Xanadu was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany late in 1979 and/or early in 1980 with both Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra present for the full session. Olivia sang the lead and harmony vocals, while Jeff Lynne sang all backing and additional harmony vocals. The song had earlier been recorded as a demo. This demo was provided to the motion picture’s producers and the dance sequences for the motion picture were filmed to the demo rather than the final song. Therefore when it came time to record the final song at the studio in Germany, the band had to match the final song’s beat to the imperfect beat of the demo so that the final song would work with the parts filmed for the motion picture. As a result, the beat of the song is slightly off tempo although not noticeably by most people. Jeff Lynne has stated on multiple occasions that although he considers the song to be a bit soft or light, it’s still one of his most favorite songs that he wrote. It is also a rare instance of an ELO hit that has no instrumental bridge. [Source]
[Dedicated to Lars Thylander, Niels Gråbøl and Kasper Sonne – happy birthdays!!!]
New Music United 