Xanadu

Written by Jeff Lynne
Produced by Jeff Lynne
Recorded in 1979 at Musicland Studios, Munich
Released in June 1980 on the soundtrack Xanadu
UK No. 1 (two weeks) & US No. 8

Most of Olivia Newton-John’s biggest hits live in pop and country territory, but “Xanadu” sits squarely on classic rock ground. The song was written and produced by Jeff Lynne, played by the Electric Light Orchestra at the height of their commercial run, and sung by Newton-John, fresh off Grease and Totally Hot. The pairing worked. “Xanadu” went to No. 1 in Britain for two weeks in July 1980, becoming Newton-John’s third UK chart-topper and the only UK No. 1 single ever credited to ELO. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in several European countries. It also ties neatly into our current run of tributes, since Lynne went on to co-produce Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever and ride alongside him in the Traveling Wilburys.

The song was the title track of Xanadu, a 1980 roller-disco fantasy that paired Newton-John with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. The film was a critical and commercial disappointment, but the soundtrack went double platinum in the United States. It was an unusual record: side one held Newton-John’s songs, all written by her longtime producer John Farrar (including the No. 1 “Magic”), while side two belonged to ELO and Lynne’s songs, closing with the title track. Because she was signed to MCA and ELO to Jet, the two labels split the release, with MCA handling the United States and Canada and Jet the rest of the world. Billboard’s reviewer summed up the single neatly at the time: “Essentially it’s Olivia taking Jeff Lynne’s usual spot as lead singer of ELO.”

That is exactly why it holds up. Rather than sounding like a film tune with a band hired in, “Xanadu” plays like an ELO single with a guest star. Bev Bevan’s dance-floor beat, Kelly Groucutt’s bass, Richard Tandy’s keyboards, synthesizers from James Newton Howard, Louis Clark’s strings and Lynne’s stacked backing vocals build the familiar ELO wall of sound, and Newton-John’s clear, bright soprano rides on top of it without strain. It is lush, shamelessly romantic and very much of 1980, and it is one of the most purely enjoyable records either act ever made. The film has since become a cult favorite and the basis of a Broadway musical that opened in 2007 and ran for more than 500 performances, and Lynne later re-recorded it with his own vocal for ELO’s 2000 box set Flashback.

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