Wikipedian hub
| "Take a Chance" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side-B label of US 7-inch vinyl release of "Twist of Fate" b/w "Take a Chance" | ||||
| Single by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta | ||||
| from the album Two of a Kind | ||||
| A-side | "Twist of Fate" (Canada & US) | |||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | October 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:09 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | David Foster | |||
| Olivia Newton-John UK singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Olivia Newton-John US singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Take a Chance" on YouTube | ||||
"Take a Chance" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John and American actor John Travolta. It was written for their 1983 film Two of a Kind by David Foster, Steve Lukather and Newton-John. The song was released in October 1983. It performed well on the Adult Contemporary charts in the US and Canada.
In 1978 John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starred in Grease, a big-screen adaptation of the 1972 Broadway musical of the same name. Its success elicited offers to reunite them in another film; Travolta read the screenplay for Two of a Kind and persuaded Newton-John to star in it with him.[1] In "Take a Chance" they sing about the new relationship their characters have started.
In the US and Canada, "Take a Chance" was released in October 1983 as the B-side of the first 7-inch single from the Two of a Kind soundtrack, "Twist of Fate".[2] In the US, "Take a Chance" debuted on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary chart in the issue dated 26 November 1983 and peaked at number 3 during its 17 weeks there.[3] In Canada, it hit number one on RPM magazine's Adult Contemporary chart.[4]
In their review of the soundtrack album, the editors of RPM wrote that Newton-John "makes Travolta sound not too bad" on their one song together.[5]
The music video for "Take a Chance" features Newton-John and Travolta singing to each other and dancing on a soundstage. It was directed by David Mallet and included on a video collection of Newton-John's songs from Two of a Kind titled Twist of Fate. In a review of the collection for Billboard, Paul Grein wrote of the duet, "The video is a soft-focus valentine, which suits the wispy nature of the song, but also serves to make the overall package excessively slushy and syrupy. The one grace note is that the clip features inventive choreography by John Travolta."[6]
The Twist of Fate collection was nominated for Best Video, Short Form at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to David Bowie's Jazzin' for Blue Jean.[7]
In 1987 songwriter Laura Taylor Siskind sued the performers and songwriters of "Take a Chance", claiming it was based on a demo she submitted to the same company that recorded a song of hers on which "Take a Chance" songwriter Steve Lukather played guitar. A judge found there was nothing to support the claim of copyright infringement and dismissed the case.[8]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[10] | Gold | 50,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
