The movie Grease was released this day in 1978 in the UK. I've still never watched the whole movie but I can remember this being huge at the time. If you have a Ultra High Definition 10K Blu-Ray of the movie and a cinema-sized TV screen you may be able to spot Johnny Casino & The Gamblers (below) performing in the background of the dance hall scene if you pause it in exactly the right spot. They were played by covers band Sha Na Na who, I'd say, can take a lot of credit for the resurgence of interest in 50's music in the 70's. You can hear them performing several songs in the movie but there are very few clear shots of them. The rumour was the Director wasn't a fan.
Grease debuted as a stage musical in 1971 and Those Magic Changes was a new song written for it in 1972 by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. This 'live' version of the song in the clip above is taken from the Sha Na Na TV show with Johnny Contardo, as in the movie, crystal clear on lead vocals.
The other big connection the band had to Grease was that their pianist, Screamin' Scott Simon, wrote the lyrics to Sandy. This song was written for the movie but is now often included in productions of the musical. The clip below is another 'live' clip from the Sha Na Na TV show with Scott on lead vocals (the show didn't go out live but they usually sang the song live to a backing track as the show was recording).
