Soundtrack Sunday

Soundtrack Sunday: Elf

Reflecting the warmth and personality Jon Favreau brought to his holiday comedy Elf, the movie’s soundtrack features a dozen Christmas and holiday songs picked by Favreau. Most of these songs have a retro appeal, including Louis Prima’s “Pennies From Heaven,” Ella Fitzgerald’s “Sleigh Ride,” and Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby.” Leon Redbone appears on three of the tracks, “Winter Wonderland,” “Christmas Island,” and in a duet of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with Zooey Deschanel. Other highlights include Brian Setzer’s lounge and rockabilly tinged “Nutcracker Suite,” Ferrante Teicher/Les Baxters’ “Sleigh Ride”/Santa Claus Party,” and Billy Preston’s “Nothing From Nothing.” A charming soundtrack, Elf also manages to outclass many Christmas albums in terms of holiday cheer.

Soundtrack Sunday– The Sound of Music

This week in 1965 The Sound of Music soundtrack hit #1.

The Sound of Music  is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Many songs from the musical have become standards, such as “Edelweiss”, “My Favorite Things”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, “Do-Re-Mi”, and the title song “The Sound of Music”.

 

Soundtrack Sunday — Empire Records

Empire Records is one of the greatest teen dramas EVER. While the film iintroduced the world to Renee Zellweger, Live Tyler and Robin Tunney, the soundtrack introduced tracks by The Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra, Cracker, the Cranberries, Evan Dando (whose “The Ballad of El Goodo” featured Empire Records female lead Liv Tyler on background vocals), and Toad The Wet Sprocket.

The Empire Records soundtrack album peaked at #63 on the album chart.

Soundtrack Sunday — The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Happy (early) Halloween! The Rocky Horror Picture Show was not successful in its initial theatrical run, but then a strange thing happened. In 1976, the Waverly Theater in New York’s Greenwich Village began showing the film at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Soon, a cult of repeat viewers began turning up every week; they began to dress like the characters, call out their own comments at strategic moments, sing along, and add their own theatrical effects. The phenomenon spread across the U.S., with fans rivaling Trekkies and Deadheads for loyalty and eccentricity, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show took on a life Richard O’Brien never could have antici…pated.