Pls read if you want hear a less bombastic Greased Lightning
Jan 21, 2018 12:40:07 GMT
Post by antiram on Jan 21, 2018 12:40:07 GMT
I know what you are thinking.
"Greased Lightning" has always sounded too bombastic and needs more prominent horn honks, and the strings in "Sandra Dee" are just not subtle enough.
Fortunately, God has provided.
All you need to do it this:
First, you need to buy an outmoded form of late 20th century technology known as a "VCR" They come in two varieties. "VHS" and "Beta". Beta is the better of the two, but if you buy one, completing step two will be largely impossible. So stick to VHS.
Then, scour the thrift stores. What you are looking for is a pre-1998 edition of the movie "Grease". Stay away from the anniversary edition. The 1990 edition will do. You may need to scour a lot of thrift stores, but they are out there somewhere...
Once you finally locate one, put the cassette in the player and listen to a gentler, kinder "Greased Lightning". Now listen to "Sandra Dee". Notice the banjo and accordion in the mix? Heheh, bet you never knew those were there...
There needs to be a published a list of these variants, so that after these efforts, you will be able to read what sounds different...
Incidentally, TheLazenby wastes more time than anybody in the universe. His big hobby is spending weeks at a time editing together albums that never existed, just for fun. So look for a special bootleg "Grease: As It Should Have Been" package over Bootlegzone in a few weeks.
One warning though: once you hear how "Greased Lightning" and "Sandra Dee" are supposed to sound, you will never again be able to enjoy a 70mm print in a theater ever again. Consider the sorry fate of wrench-throwing Gort MLutthans' friend. Once exposed to the original mix of this 70's classic in original release, he was bitterly disappointed to see it again (while still in original release) and discover it was the wrong mix on the second film. This was so traumatic, he still speaks of it 40 years later:
Like flies to shit, the usual brain trust has come to the thread. Bobby Morrow, Vidiot, and BradOlson bring their expertise, and it is only still on the first page.
Me? I have never seen "Grease." Fake 50's nostaligia? Pass.
forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/grease-the-pre-1998-audio-mix.663690/
"Greased Lightning" has always sounded too bombastic and needs more prominent horn honks, and the strings in "Sandra Dee" are just not subtle enough.
Fortunately, God has provided.
All you need to do it this:
First, you need to buy an outmoded form of late 20th century technology known as a "VCR" They come in two varieties. "VHS" and "Beta". Beta is the better of the two, but if you buy one, completing step two will be largely impossible. So stick to VHS.
Then, scour the thrift stores. What you are looking for is a pre-1998 edition of the movie "Grease". Stay away from the anniversary edition. The 1990 edition will do. You may need to scour a lot of thrift stores, but they are out there somewhere...
Once you finally locate one, put the cassette in the player and listen to a gentler, kinder "Greased Lightning". Now listen to "Sandra Dee". Notice the banjo and accordion in the mix? Heheh, bet you never knew those were there...
There needs to be a published a list of these variants, so that after these efforts, you will be able to read what sounds different...
TheLazenby said:
A film buff I know recently clued me in on something I never realized about "Grease", having been raised more or less on the DVD editions..... the audio mix is *very* different on home video releases starting in 1998 (the 20th anniversary VHS onwards), and not close to what the theatrical version presented.
So, intrigued by this, I bought a VCR today and scoured the thrift stores for an edition that pre-dated my 20th Anniversary boxed set (my VHS copy has that 'Megamix' CD and the mini script, so likely the first of the 'remix' batch), and after coming up empty at a few stores, I found a 1990 VHS.
Listening to the movie on headphones...... he was right. Some songs like "Summer Nights" sound the same to me (well, the song itself does; I seem to remember the DVD mix having ambient sounds audible through the song, like birds and people playing football, which are missing on this VHS), but others are *drastically* different - "Sandra Dee" is a much different orchestration than I'm used to, with the strings much more subtle and a very prominent banjo and accordion I never noticed before; and "Greased Lightning" sounds less bombastic and over-orchestrated, and the sound effects seemingly changed for the 1998+ releases (the horn honks during the instrumental break being the most obvious to me).
Is there a list of differences anywhere, so I know my ears aren't deceiving me?
A film buff I know recently clued me in on something I never realized about "Grease", having been raised more or less on the DVD editions..... the audio mix is *very* different on home video releases starting in 1998 (the 20th anniversary VHS onwards), and not close to what the theatrical version presented.
So, intrigued by this, I bought a VCR today and scoured the thrift stores for an edition that pre-dated my 20th Anniversary boxed set (my VHS copy has that 'Megamix' CD and the mini script, so likely the first of the 'remix' batch), and after coming up empty at a few stores, I found a 1990 VHS.
Listening to the movie on headphones...... he was right. Some songs like "Summer Nights" sound the same to me (well, the song itself does; I seem to remember the DVD mix having ambient sounds audible through the song, like birds and people playing football, which are missing on this VHS), but others are *drastically* different - "Sandra Dee" is a much different orchestration than I'm used to, with the strings much more subtle and a very prominent banjo and accordion I never noticed before; and "Greased Lightning" sounds less bombastic and over-orchestrated, and the sound effects seemingly changed for the 1998+ releases (the horn honks during the instrumental break being the most obvious to me).
Is there a list of differences anywhere, so I know my ears aren't deceiving me?
Incidentally, TheLazenby wastes more time than anybody in the universe. His big hobby is spending weeks at a time editing together albums that never existed, just for fun. So look for a special bootleg "Grease: As It Should Have Been" package over Bootlegzone in a few weeks.
One warning though: once you hear how "Greased Lightning" and "Sandra Dee" are supposed to sound, you will never again be able to enjoy a 70mm print in a theater ever again. Consider the sorry fate of wrench-throwing Gort MLutthans' friend. Once exposed to the original mix of this 70's classic in original release, he was bitterly disappointed to see it again (while still in original release) and discover it was the wrong mix on the second film. This was so traumatic, he still speaks of it 40 years later:
MLutthans said
I may be able to throw one more wrench into things. I have a friend who was in exhibitor relations (or some such thing) for Paramount in the 70s/80s, and he was invited to some sort of pre-release screening of GREASE at the Egyptian (I think.....maybe it was the Chinese, but I don't think so) in Hollywood, using a 70mm answer print with synchronized sound on a mag film dubber in the booth. He was absolutely blown away by the sound, and couldn't wait to see the movie again just for the sound quality he had heard. He first saw it during general release in 35mm, but then it landed at, I think, the Village in Westwood in 70mm, and sounded nothing like that rough version he had heard. He still comments to this day about what a complete disappointment that was, and he'd love to know what happened to that early mix/release he experienced.
I may be able to throw one more wrench into things. I have a friend who was in exhibitor relations (or some such thing) for Paramount in the 70s/80s, and he was invited to some sort of pre-release screening of GREASE at the Egyptian (I think.....maybe it was the Chinese, but I don't think so) in Hollywood, using a 70mm answer print with synchronized sound on a mag film dubber in the booth. He was absolutely blown away by the sound, and couldn't wait to see the movie again just for the sound quality he had heard. He first saw it during general release in 35mm, but then it landed at, I think, the Village in Westwood in 70mm, and sounded nothing like that rough version he had heard. He still comments to this day about what a complete disappointment that was, and he'd love to know what happened to that early mix/release he experienced.
Like flies to shit, the usual brain trust has come to the thread. Bobby Morrow, Vidiot, and BradOlson bring their expertise, and it is only still on the first page.
Me? I have never seen "Grease." Fake 50's nostaligia? Pass.
forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/grease-the-pre-1998-audio-mix.663690/