Episode 50: The Travolta Trilogy

PLAY LIST

  1. Let Her In by John Travolta (1976) 

  2. Summer Nights by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1978)

  3. Greased Lightning by John Travolta (1978)

  4. Stayin’ Alive  by the Bee Gees (1977)

  5. Disco Inferno by The Trammps (1976)

  6. Stand by Me by Mickey Gilley (1980)

  7. Could I Have this Dance by Anne Murray (1980)

SUMMARY

In just over a two-year span as the 70s marched on toward the 80s, John Travolta starred in three cultural touchstone movies: Saturday Night Fever (release date: December 12, 1977), Grease (release date: June 16, 1978), and Urban Cowboy (release date: June 6, 1980). This episode examines the cultural significance of those films, the music in them, and how much Travolta himself had to do with the popularity of the movies.

SOURCES

Arar, Yardena. 1980. “Honky Tonk Heroes on Urban Cowboy Soundtrack.” Dothan Eagle (Dothan), August 22, 1980.

Arnold, Gary. 1978. “'Grease': Grin and Grimace Through It.” Washington Post, June 16, 1978.

Breihan, Tom. 2020. “A young John Travolta made Grease watchable—and a huge box-office smash.” The A.V. Club. https://www.avclub.com/a-young-john-travolta-made-grease-watchable-and-a-huge-1841043251.

Burns, Sean. 2015. “Harvard Film Archive Reminds Us That 'Saturday Night Fever' Is More Than A Dance Contest.” WBUR. https://www.wbur.org/news/2015/09/21/saturday-night-fever.

Ebert, Roger. 1978. “Travolta: He's Hollywood's Hottest Property.” Shreveport Journal (Shreveport), August 22, 1978.

Latham, Aaron. 1978. “The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy.” Esquire, September 12, 1978.

Latham, Aaron. 2000. “The Cowboy Chronicles.” New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/3840/.

Michael, Reeves. 1978. “The Fonz Dismisses Rivlary with Teen Idol Travolta.” Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon), September 29, 1978.

Patoski, Joe N., and Sarah Thurmond. 2020. “A Look Back at How Gilley's Gave Us 'Urban Cowboy.'” Texas Highways. https://texashighways.com/travel-news/a-look-back-at-how-gilleys-gave-us-urban-cowboy/.

Peterson, Mark. 2015. “Playing for Survival: An Interview with Earl Young.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuRmPK6FhFE.

Siskel, Gene. 1980. “Slowly Faltering Cowboy is Fever in 7-Gallon Hat.” Chicago Tribune, June 11, 1980.


music, music history, historyAmy Livelytravolta, grease, urban cowboy, saturday night fever, 70s movies, 70s music, 70s podcast