GREASE original Broadway cast recording

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 10:37am

Is this perhaps one of the dullest recordings of a Broadway show? I was so disappointed listening to it. Everyone sounds so tired. Summer Nights is particularly lifeless. I don't mean for this to be an outright negative thread, I'm just surprised this wasn't recorded better.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 12:00pm

Maybe this bit of advice will help your future listening experience.

It always seemed to me that for some reason, in the 1970s, any rock or pop-sounding OBC (Two Gents, Pippin, The Wiz, etc.) often took the tempi at a snail's pace compared to how the numbers actually sounded onstage. ("Magic to Do" from the original Pippin recording is a good example -- good Christ, is that slow.)

So, if you feel a track is dragging, here's how to fix that for your personal listening pleasure:

1. Open the file in Windows Media Player (this is presuming you have the newest version), and right-click the window in which the sound file is now playing.
2. In the menu that pops up, choose "Enhancements."
3. In the sub-menu that pops up, choose "Play speed settings."
4. Move the dial to 1.1 or 1.2, and voila! You'll have a reasonably paced version of a song that is spectacularly slower on record than it should be.

The sound file won't stay like that (you'll need something like Audacity for that), but it does enhance the individual listening experience.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 1:52pm

The OBC is my favorite recording of Grease and I don't find anything about it lifeless in the least.  Quite the contrary.  It's the only recording that captures the original spirit of the show before it became watered-down to replicate the cutesified film.  The only revival recording I can listen to is the 90s London recording with Debbie Gibson.  It mostly sucked on stage with the exception of We Go Together, which was quite cleverly choreographed.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 2:42pm

I also don't find it lifeless at all, and it's my favorite version too. It has the best versions of the songs not included in the film and I love the voices of the performers (the lovely Carole Demas especially). I will admit the tempos are quite glacial though but that doesn't bother me too much. 

The film soundtrack has too much slick '70s pizazz and the revival recordings are all messes. 

[P.S. This is absolutely a negative thread, and could never have been made with any other idea behind it.]

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 5:23pm

Adrienne Barbeau's rendition of THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO is the definitive one and the one to beat. No one has ever done it better, no not even Stockard Channing.

[jpbran]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 5:48pm

Windows Media Player? LOL  

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 6:18pm

Well, jpbran, I'm assuming they're working with limited means (and mind).

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/16/15 at 9:25pm

I am also a fan of the OBCR. I find it superior in every way to the film with its "disco"  and Peter-Allen-ballad version of the 1950s.

I saw the original many times and have never been tempted by the candy-colored revivals. The charm of the original was found in its simplicity.

[skies]

Posted: 6/17/15 at 12:51pm

I enjoyed the OCR and then again, I think the original Grease is highly underrated as far as cred among long running Broadway shows.  There was a rawness and immediacy to it that I found quite refreshing.   The cynicsym in the original ending was a hoot.

[Dave19]

Posted: 6/17/15 at 8:42pm

"Is this perhaps one of the dullest recordings of a Broadway show? I was so disappointed listening to it. Everyone sounds so tired. Summer Nights is particularly lifeless. I don't mean for this to be an outright negative thread, I'm just surprised this wasn't recorded better."

 

I see what you mean. My biggest issue with it (and other recordings from that era) is the girls/women. They all sound very dry and tired, almost like 12 year old boys, leaning towards a voice crack.