Allan Carr was well-known around Hollywood, but he didn't make it to the big time until he became involved with the original high school musical Grease. The movie, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton John catapulted all involved to superstardom, including producer Allan Carr.
John Tesh: After Dark
Rather than assume that this was a fluke or dumb luck, Mr. Carr decided that he was a super producer and quickly put into production Can't Stop the Music, a vehicle for the biggest act at the time- The Village People. Rounding out the cast were a pre-stardom Steve Guttenberg and a pre-op Caitlin Jenner. It was supposed to be the biggest hit of the new decade, produced by the biggest producer in the world. Sadly, none of these things came true. The film was a massive flop, tarnishing Mr. Carr's reputation.
Can't stop the screaming...
So, perhaps suspecting that just maybe he wasn't the producing genius he thought he was, Allan went back to the well for Grease 2. Of course, the film would feature everyone's favorite characters, right? Not exactly. At this point, John Travolta and Olivia Newton John were still riding high and commanding huge pay days. Of course, it would require a very large payday to bring them back for a sure fire hit. Mr. Carr, on the other hand, was fairly certain that the success of Grease was due to its concept and his genius, so he quickly rewrote the script to exclude just about everyone audiences liked from the first film. Aside from Didi Conn, all of the other actors except for the teaching staff were not asked to return. In their places were ragtag replacements who were obviously supposed to make people think of the original characters.
If you squint hard enough, maybe this will look like a good idea...
The film did introduce the world to the gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer, but other than that, it mainly felt like a pale copy of the first film. The movie was a huge disappointment and Paramount canceled further plans for a Grease franchise. Where the Boys Are '84, released two years later, would be the final nail in Allan Carr's film producing career. Sadly, it wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing Allan Carr was involved with.
Allan Carr's "Can't Stop the Trainwreck"
