Grease might still be the word, but the question next week's re-release of the1978 movie begs is -- for which decade? The film (and original 1972 stageshow) grew out of the seventies nostalgia for fifties styles. Now it's beingreissued into a culture that's looking back at the seventies. Add to this anew, remixed version of the soundtrack (the original has gone platinum tentimes over) that turns "You're the One That I Want" and the title track intothumping, club-ready dance tracks, and you have more generation hopping thantraversed by John Travolta.

The party celebrating the premiere of the restored, digitally re-masteredprint didn't make matters any clearer. After a screening at Mann's ChineseTheater, guests were taken by school bus to the Hollywood Palladium. Thecavernous dancehall was decorated like a high school gym, with lockers,basketball hoops, balloons, and signs (Give 'em Hell, Rydell! and Join theChess Club). The food kept the theme, with ducktailed waiters dishing outhamburgers, hot dogs, meatloaf, grilled cheese and macaroni. But there weretouches that would have perplexed a fifties high-schooler: turkey burgers,designer pizza, tacos and, most incongruously, a karaoke machine.

Over the PA, tunes like "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Rock Around the Clock" spunalongside sixties girl group tunes such as "Tell Him," Motown classics like"Mickey's Monkey," and "Little Shop of Horrors," a seventies show tune basedon Roger Corman's low-budget horror film, itself a fifties relic. Still, thismattered little to the crowd. It was a safe bet that when the live band tookthe stage for "At the Hop," most of them associated the tune with Sha Na Naand not Danny and the Juniors.

Alan Carr, who produced both the movie and the original show, doesn't thinkthe anachronisms matter. Grease was never meant to be history, heclaims. "It's entertainment, and has been entertaining three generations offans." The impetus behind the reissue, he explains, was the discovery thatkids aged five to 12 were the film's biggest fans. "There was also a cultfollowing among teenage girls," he says. Plus, he adds, the soundtrack isstill a best seller, racking up 1.2 million sales a year. "Summer Nights, heclaims, "is the most requested song at karaoke bars. And with these mixes,"the producer enthuses, "we're going to bring the music to a whole newgeneration -- the songs are going to be club hits!"

Harry Paul, who produced the remixes with Rob Bonet, says the music'spopularity made reworking the tunes a daunting task. "We had to make themmodern while remaining true to the originals." And he wouldn't release themixes without the approval of the original writer, mentioning that Bee GeeBarry Gibb, who penned the movie's theme, is "very enthusiastic."

Olivia Newton-John, the film's star, heard the remixes for the first time atthe party. The results startled her. "They really jump right at you," shelaughed, shaking her head at the notion that they might give her a new careeras a dance-music diva. "I don't think that's in the cards." Besides, she'sjust finished a new album of country songs for MCA/Nashville. But she'spleased the movie will reach a new generation of fans. "It's the most popularmovie musical ever," she says. Is Grease a singing Titanic? "Youcould say that," she replies, smiling. "Except we didn't sink."

The re-mastered Grease opens Friday, March 27 at theaters nationwide.The remixed soundtrack is due later this spring.

STEVE MIRKIN