Olivia Newton Bomb in Xanadu
8 AUGUST 1980 Conceived as a cash-in on the same short-lived disco craze that spawned 1979’s Roller Boogie, Xanadu stands as a legendary Hollywood misfire, derailing the movie career of Olivia Newton-John and directly inspiring the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards.
An all-singing, all-rollerskating fantasia, it cast the Grease goddess as a genuine mythological figure: Terpsichore, one of the nine muses of Olympus, reincarnated in modern-day LA. The premise is recycled from 1947’s Rita Hayworth showcase Down To Earth - itself a sequel to 1941 fantasy Here Comes Mr Jordan - while Gene Kelly, bizarrely enough, reprises his character from 1944’s Cover Girl.
Critics skewered it, but Xanadu’s songs escaped the wormhole of box-office disaster. Newton-John’s “Magic” was a US number one, while the enduring banger of a title song, a collaboration with ELO, topped the UK Top 40.
The dream that came through a million years lived on through all the tears…