The Songs of Grease 2

I'd like to open up this new year by talking more about my new favourite movie-Grease 2! I'd like to talk about its great songs more in-depth, so without further ado...

Actually, yes further ado. I should brief those who haven't seen this movie on the plot. It's about foreign exchange student from England*, Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield) coming to American school Rydell High, where he falls in love with popular Pink Lady Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), who at first doesn't want anything to do with him, and he also faces opposition from the T-Birds, a bunch of greasers who are the only ones allowed to date the Pink Ladies...

*By the way, he's meant to be the cousin of the Australian Sandy (Olivia Newton-John from the first film), yet Michael is British. Was that a deliberate move, or did the makers of this film genuinely not know the difference? I'd say they just wanted Maxwell Caulfield for the role, and let it slide, because producer Alan Stigwood is an Aussie, so he'd know the difference.

So, to start...

Back to School Again

This is sung as an opener to the movie, as all the students of Rydell High School come back for the start-of-year.

Like all the songs in this movie, the choreography in this number is great! It's fun, energetic, and has fine singing!

A few times, the song is broken up by dialogue, but that's fine, as they're character introductions.

Let's Score Tonight

At the local bowling alley, the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are bowling against each-other.

There was one critic who was ridiculously negative about this film (that is, she came across like she only wanted to rag on it because she was bored, rather than for an actual distaste for the movie). She said "This time the story can't even masquerade as an excuse for stringing the songs together. Songs? What songs? The numbers in Grease 2 are so hopelessly insubstantial that the cast is forced to burst into melody about pastimes like bowling".

What?! You mean people sing about stuff in a musical? Oh balderdash and piffle, why ever would anyone do a thing like that?!

Look, it only tends to be bad when characters are just singing about what they're doing if either the lyrics suck, or if it's like with Bollywood horror movies, where a serious horror plot is routinely interrupted by peppy songs about picnics (I'm looking at you, Mahakaal!). Otherwise, it's more than fine, and Score Tonight is great fun to watch, and to hear, so no complaints from me.

Cool Rider

This song has Stephanie describing her ideal man to Michael-a tough biker hunk. She wants a whole lot more than the boy next door, she wants hell on wheels!...

Cool Rider is a great song, with cool lyrics, and great singing from Michelle 'Catwoman' Pfeiffer!

Reproduction

This one has a teacher talking to his unruly class about the title subject.

This is definitely a funny song, with kooky lyrics and great choreography! And Goose actor Christopher McDonald's chorus end line is awesome!

Who's That Guy?

I first saw Grease 2 when it was on TV, and I decided to watch it out of morbid curiosity. When I started watching, the film was up to the Reproduction number, and it was when Who's That Guy started that I stopped watching Grease 2 out of morbid curiosity, and started watching in genuine enjoyment!

Having mastered the cycle, Michael, with a guise on, hiding his identity, rides in on the bowling alley, were everyone's being victimised by the bikie gang, the Cycle Lords (or Scorpions, depending on how well you remember the first Grease movie), and as he suavely takes them down a peg, all the students only have one question on their lips-Who's That Guy?

This is one of my favourite songs of the movie! It's cool, fun, got nifty choreography, and is just plain badass, just like Michael's kick from the motorcycle!-Badass awesome!

Let's Do it for Our Country

T-Bird Louis DeMucci takes his girlfriend, Pink Lady Sharon, to an old bomb shelter, and has his buddies pretend that a war is starting, so he can get laid...No, he doesn't succeed...

This is another fun, comic, song-goofy and quick to the point. I suppose I wish it could have been longer, but it's not too short.

Prowlin'

Here, the T-Birds sing about their ladykiller lifestyle.

This is another fun song! It's goofy with its masculinity, and is a cool listen! The lyrics are fine, and the singing's great!

Charades

Charades is a personal song for Michael as he laments his torn feelings about having Stephanie like his mystery biker persona, rather than himself.

The lyrics of Charades are fine! They definitely capture Michael's feelings perfectly, probably moreso than dialogue ever could. I'd say this is one of my favourite songs of the movie, but I could say that about all of them. Charades is a great counter to the more goofy songs of the movie!

A Girl for All Seasons

A Girl for All Seasons has nothing to do with an overweight queen decapitating seven husbands, but is part of the school's end of year talent show. It has the band singing their love song, which is ripe with seasonal analogies.

No, I won't apologize for that terrible joke.

It's a fine song, and it has some funny bits backstage, where everyone involved in the following 'season' of the song is hurriedly preparing their huge, clunky costumes.

Our Love Will Turn Back the Hands of Time

Having broken off of singing A Girl for All Seasons, a forlorn Stephanie (sad because she thinks that 'The Guy' is dead) starts singing her own song, and we're whisked away to that white haze musical netherworld that the Grease movies love staging numbers in, where she sings this tragic duet with Michael.

This is a great song! Good lyrics, and perfect singing!

What's kinda funny is at the end, when the song phases back into the real world, where Stephanie is singing both parts of the song's chorus herself. Michelle Pfeiffer certainly does well, it's just kinda amusing.

Ultimately, this, Charades, and Who's That Guy are my three favorite songs from this movie.

Rock-a-Hula-Luau (Summer is Coming)

This is sung as a party song for the end-of-school-year luau. It's definitely a fun party song. Light on sensical lyrics, and heavy on 50's luau partying!
And those two twin ladies are ffffiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnneeee! What are you looking at me like that for, I'm a guy-I have to think like that.

By the way, where the hell is Michael during any of this? Since he's not dead, you'd think he'd have shown up for the talent show, or failing that, the luau. You're missing out on some cool end of school party fun, dude! And skimpy chicks. Prioritize, man!

This song is definitely a boppy-peppy ball of fun!

We'll Be Together

With the various couples singing to each-other lovingly,  this song closes out the movie.

One funny bit (I'd say unintentionally, but who knows, maybe it was deliberate) is when Johnny sings "I like what you got, I guess it's ok if you want to show it"-There's a pause when he says I guess it's ok, so until you hear what comes next, it sounds like he's telling Paulette that she's merely 'ok'.

By the way, I only noticed the the phrase 'Birds of a feather' is reversed recently! Yep! For years, I didn't notice that! Guh, I could die!

This, along with the Back to School reprise over the end credits finish the film perfectly!

One thing I love about all the musical numbers are the various characters (major and mainly minor) therein. Your eyes'll be all over the place   For example, Dolores only has a couple minutes of proper screentime, but if you keep your eyes peeled, you'll notice her all over the place. This is a great quality to the musical numbers.

To finish, I enjoy the hell out of all the songs in this movie. And they were definitely a fine thing to listen to in the close of 2013!

So, 2014, eh?