All Over The World the song Jeff Lynne wrote for a movie he’ll never see

By Dale Maplethorpe

One of the main things that can contribute towards a film being poorly received is a poorly constructed soundtrack. There needs to be some form of cohesion between the movie and the music, and if there isn’t, it can lead to something difficult to watch that ends up flopping at the box office. This could be why Olivia Newton-John’s Xanadu didn’t take off, as the studio had Jeff Lynne compose music for the movie; however, he had little idea of what the film was about and admits he has never seen it.

“All Over the World” was a song written for the Olivia Newton-John movie Xanadu. I wrote half the songs in the film, though I’ve never seen the thing. I don’t suppose anybody else has either,” said Lynne, “It was supposed to be really bad. But I’m really pleased with the music. This song never lets up, and it’s very catchy and optimistic. I don’t think I’ll ever see the movie after reading the reviews. I took it because I thought, ‘Well, I like Olivia Newton-John. She’s great. It would be nice to meet her’.”