"Summer Nights" is a popular song from the musical Grease. Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey,[1] its best-known version was recorded by American actor and singer John Travolta and British-Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John for the 1978 big-screen adaptation of the musical, and released as a single that same year. It was released in August 1978 as the fourth single from the movie's soundtrack album and became a massive hit worldwide during the summer of 1978. Parts of the song were introduced to a new audience when it was re-released in the 1990s as part of a megamix of several songs from the movie version.
| "Summer Nights" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side-A label of 1978 Australian vinyl single | ||||
| Single by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John | ||||
| from the album Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture | ||||
| B-side | "Rock and Roll Party Queen" (performed by Louis St. Louis) | |||
| Released | July 1978 (US) August 25, 1978 (UK) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:35 | |||
| Label | RSO | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Louis St. Louis | |||
| Olivia Newton-John single singles chronology | ||||
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| John Travolta singles chronology | ||||
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Background
editIn the movie version of Grease, Travolta and Newton-John played the lead roles of Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson.[2]
The song's genesis stems from a summertime love affair between Danny and Sandy, which had ended upon Sandy's revelation that she was moving back to Australia with her family; however, Sandy soon learns that her family is staying in the United States and subsequently enrolls at Rydell High School, where Danny is also a student. In the original stage version, Sandy Dumbrowski, who like many other characters in the play is a Catholic of Polish descent, originally attends parochial school. On the other hand, Danny lied to her and claimed to attend Lake Forest Academy, a prestigious real-life private school in Chicago. Sandy's parents' decision to pull her out of Catholic school and put her in public Rydell High exposes Danny's subterfuge. It quickly becomes clear that there are unresolved feelings of love between Danny and Sandy.[3]
Separately and unknown to each other, both Danny and Sandy meet with their respective group of friends and share their perspectives of their summertime fling. Danny, the leader of a greaser gang known as "The T-Birds" (the "Burger Palace Boys" in the stage show), brags about the physical aspects of the relationship; Sandy remarks to the schoolgirl clique "The Pink Ladies" about her emotional attachment to Danny. The resulting conversations are played out through the song.
Of the cast members, only Travolta and Newton-John provided vocals for the previous single from the soundtrack, "You're The One That I Want", but other members of the cast contributed backing and cameo lead vocals to "Summer Nights". The only vocal contributions on the soundtrack from Kelly Ward (Putzie) and Michael Tucci (Sonny) are their single questions in this song (Sonny also had no solo lines in the musical; the two songs from the musical by Putzie's stage counterpart were cut from the film). Stockard Channing (Rizzo)'s solo line "'Cause he sounds like a drag"— a bowdlerization of the likely slur used in the original Chicago version—was spoken rather than sung.[citation needed]
"Summer Nights" was originally written for the stage show's transition to Broadway. The original Chicago version of the musical (staged only once since the 1970s) had a different song, "Foster Beach," at that point.[4]
Record World said "The effect is era-perfect and its unique sound should drive it up summer playlists."[5]
Chart performance
edit"Summer Nights" reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[6] and spent two weeks at No. 3 on Cash Box Top 100.[7] The song was an even bigger hit in the UK, spending seven weeks at No. 1.[8] Combined with an earlier nine-week run with "You're the One That I Want," the Travolta-Newton-John duet team spent 16 weeks at No. 1 during 1978 in the UK.
In 2004, the song finished at #70 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
In 2010, Billboard ranked it No. 9 on their "Best Summer Songs of All Time" list.[9]
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
Year-end chartsedit
Decade-end chartsedit
|
Sales and certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[31] | Gold | 75,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[32] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[33] | Gold | 500,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[35] | Platinum | 1,640,000[34] |
| United States (RIAA)[36] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Cover version
edit- Angélica María and Raúl Vale recorded a Spanish-language cover titled "Noches de verano", which reached #1 in Mexico in 1979.[citation needed]
- A version of the song appeared in Say Yes to the Dress, episode 7 of Season 3 of the Netflix Original series Fuller House, sung by DJ Tanner (Candace Cameron-Bure) and Steve Hale (Scott Weinger) with Fernando Guerrero (Juan Pablo Di Pace), Jimmy Gibbler (Adam Hagenbuch), Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin), Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) and Romona Gibbler (Soni Nicole Bringas) singing background vocals.
References
edit- ^ "Grease (1978) - Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ "Grease (1978)". IMDb.com. June 16, 1978. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ "Grease (1978) - Plot Summary". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ "Bring back our own, original R-rated 'Grease'". January 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. August 5, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ "Billboard Top 40 Hits (1978) at cyList". Cylist.com. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 10/07/78". cashboxmagazine.com. October 7, 1978. Retrieved May 1, 2014.]
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 357–9. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Top 30 Summer Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 313. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 21, 1978. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 21, 1978. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 183. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Summer Nights". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved June 12, 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "John Travolta & Olivia Newton John".
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 22 October 1978
- ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved September 5, 2018.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 – ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 175.
- ^ "Top 100 1978-06-17". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-09-01. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – John Travolta / Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "CU.S Digital Song Sales: Week of August 20, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
- ^ "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 8, 2022 – via Imgur.com.
- ^ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. July 17, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1978 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. December 31, 1978. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ "1970s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1978". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles of the Decade" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: Spotlight Publications. January 5, 1980. p. 2. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "Canadian single certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights". Music Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ "Danish single certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "French single certifications – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved November 26, 2021. Select JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN and click OK.
- ^ Copsey, Rob (June 21, 2017). "Huge selling 'summer' songs on the Official Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ "British single certifications – Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta – Summer Nights". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "American single certifications – Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta – Summer Nights". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
