year in my country.

So, what else was being released in May 1978 over in Japan?

Momoe Yamaguchi -- Playback Part 2 （プレイバック・パート２）

Hitomi Ishikawa -- Migi Muke Migi （右向け右）

Southern All Stars -- Katte ni Sinbad （勝手にシンドバッド）