“Two of a Kind” was the much ballyhooed return to the cineplex for John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, a reteaming of the twosome who had made 1978’s “Grease” into a blockbuster…only without the musical numbers. Actually, “Kind” was something of a romantic comedy in which two somewhat dastardly regular people have to team up to save the world from destruction.

I’m sure the studio had pretty high hopes when the film was released. After all, Olivia was coming off of some of the biggest hits of her career-“Physical” was only 18 months removed from having spent nearly three months atop the Billboard charts. And although “Staying Alive” wasn’t the blockbuster “Saturday Night Fever” was, Travolta was still on the box office “A” list (or at least the “B+” list).

Well, let’s just say that “Two of a Kind” is one of those movies Livvy and John probably leave off of their resume. Far from replicating the success of “Grease”, the film was a massive dud-winning 5 Razzie awards. Maybe they should have sung “Summer Nights” again.  About the only good thing to come from the flick was “Twist of Fate”, the movie’s theme song. It became Olivia’s last Top Ten hit in the U.S. , peaking at #5 and bringing a rather abrupt end to her decade-long run of chart success. It’s certainly the most aggressive number she’d been a part of up until that point. Mr. Travolta even makes a dramatic appearance (perhaps I should put “dramatic appearance” in quotes?) in the song’s video.

“Twist” is one of those big Eighties hits that kinda gets lost in the shuffle when people talk about the great music of the era. Man, was 1983 a great year for pop or what?