Xanadu (soundtrack)
| Xanadu | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Soundtrack album by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra | |||||
| Released | August 1980 | ||||
| Recorded | 1980 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, pop rock, disco, traditional pop, arena rock | ||||
| Length | 41:34 | ||||
| Label |
Jet Records (UK) MCA Records (US) | ||||
| Producer | Jeff Lynne, John Farrar | ||||
| Electric Light Orchestra chronology | |||||
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| Olivia Newton-John chronology | |||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Smash Hits | 6/10[2] |
Xanadu is the soundtrack of the 1980 musical film of the same name, featuring the Australian singer Olivia Newton-John and the British group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
The original LP release featured on side one the songs of Newton-John, and on side two the songs of ELO and in 2008 the soundtrack album was digitally remastered as a bonus CD as part of the film's DVD release entitled Xanadu - Magical Musical Edition.
Although the film was a critical and commercial disappointment the soundtrack was a worldwide success and received positive reviews from music critics going double platinum in the US and Canada,. The hit singles "Magic" and "Xanadu", peaked at number one in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively. Both singles also went to number one in the Netherlands and Italy, respectively. It was the 5th most popular US soundtrack in 1981.[3]
Background
The soundtrack featured songs on side one by the film's star, Olivia Newton-John, written by her long-time producer, John Farrar. The songs on side two were written and performed by ELO. The title track which closed side two featured Newton-John as lead vocalist.
The Newton-John side also featured Cliff Richard, The Tubes and Gene Kelly.
At the time of the album's release, Olivia Newton-John was signed to MCA Records, while ELO were signed to Jet Records. A compromise was worked out between the two companies in that the album was released on MCA in the US and Canada, and on Jet in the rest of the world.
Track listing
- Side one (Olivia Newton-John)
All songs on side one written by John Farrar.
- "Magic" – 4:31
- "Suddenly" – 4:02
- Duet with Cliff Richard
- "Dancin'" – 5:17
- Duet with The Tubes
- "Suspended in Time" – 3:55
- "Whenever You're Away from Me" – 4:22
- Duet with Gene Kelly
- Side two (Electric Light Orchestra)
All songs on side two written by Jeff Lynne.
- "I'm Alive" – 3:46
- "The Fall" – 3:34
- "Don't Walk Away" – 4:48
- "All Over the World" – 4:04
- "Xanadu" – 3:28
- Duet with Olivia Newton-John
| B-sides | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Fool Country" (performed by Newton-John. B-side of "Magic" single) | 2:29 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Drum Dreams" (performed by Electric Light Orchestra. B-side of "I'm Alive" and "All Over the World" singles) | 3:06 | ||||||||
| 3. | "You Made Me Love You" (performed by Newton-John. B-side of "Suddenly" single) | 3:05 | ||||||||
Electric Light Orchestra personnel
- Jeff Lynne – lead vocals (except on "Xanadu"), backing vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers
- Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, tympani
- Richard Tandy – pianos, synthesizers, keyboards
- Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Additional personnel
- Olivia Newton-John – lead vocals on "Xanadu"
- Strings by Louis Clark
- Mack – engineer
Olivia Newton-John personnel
- John Farrar – Producer
- David J. Holman – Engineering and mixing
- Recorded and mixed - David J. Holman studio
Chart positions
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Ö3 Austria Top 40 Longplay[4] | 1 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 2 |
| German Media Control Album Chart[5] | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums Charts | 1 |
| Swedish Albums Charts | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart[6] | 2 |
| US Billboard 200 | 4 |
| US CashBox | 1 |
| US Record World | 1 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | AUT [4] |
CAN | NL | GER | IRL | NZ | SWE | UK | US | ||
| "I'm Alive" (performed by Electric Light Orchestra) | 1980 | 27 | — | 7 | 38 | 16 | 10 | 32 | — | 20 | 16 [A] |
| "Magic" (performed by Olivia Newton-John) | 4 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 36 | — | 4 | 12 | 32 | 1 | |
| "Xanadu" (performed by Newton-John and ELO) | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 8 | |
| "All Over the World" (performed by ELO) | 78 | — | 3 | 10 | 28 | 12 | — | — | 11 | 13 | |
| "Suddenly" (performed by Newton-John and Cliff Richard) | 37 | — | 60 | — | — | 6 | 30 | — | 15 | 20 | |
| "Don't Walk Away" (performed by ELO) | — | — | — | — | 52 | 7 | — | — | 21 | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||
Notes
- A ^ single awarded gold record in the US from the RIAA
References
- ↑ Xanadu (soundtrack) at AllMusic
- ↑ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (7–20 August 1980): 28.
- ↑ Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The Top 100 of 1981 from 26 December 1981
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Discographie Electric Light Orchestra". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ↑ "charts.de – Electric Light Orchestra". charts.de. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ↑ "Electric Light Orchestra". Offfical Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
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