Xanadu On Broadway (Original Cast Recording)
I promised myself - and you - that I’d try not to have too much of a stick up my ass when it came to reviewing this CD, which includes the musical highlights and key dialogue moments of the Broadway musical revival of 1980’s Olivia Newton-John vehicle Xanadu, which is perhaps best remembered for its own soundtrack than anything it accomplished on the big screen. So up front, let me acknowledge that listening to the cast recording album of a stage musical is perhaps not the best way to gauge the entire production in terms of narrative or artistic value. But even bearing that in mind, and admittedly biased by my affection for at least the musical part of the source material, the cast CD for Xanadu On Broadway gives me a view of the show as a mean-spirited train wreck.
And there’s really no need for it to be. There are some renditions of the songs from the movie here that are quite surprisingly good, from a musical standpoint. The actress/vocalist who’s stepping into Olivia Newton-John’s shoes for this production has the pipes to carry it off (which is actually quite a compliment - if you weren’t around in the late 1970s and early ’80s, I’m not sure you can appreciate how omnipresent Olivia Newton-John was in pop culture, with a string of hits and, of course, Grease to her name. And she could (and can still) sing. Anyone stepping into a role originated by that lady had better be able to bring something to the table in terms of singing. This production’s actress does an admirable job…at least where the singing’s concerned.
Where I start to get seriously disgruntled with Xanadu On Broadway is with the dialogue that points toward the show being not even remotely fond of its source material, but still trying to make a buck off of it. I understood, going in, that this was a satirical take on Xanadu the movie. Where I was taken aback was with the album’s dialogue scenes making it very clear that it isn’t a well-observed, fond-but-funny satire. Whoever wrote the script to this thing seems to be making not-at-all-kind sport of the source material. It’s almost as if the writer felt that the original movie had caused intense pain, and they now wanted to repay it with interest. Jabs are made at everything from ’80s fashion to the addition of an Australian actress in an otherwise American cast (the actress stepping into the character of Kira proclaims “And I’ll sport an Australian accent!” in a stereotypical mock-Aussie accent of her own). Someone had an axe - likely an entire arsenal of axes - to grind with Xanadu, and this seems to be the payback. It reminded me of some of the low points of post-Joel-Hodgson MST3K, when the show’s satirical sense of humor seemed prone to going much darker than what I’d grown accustomed to.
But…I’ll admit that I’m judging a whole production from a few select slices of recorded dialogue that are only on the album to give context to certain songs, and Xanadu On Broadway seems to be a bona fide hit on stage, so maybe I should stick to discussing the merits of the music itself. “All Over The World” and “Magic” are competent enough live renditions, though in the latter the lead actress is trying to push the Aussie accent schtick a bit too much; that’s the only thing preventing “Magic” from being the best song on here, because other than the exaggerated accent gag, it’s almost a dead ringer for the original.
“Evil Woman” not only never had anything to do with Xanadu, but it’s done in an extremely silly style, though it can be rather entertaining if you’re in the right mood. The duet “Suddenly”, originally sung by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard, is another runner-up for best performance on the album, except that the Aussie gag again rears its head both here and in another duet, “Whenever You’re Away From Me”. I realize that I’m really criticizing a requirement of the script - the actress is just doing what the script says - but it has a ripple effect on the musical performances themselves, so it’s a bit difficult for me to just let it go.
The strangest number on the original movie soundtrack, “Dancin’”, was a jarring but entertaining collision between a ’40s Andrews Sisters-style song and modern rock (provided by the Tubes in the original recording); it’s my runaway favorite from Xanadu On Broadway by miles. It had to be a difficult enough song to record with its wildly divergent styles, and if they do it this well on stage, it’s easily the highlight of the show.
Another unrelated-to-Xanadu ELO chestnut is up next, “Strange Magic”, given the same silly reading (primarily by the same two characters - two sister muses of Kira’s, invented for the play, who scheme against her - who sing “Evil Woman”). “All Over The World” follows this, and it’s one of the better performances on the disc, even if some of the ’80s studio effects from the original ELO song are exaggerated for amusing effect. I was equally amused to hear the lyrics’ reference to Shard End - the Birmingham neighborhood where Jeff Lynne grew up - remained intact. It was already a musical non-sequitur, and now it’s preserved on stage night after night. “Don’t Walk Away” is quite different from the original, but so help me, I actually like the adaptation and the performance - it’s done so well that it’s the kind of thing that almost makes me want to see the show.
