Growing up with an older sister in the '80s meant that Olivia Newton-John and the soundtrack to "Grease" were unavoidable. They're some of the first songs i remember listening to outside of what my parents would have been playing. Here's a sappy love song from it. Listen to "Hopelessly Devoted to You" below, our Daily Jam.
Surfing around on Discogs the other day, i discovered that "Sandy Does Dallas," a compilation CD of "Grease" covers performed by a slew of Dallas area alt-rock bands from the '90s, had gotten the deluxe vinyl reissue treatment from NTX Records and their very cool DFW Legacy Series. Basically the label is reissuing a bunch of Dallas area bands from the '90s and '00s onto vinyl for the first time. The series includes releases from The Paper Chase, Hagfish, Doosu, and more so far. Here's hoping they get around to doing UFOFU soon, notable for counting brothers Brandon and Ben Curtis (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, Tripping Daisy) among its members. I guess for now, the band's cover of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" will have to suffice. Check it out below, our Daily Jam.
In 1996, a compilation album of Dallas area bands covering the "Grease" soundtrack, cheekily called "Sandy Does Dallas!" was released. It featured acts like The Toadies, and UFOFU, and a whole bunch of other artists that folks outside the region have never heard of. It's got its ups and downs as a whole, but it's still pretty fun. And one of the highlights is alt-rock and quasi-industrial band Course of Empire's take on the Billie Holiday penned "Blue Moon." It's kind of hypnotic. Check it out below.
