You're the One That I Want
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| “You're the One That I Want” | ||
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| Single by John Travolta featuring Olivia Newton-John from the album Grease OST |
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| B-side | Alone At A Drive-In Movie | |
| Released | 1978 | |
| Genre | Pop Rock | |
| Length | 2:49 | |
| Label | RSO Records | |
| Writer(s) | John Farrar | |
| Producer | John Farrar | |
"You're The One That I Want" is a song written by John Farrar for the 1978 film version of the musical Grease. It was performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
The single was number one in the UK for nine weeks in the summer of 1978, and as of 2005, is number six on the List of best-selling singles for that country where it sold over 1,975,000 copies (3x platinum). It also reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for one week, where it sold over 2 million copies. It was the first of two songs from the Grease soundtrack to top the U.S. and UK pop charts.
It also serves as the source of the title of the reality TV show Grease: You're the One that I Want!.
The song is also used in the Wii game, Boogie.
In the British soap opera Coronation Street, a video of Tommy and Angela Harris performing the song was seen whilst their daughter Katy Harris was overdosing on sugar.
| Preceded by "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single June 10, 1978 |
Succeeded by "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb |
| Preceded by "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M |
UK Singles Chart number-one single June 17, 1978 - August 19, 1978 |
Succeeded by "Three Times a Lady" by The Commodores |
| Preceded by "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single June 26, 1978 - July 10, 1978 (first run) |
Succeeded by "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M. |
| Preceded by "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M. |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single August 21, 1978 - October 9, 1978 (second run) |
Succeeded by "Are You Old Enough?" by Dragon |
[edit] Notable cover versions
| “You're the One That I Want” | |||||
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| Single by Craig McLaghlan and Deborah Gibson from the album Grease - Original London Cast Recording |
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| Length | 3:27 | ||||
| Label | Epic | ||||
| Deborah Gibson single chronology | |||||
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British comedians Arthur Mullard and Hylda Baker (both in their sixties at the time) also released a version of the song in 1978. This version is perhaps best remembered for an infamously bad performance on the TV show Top of the Pops; both Mullard and Baker fluffed the lyrics and seemed utterly bemused. Their version reached no.22, but in stark contrast to the usual positive effect of a TOTP appearance, the record's sales plummeted after the broadcast.
Also, in 1978, the German comedians Dieter Hallervorden and Helga Feddersen released a parody under the title Du, die Wanne ist voll. The song reached position number four in the German charts. Du, die Wanne ist voll literally means You, the bathtube is full and the joke consists of using German words that sound similar to the English ones.
In the early 1980s singer Lesley Gore covered the song on her album The Canvas Can Do Miracles. In her rendition she altered the line "cause I need a man" to "cause I need a friend".
The Beautiful South also released an unusually arranged cover of the song, which featured on their Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs album.
In 1993, Epic Records released a soundtrack album in the UK, Grease - Original London Cast Recording; the Craig McLachlan duet with Deborah Gibson (Epic UK 659 522, released July 1993), part of a routine promotional push, scored big on the UK singles charts, peaking at number thirteen.
More recently, Tenacious D performed the song live as an acoustic duet with actor Andy Serkis (in character as his Lord of the Rings role Gollum).
American pop singers Chris Trousdale and Nikki Cleary covered the song with slightly altered lyrics.
In 2007, McFly covered the song in the album Over the Rainbow, which contains other covers by other artists.
The song has also been remixed with The Next Episode, a 2000 single by rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and is entitled "You're The One That I Want In The Next Episode".
The song was danced to by Kaba Modern on America's Best Dance Crew as part of their Broadway challenge.
