Xanadu (Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra song)

"Xanadu" is the title song from the soundtrack album Xanadu, and is the title song from the 1980 film of the same name. A rare collaboration for ELO, the song is performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and Olivia Newton-John. Newton-John sings the primary vocals, with ELO (Jeff Lynne) adding "parenthetic" vocals in the style of their other songs on the Xanadu soundtrack, along with providing the instrumentation.

The single reached number 1 in several countries, and was the band's only UK number 1 single,[2] when it peaked there for two weeks in July 1980. The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.[3]

Contents 1 Chart performance 1.1 Weekly charts 1.2 Year-end charts 2 Personnel 3 Kirsty K. version 3.1 Chart performance (Kirsty K. version) 4 New Electric Light Orchestra version 5 Sharleen Spiteri version 5.1 Music video 5.2 Chart performance 5.3 Other cover versions 6 References 7 External links

Chart performance
Weekly charts

Chart (1980)

Peak position

Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 1 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[7] 2 Canadian RPM Top Singles[8] 9 Eurochart Hot 100 Singles[9] 1 France (SNEP)[9] 3 Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 1 Irish Singles Chart[11] 1 Israel Singles Chart[12] 1 Japan (Oricon)[13] 18 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 8 Norway (VG-lista)[17] 1 South African Chart[18] 20 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[9] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 2 UK (Official Charts Company)[2] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[3] 8 US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary[3] 2 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles 9 US Record World Singles[9] 4 US Radio & Records (R&R)[21][22] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)

Rank

Australia[23] 53 Canada[24] 71 US American Top 40[25] 93 UK[26] 34

Personnel
Olivia Newton-John - Vocals Jeff Lynne - Guitar, Keyboards, backing vocals Bev Bevan - Drums, percussion Richard Tandy - Keyboards Kelly Groucutt - Bass, backing vocals Louis Clark - Strings

Preceded by "Crying" by Don McLean UK Singles Chart number-one single July 12, 1980 – July 26, 1980 Succeeded by "Use It Up and Wear It Out" by Odyssey Preceded by "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc West German Singles Chart number-one single August 7, 1980 – August 21, 1980 Succeeded by "Santa María" by Oliver Onions Preceded by "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single September 5, 1980 – September 12, 1980 Succeeded by "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA Preceded by "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc Norwegian VG-Lista number-one single 36/1980 (1 week) Succeeded by "Upside Down" by Diana Ross Preceded by "Crying" by Don McLean Irish Singles Chart number-one single July 19, 1980 – August 16, 1980 Succeeded by "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA

Kirsty K. version
"Xanadu"

Single by Kirsty K.

Released August 1996

Format CD

Recorded 1995

Genre Dance

Length 3:30

Label Central Station Records

Writer(s) Jeff Lynne

In early 1996, two Australian dance performers released versions of the song. Sydney singer Olivia Featuring Paula (on the MDS label) released a dance version first, followed by Kirsty K. (on Central Station Records). Both versions charted on the ARIA Singles and Dance Charts in the first half of 1996.

Chart performance (Kirsty K. version)

Chart (1996)

Peak position

Australia ARIA Dance Chart 71

New Electric Light Orchestra version
In 2000, ELO's Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song, with his own vocals, for the box set Flashback and the All Over the World compilation. Though it was billed as an ELO selection, the song was recorded entirely by Lynne himself, with no input from his former bandmates.

Sharleen Spiteri version
"Xanadu"

Single by Sharleen Spiteri

from the album The Movie Songbook

Released February 2010

Format CD Single, digital download

Recorded 2009

Genre Pop

Length 3:34

Label Mercury, Universal

Writer(s) Jeff Lynne

Producer(s) Sharleen Spiteri

Sharleen Spiteri singles chronology

"It Was You" (2008) "Xanadu" (2010)

In 2009, Scottish singer-songwriter Sharleen Spiteri recorded the song for a second studio album titled The Movie Songbook which was released on March 1, 2010 worldwide. Xanadu was released as the lead single from the album in February 2010 and has so far made the BBC Radio 2 C-List.[27]

Music video

A Music video for the song was added to Spiteri's official YouTube channel in February 2010. The video shows the Capitol Records Building and Spiteri performing the song with an acoustic guitar and one male and two female back up singers.

Chart performance

Chart (2010)

Peak position

UK (Official Charts Company)[28] 71

Other cover versions

Karin Glenmark recorded the song in Swedish, with lyrics by Ingela "Pling" Forsman, and released it as a single in 1980.[29] Her version chartered at Svensktoppen for 10 weeks between October 26-December 21, 1980.[30] 1980 also saw the release of Swedish language-recordings by Ingmar Nordströms.,[31] Flamingokvintetten [32] and Wizex.[33]

British indie artist Dev Hynes, under his alias, Lightspeed Champion, did his own rendition of "Xanadu" as a b-side to his single "Tell Me What It's Worth".

The song appeared on the first episode of the fourth season of the American adult animated sitcom American Dad! "The Vacation Goo" wherein the alien character Roger performed "Xanadu on a cruise ship as he is impersonating Olivia Newton-John.

Dannii Minogue also covered "Xanadu" for her 2007 album Club Disco.