{"id":41121,"date":"2008-09-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/xanadu-3\/"},"modified":"2008-09-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-09-21T00:00:00","slug":"xanadu-3","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/xanadu-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Xanadu"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the film and soundtrack for Xanadu <\/i>was released, the \u201880s were off and running for me. It started my teenage passion for collecting records, especially 45\u2019s (remember those?). I was crestfallen when the movie flopped, although most people found the music appealing. Personally, I couldn\u2019t get enough of the whole enchilada. I was one rare kid who got swept up in the magic and mythology of this movie musical. From what I understand, there are other gay men out there who share my admiration for Xanadu<\/i>. In fact, at this year\u2019s Provincetown Film Festival, there was a special sing-along screening of the 1980 film. There is also a stage version of Xanadu<\/i> about to open on Broadway, which is another testament to the camp following the film has garnered over the years. On a personal note, I actually worked as a production assistant for the company that created the digital effects for the Xanadu <\/i>film, though it was only for a few short months.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Even when taken out of context, the Xanadu <\/i>soundtrack still holds up well on its own and contains an ample amount of intrigue for the ears. It is tasty ear candy, to be sure, and is the only place you\u2019ll find Gene Kelly and the Tubes coexisting blissfully side by side. My longtime favorites Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra are the real stars of this<\/i> show, however, as each act has a side on the soundtrack all to themselves. Only on the last song, the glorious title track, do Olivia and ELO actually come together — a masterstroke of genius on the part of producers John Farrar and Jeff Lynne.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The duets are also among the many high points of this soundtrack. For the adult contemporary set, there is the airy ballad \u201cSuddenly\u201d (featuring UK<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> hit-maker, Cliff Richard). Then there is the inspired Gene Kelly\/Olivia pairing of \u201cWhenever You\u2019re Away From Me\u201d and the exciting \u201cDancin,\u201d from the climactic \u201cBattle Of The Bands\u201d sequence of the film. Though it was never a single, \u201cDancin\u201d was so popular among Olivia fans like myself, that she eventually caved in to the pressure and included it in the set-list for one of her recent concert tours. It\u2019s a tricky song to pull off live, considering its multiple moving parts and the fact that the Tubes have since, well, gone down the tubes.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Electric Light Orchestra didn\u2019t need any help from such high-profile artists with their impressive song contributions. Critics everywhere tend to agree their material is stronger than the Newton-John material, despite the fact that Olivia enjoyed the lion\u2019s share of media attention and chart success. The \u201cXanadu\u201d single only got as high as #8 here in the States, but in the UK<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> it went to #1. The ELO singles \u201cAll Over The World\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Alive\u201d barely scraped into the top twenty, while Olivia soared to #1 with \u201cMagic\u201d and to #20 with \u201cSuddenly.\u201d It\u2019s interesting to note that the ELO and Olivia singles were released at the same time, so it was almost like a friendly rivalry was taking place to see who could get higher up in Billboard <\/i>magazine.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible for me to choose between the Olivia songs and the ELO songs, so I\u2019m not going to pretend I prefer one over the other. In terms of originality, \u201cMagic\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Alive\u201d are brilliant choices for lead-off singles, as they make the most lasting impressions. To this day, I can\u2019t help but remember the vision of Olivia roller-skating alone to \u201cMagic\u201d in a dark, abandoned auditorium or when the Santa Monica<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> mural of the nine muses comes to life during the opening number, \u201cI\u2019m Alive.\u201d Sometimes I wonder if a muse could be sitting on my shoulder, helping me to realize my dream of being a successful writer. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Xanadu <\/i>serves as a reminder that amazing things can happen when talent and a sense of fun come together. Life is full of wonder and possibilities, after all, so why not go out there and live it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":29130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6722],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41121","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-original-soundtrack","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41121"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}