Greaseology

A deep dive discussion of minutes 35:00-40:00 of the movie GREASE! Tell me more, tell me more! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

In this episode we will dive into minutes 30:00-35:00 of Grease, in which Rizzo finishes singing “Sandra Dee” just as Sandy comes out of the bathroom and realizes Rizzo is making fun of her. The T-Birds crash the sleepover in Kenicke’s “new” car to Frenchy’s panicked discovery. Rizzo sneaks out through the window to join them and has a raunchy exchange of metaphors with Danny and Kenicke. Annoyed and wanting to be alone, Danny hops out of the car and takes off on foot when Kenicke invites Rizzo in the car to fill the now empty front seat. Wanting to be all alone, Rizzo and Kenicke immediately kick out Doody, Putzie, and Sonny, much to their chagrin. Back in Frenchy’s room, Sandy is wondering what she ever saw in Danny Zuko, but Marty tells her “don’t sweat it honey, have one of mine” meaning one of her many male pen pals. She gives Sandy a few sheets of perfume scented tissue paper just as the first notes of Hopelessly Devoted begin. We get to spend the remainder of the segment with ONJ singing her unforgettable ballad in Frenchy’s backyard. Eat Your Heart Out meanings and origins ONJ performs HD at the 51st Academy Awards WWI French Pen Pals Pen Pal History and Information Scented Letters Olivia Newton-John (Wikipedia Bio) Hollywood Nights - Olivia Newton-John ABC special --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

In this episode we will dive into minutes 25-30 of the movie Grease in which Sandy goes to Frenchie’s house for a sleepover with the Pink Ladies. The girls try to corrupt Sandy with wine and cigarettes and then, Frenchie tries to pierce Sandy’s ears! In an effort to keep blood off the carpet, Frenchie drags Sandy to the Powder Room to finish the other ear, but the combination of booze and tobacco is just too much for Sandy. When Frenchie comes out, she reveals that Sandy got sick in the bathroom when she saw the blood and presumably must stay in there a little bit longer to recuperate. While she’s away, Rizzo breaks out into song and sings “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” as she and the other Pink Ladies wear beauty shop wigs and dance around in their pajamas. Frenchie’s house LA Mag article - Grease filming locations Ipana Toothpaste The Ipana Troubadors Ipana toothpaste commercial (outer space) Ipana toothpaste commercial (circus) Interview with Jamie Donnelly - Bucky Beaver origin story Italian Swiss Colony wikipedia History of ISC History of Twinkies A Brief History of Cooties Goodyear Blimp History of Candy Cigarettes Sandra Dee Rock Hudson & Doris Day Troy Donahue Sal Mineo Stockard Channing Stockard Channing on Sesame Street --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

We'll discuss minutes 20:00-25:00 in which Sandy and Tom Chisum "exchange appreciative glances" and we have a brief introduction to the rival gang, The Scorpions. Danny and Sandy are reunited via Rizzo's prank, but it doesn't go well. Danny acts like a fool in front of the T-Birds causing Sandy to run off crying. Frenchie goes after Sandy to console her and invite her to the sleepover. Young Lorenzo Lamas’ favorite ONJ song Lorenzo Lamas Bio 1998 Grease Documentary (20th anniversary) Great article about what happened to the cars of Grease, specifically Hell’s Chariot Examples of the word “divoon” being used in literature and film Didi Conn Bio --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

In episode 4 I discuss minutes 15:00-20:00 in which the guys and girls finish performing "Summer Nights", Sandy reveals the name of the boy she met on the beach and the Pink Ladies have an awkward reaction. We are also introduced to Coach Calhoun at the pep rally. West Side Story “Tonight Quintet” History of Technicolor Peachy keen origins Sid Caesar performing 4 different languages in “double talk” Sid Caesar Bio --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

In episode 3 we discuss minutes 10:00-15:00 of Grease where Ms. McGee gives morning announcements on the first day of school and then at lunchtime, the big topic is "summer lovin'"! See John Travolta on American Bandstand in 1976 John Travolta's ADORABLE interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand Dody Goodman and Ellen Travolta's "Love Boat" episode Fanny Flagg Fanny Flagg on "Love Boat" - First appearance | Second appearance | Third appearance Albert Wolsky Darrell Zwerling Annette Funicello --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

In this episode we discuss minutes 05:00-10:00 of Grease where the students are arriving on the first day of school. The T-Birds reunite in front of the school and Sandy is confused when Frenchy asks if she has psoriasis. The students make their way to class, but the T-Birds are lingering in the halls and Ms. McGee has words with Sonny. Our segment ends as the T-Birds accost Eugene on the stairs. Eve Arden Episodes of "Our Miss Brooks" Dody Goodman Patricia Birch Bill Butler Grease Day USA ABC Sunday Night movie bumper from 1981 Heartbreak of Psoriasis commercial Robert Hall clothes --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message

Thank you for listening to Greaseology! In our very first episode I share some history about Grease the stage musical becoming Grease the movie. Then we begin with the first 5 minutes of the film. I share some history on the Paramount Pictures logo and have a correction - Paramount began in 1912, not 1916. And depending on how you watch Grease (on VHS/DVD or streaming) you may see a slightly different version of the logo. We discuss the opening beach summer romance scene and how it was slightly different in the shooting script. My apologies again for my poor attempt at properly pronouncing Leo Carrillo. Finally, I give a breakdown of John Wilson's opening credits animation sequence and discuss every iconic image. Second correction - I mention the "A-WOP-A-LOO-BOP-LOP" portion of the opening credits and noted it was in reference to a Little Richard song, but forgot to mention the song it's from is "Tutti Frutti" (1957). Finally, when I was giving reasons why John Wilson may have included a brief flash of the swastika symbol in his animation, I said the reasons "made sense". I just want to clarify that I do not think a swastika was necessary at all to create shock value and further, I don't think it has any place in my favorite movie. Next time we will break down minutes 5:00-10:00 of Grease! Here are the links I mention in this episode: https://www.randalkleiser.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Marie_Reid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Carrillo_State_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_Brownie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Without_a_Cause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Pictures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq7tou6S2YA (Promo for Randal Kleiser’s book, “Grease, The Director’s Notebook”) https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/grease/ (Read more about John Wilson’s opening credits animation) https://wehoville.com/2023/01/04/through-the-years-with-barneys-beanery/ (Read more about Barney’s Beanery) https://youtu.be/Bcd7WLPn214 (John Wilson animation - Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1973) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/12/saturday-night-fever (Read more about the making of Saturday Night Fever) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cassie-newsom/message