"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 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.
In 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 performanceedit
"Summer Nights" reached No. 5 on the US BillboardHot 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.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"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. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
^"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.
^"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".
^Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 175.
^. 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.
^. 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.
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John & Cast - Summer Nights on YouTube
January 01, 1970
summer, nights, grease, song, summer, loving, redirects, here, other, uses, summer, loving, disambiguation, summer, nights, popular, song, from, musical, grease, written, jacobs, warren, casey, best, known, version, recorded, american, actor, singer, john, tra. Summer Loving redirects here For other uses see Summer Loving disambiguation 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 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 singleSingle by John Travolta and Olivia Newton Johnfrom the album Grease The Original Soundtrack from the Motion PictureB side Rock and Roll Party Queen performed by Louis St Louis ReleasedAugust 25 1978GenrePopmusical theatreLength3 35LabelRSOSongwriter s Jim JacobsWarren CaseyProducer s Louis St LouisOlivia Newton John single singles chronology Hopelessly Devoted to You 1978 Summer Nights 1978 A Little More Love 1978 John Travolta singles chronology You re the One That I Want 1978 Summer Nights 1978 Sandy 1978 Contents 1 Background 2 Chart performance 3 Charts 3 1 Weekly charts 3 2 Year end charts 3 3 Decade end charts 4 Sales and certifications 5 Cover version 6 References 7 External linksBackground 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 editWeekly charts edit Chart 1978 Peakposition Australia Kent Music Report 10 6 Canada Top Singles RPM 11 3 Canada Adult Contemporary RPM 12 3 Finland Suomen virallinen lista 13 14 Ireland IRMA 14 1 Italy Musica e dischi 15 4 New Zealand RIANZ 16 3 South Africa Springbok Radio 17 9 UK Singles OCC 8 1 US Billboard Hot 100 18 5 US Adult Contemporary Billboard 19 21 US Cash Box Top 100 20 3 West Germany Official German Charts 21 4 Chart 2022 Peakposition U S Digital Song Sales Billboard 22 46 UK Singles Downloads OCC 23 54 Year end charts edit Chart 1978 Rank Australia Kent Music Report 24 62 Canada RPM 25 42 New Zealand RIANZ 26 47 UK Singles OCC 27 3 US Billboard Hot 100 28 69 US Cash Box Top 100 29 41 Decade end charts edit Chart 1970 79 Rank UK Singles OCC 30 7Sales and certifications editRegion 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 Shipments figures based on certification alone Sales streaming figures based on certification alone Cover version editAngelica Maria and Raul Vale recorded a Spanish language cover titled Noches de verano which reached 1 in Mexico in 1979 citation needed 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 amp 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 amp Olivia Newton John Sisaltaa hitin 2 laitos Levyt ja esittajat Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1 1 1960 30 6 2021 PDF in Finnish Helsinki Kustannusosakeyhtio 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 amp 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 gt 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 amp Olivia Newton John Summer Nights in French InfoDisc Retrieved November 26 2021 SelectJOHN TRAVOLTA amp OLIVIA NEWTON JOHNand clickOK 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 amp John Travolta Summer Nights British Phonographic Industry American single certifications Olivia Newton John amp John Travolta Summer Nights Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved April 15 2012 External links editJohn Travolta amp Olivia Newton John amp Cast Summer Nights on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Summer Nights Grease song amp oldid 1206414389, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