“Fool”, a song featured in the original movie but not its soundtrack, falls victim to the Aussie treatment again - a pity because the rest of it is almost spot-on. “The Fall”, which in its original incarnation is one of ELO’s most criminally underrated songs, is actually a nice adaptation and well performed. “Suspended In Time” wind up being the Newton-John song least affected by the accent gag, and it’s easily the best solo piece on this album. That’s chased down by what may be the strangest song on the whole disc, the Olivia Newton-John chestnut “Have You Never Been Mellow?”, which - like “Evil Woman” and “Strange Magic” - had nothing to do with Xanadu originally. Wrapping things up is an instrumentally listenable version of “Xanadu” itself, but again, the stereotypical Aussie accent just blows it for me. Seriously, did anyone even listen to the original songs here?
In the end, I’m giving Xanadu On Broadway a very charitable 2 out of 4 stars. If I had a little graphical button ready for 1 1/2 stars out of 4, I’d give it that instead. The thing is, there are a few performances in here that do, in fact, sound like a good way to take the original songs - whether those were done by ELO or ONJ - to the stage. There are others that I’d describe as train wrecks if I was feeling particularly kind. But by all means, take this review with a grain of salt - the music may all play out spectacularly against the set and costumes and choreography (I mean, who can resist roller disco?) But purely as a listening experience - and given the snippets of plot imparted by the included dialogue - I came away from listening to Xanadu On Broadway on CD feeling like it’s a lamentable misstep - lamentable because one plot point (the Australian accent gag) derailed some otherwise damned fine performances.
I’ve admitted that I’m no great fan of musicals, and perhaps too close to the source material, but then again, I loved most of Lynne Me Your Ears, an ELO/Jeff Lynne tribute which put some of Lynne’s music through some startling transformations. But those reinterpretations were done in a spirit of genuine admiration, not a snarlingly sarcastic parody. And that, perhaps more than any silly voice you’ll here hear, is what mars Xanadu On Broadway the most.
- I’m Alive (4:03)
- Magic (3:03)
- Evil Woman (2:41)
- Suddenly (3:38)
- Whenever You’re Away From Me (4:00)
- Dancin’ (2:28)
- Strange Magic (2:01)
- All Over The World (3:17)
- Don’t Walk Away (3:38)
- Fool (1:27)
- The Fall (2:02)
- Suspended In Time (2:56)
- Have You Never Been Mellow? (3:24)
- Xanadu (4:23)
Released by: P.S. Classics
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 43:01
As much of a fan of Betchadupa as I’ve been, I’m going to fess up that I wasn’t sure what to expect from Liam Finn’s first solo effort. I’d heard a live recording, and the songs were plenty catchy, but it’s so hard to tell from a live recording what the final product will be like. I needn’t have worried. We are, after all, talking about the son of Neil Finn of Crowded House fame, and after listening to I’ll Be Lightning a lot in recent weeks, I think we can say without reservation that he’s picked up his dad’s ear for crafting a great song and giving it a great performance. And when I credit Liam Finn with the performance, I’m not being disingenuous or oversimplifying things: he plays and sings every note you hear on the album.
play an entire album like this entirely solo is the result of hard work, intense concentration, and what may be the best rock ‘n’ roll apprenticeship anyone could hope for. I could go on and on about where I think I hear the influence of Neil or Tim here, but Liam Finn is his own man, and this is his own album, and it’s a fantastic piece of work. With such a well-crafted and polished debut album, Liam has more than earned his own spotlight out from under anyone else’s shadow. This is the best album I’ve heard this year, and I’m not sure I can actually say much more than that.
In the post-Sgt. Pepper 1960s, many an up-and-coming British band longed to be the next Beatles, and with record labels hitching their wagons to the musical “British invasion” of America, there was certainly no shortage of success stories. Some bands, however, by choice or by fate, remained strictly local concerns - and such was the case with the Idle Race, a Birmingham group that rose from the ashes of a previous local band, Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders, after Sheridan left the band and a young guitarist named Jeff Lynne joined up. Even while the band was still actively recording and playing live, Idle Race won critical acclaim (including from the Beatles themselves, who invited the band to sit in on some sessions for the White Album)…and sold so few records that the band might’ve vanished into local history but for one of its members’ later success. Back To The Story is a 2-CD set that collects all three of the albums recorded by the Idle Race - two with Lynne in the driver’s seat (including his first credit as producer), and one recorded after his departure.
