I’m no big fan of chiptunes, but “Xanadu” has always been one of my secret joys. I have the soundtrack on LP, and love the visuals and cinematography and sheer 70s-ness of the film. So, I’m kind of liking this track.
Me too. These admissions may put me in the hall of shame, but:
- I think the stuff ELO did for Xanadu was some of the best music they did
- When it was a Japanese import release only, I hoarded multiple copies on CD in case I scratched one
- I had a choice as a young boy: see Xanadu or Empire Strikes Back. I was a total Greek mythology nerd, so I chose Xanadu
- When I see a big mural (particularly on a beach in southern California), I consider roller skating into it, in case it’s a portal to Olympus
- Sandahl Bergman is really a muse. I’m convinced of it.
- I love Gene Kelly primarily because of this movie, and I love the subtext idea that his character was also inspired by Kira/Terpsichore, but due to the strange nature of the gods, she doesn’t remember him
- Don Fucking Bluth
- And speaking of Don Bluth: the moment when Sonny has been following Kira by turning into various animals, and Kira turns back into human form…Sonny is just hopping around as a bird for a second, and that brief beat where she picks him up but doesn’t turn him back is PERFECT tribute to the pattern of gods screwing with mortals and trapping them in animal form
Yeah, that was a good summer (in spite of the weather).
Remember the woman who was arrested for stabbing her roommates who had the Eagles on repeat? My wife is fixin to stab me now because I can’t stop listing to this.
If you love the Xanadu chiptune you will hate the Hotel California version:
Reminds me of a kluge someone came up with for the original IBMPC. Its hardware could normally output only one tone at a time, but by playing extremely rapid arpeggios it could be made to sound more, if you didn’t mind a rather raspy sound. And, yes, the demo tune for that system was another ELO melody.
I would have been totally fine with Portal ending on this song.
I had forgotten about that. It’s probably why I saw so many movies that summer.
I dunno, I gotta go with the original here.
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