By modern standards, The Birthday Party is barely an EP, not even weighing in at half an hour, but the songs are layered enough to merit repeat listening. Where there’s lyrical whimsy, it’s almost too much at times, with “I Like My Toys” and “Sitting In My Tree” sticking out in that regard; depending on your mood, it’ll either be a little too saccharine, or endearingly childlike. It’s in numbers like “Follow Me Follow” and especially “The Lady Who Said She Could Fly” that the real potential of the group is exposed, and they’re a revelation - decent rock numbers with a nice string arrangement woven into and around the Idle Race’s basic rhythm section. The songs leave a huge impression - honestly, why they haven’t been covered is a total mystery to me - and they show that the group’s young lead vocalist (and self-appointed rookie producer) Jeff Lynne had some very clear ideas about what he’d do with a studio and a band at his disposal. Despite overtures (ha!) from his friend Roy Wood to join The Move, Lynne stubbornly stuck it out with the Idle Race for another album.
That album was the self-titled The Idle Race, and while Lynne’s songwriting and production are still front and center, somehow the second album doesn’t just reach out and grab me the same way that The Birthday Party does. In a few places, Lynne is reaching too far for the kind of Beatlesque affectations that many critics accuse him of being about for his whole career. If you thought Lynne was trying too hard to set up shop on the Fab Four’s turf during his ELO career, stay right away from The Idle Race here. There is one bona fide gorgeous Lynne classic on here in the form of “Follow Me Follow”, which just about makes the whole album worthwhile. “Come With Me”, “Sea Of Dreams” and “Going Home” are a nice triple-act right at the beginning of the album…but all this means is that The Idle Race has an extremely soft center. The second CD kicks off with a selection of non-album singles and B-sides, which are also a mixed bag; I thought I’d get a big kick out of hearing Lynne cover his buddy Roy Wood’s “(Here We Go ‘Round) The Lemon Tree”, originally performed by the Move (and with Roy Wood sitting in on this cover version), but while it’s a faithful enough rendition musically, the production touches are a bit much - this is Lynne at an age where he was getting a big charge out of being The Producer, and he was throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at the job, whether the song called for it or not. There’s a really good cover of “In The Summertime”, dating from the band’s brief post-Lynne era, but it differentiates itself so very little from the original that you might as well stick to Mungo Jerry.
In any case, Jeff Lynne did ultimately join the Move and, with Wood, later formed ELO; his Idle Race cohorts released a third album, Time Is…, which sounds absolutely nothing like Lynne-era Idle Race. Roger Spencer and the other members of the group steered things into a more mainstream psychedelic rock vein, and while there are some nice tunes to be found on the group’s swan song, you have to keep in mind that this is solid 1969/1970 material a year or two past its sell-by date. These songs slid right under the radar because music had moved on - Led Zeppelin was in full force, and even the Move was busting out mind-blowers like “Open Up Said The World At The Door”.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you: the first-ever rap review here on theLogBook.com. But don’t assign too much street cred to me, for this is incredibly geeky rap. The whole humorous premise behind MC Hawking is as follows: what if Professor Stephen Hawking was moonlighting as a gangsta rapper? If you’re wondering what in the world that would sound like, you may already know more than you think: MC Hawking - the brainchild of parody webmaster Ken Leavitt-Lawrence - sounds like the voice synthesizer used by the real Professor Hawking (who, if truth be told, doesn’t go around popping caps on anyone’s ass). The lyrics are a combination of the prerequisite topics of gangsta rap - getting even against one’s rivals by any means available, drug deals, the ever-popular topic of bitches, etc. - and real live honest-to-God theoretical physics. MC Hawking tries to explain the basic tenets of entropy, and then busts out the refrain “You down with entropy? Yeah, you know me!”
Collecting remixes and re-recordings of material from Ben Folds’ trio of 2003-2005 EP releases, as well as a couple of soundtrack songs, side projects and a new song or two, Supersunnyspeedgraphic is both a lot of fun and somewhat baffling. Baffling in that, as often happens with complation/best-of albums, I would’ve picked some completely different songs in places, and a lot of fun in that these aren’t necessarily the same recordings as heard before on those short releases.