Customer Reviews

Hairspray: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The movie Hairspray by John Waters boasts a score so good it's almost criminal! This CD contains twelve great songs that deserve much more attention than they ever received; and just one listen proves it.

The great songs on this CD include Toussaint McCall's heartrending ballad "Nothing Takes The Place Of You." Toussaint McCall sings this beautifully and the musical arrangement enhances the beauty of this number. Jan Bradley performs "Mama Didn't Lie" which is another excellent song. Jan sings about protecting her heart from boys who don't want to give her true love. "Foot Stompin'" boasts an infectious beat by The Flares as they sing about dancing to what was once known as "race" music. Excellent!

"You'll Lose A Good Thing" is a very romantic ballad by Barbara Lynn. In this song Barbara reminds her man to treat her well.

One of very favorite numbers on this album is Gene Pitney's "Town Without Pity." Gene delivers this song very well; his voice is strong and energetic. The musical arrangement will stun you, too. Another excellent song is "The Madison Time" by The Ray Bryant Combo. "The Madison Time" is essentially a great instrumental number with a man telling dancers on the dance floor which steps to take. The arrangement is slick, $exy and very catchy, too.

Despite the fact that this CD boasts a fine collection of obscure oldies, the song "Hairspray" was written for the 1988 movie. "Hairspray" represents camp at its best and you will enjoy this number even if it isn't an oldie.

Other great songs on this CD include "I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song);" "Shake A Tail Feather" and "The Roach (Dance)."

Some reviewers write that they wish that this CD included more music from the motion picture soundtrack. They are right. I considered making this a four star review for that reason but I concluded that the strength of this CD as it stands merits a five star review. The songs here are just so good I said "Aw, heck" to myself and so I gave it five stars anyway.

The liner notes give the songs credits and John Waters adds a brief essay about the songs on this CD. The graphics are excellent.

Overall, this CD offers a rare opportunity to hear many obscure but wonderful oldies that deserve more play time than they ever will receive. The quality of the sound is excellent even on my portable CD player. Fans of the oldies or movie soundtracks will love this album. May you enjoy this album as much as I have!

A great soundtrack! I like all songs, and I get really happy when I listen to them.
Fantastic!
B U T.......where are all the other songs????
Only 12 songs on a CD, which can contain 20 songs or so!
There are a lot of songs I would like to own very much, but they're left out on the CD. You don't own me, mashed potatoes, waddle waddle, do the new continental. And especially the last 2 I mentioned I would like to have oh so bad, but I can't find them anywhere! Releasing them on this soundtrack was my only chance, I searched everywhere for those songs, and on search engines they aren't even reckognized! Why not release a second part to the soundtracks, it could contain many songs from the movie, since so much has been left out.
a bit of a bummer!

Cult filmmaker John Waters, did something different in this compilation of 1960s tunes for the movie "Hairspray." Instead of filling the soundtrack with the biggest hits of the period, several rare sides were selected instead. Some examples are Toussaint McCall's moody "Nothing Takes the Place of You" (which he also performs in the film) and the campy "The Roach" by Gene and Wendell. Although both songs failed to make much of an impact on the pop charts upon their initial release, they were big R&B hits. These two very different songs along with teen pop sensation Miss Peggy March's "I Wish I Were a Princess," demonstrate that this collection covers a wide range of styles.

Other gems are the jazz flavored "The Madison Time" by the Ray Bryant Combo, "Foot Stompin'" by the Flares, Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie" (written by Curtis Mayfield), "Shake a Tail Feather" by the Five Du-Tones, and Barbara Lynn's signature recording, "You'll Lose a Good Thing."

Since many of the tracks are by "one hit wonders," you'll be hard pressed to find several of these tracks elsewhere. So whether or not you've seen or even liked the movie, if you're a fan of 1960s music (particularly R&B), this soundtrack is definitely worth a look.

Now with twelve tracks making up the set for a bargain list price, this collection is also a great value. The CD may cover too wide a range of styles for some tastes, but the Toussaint McCall track alone is worth the price. "Nothing Takes the Place of You" is classic Southern soul with expressive vocals by McCall and a simmering organ that immediately brings you into the song.

Need I say more?

I've come to notice that all John Waters movies have an ridiculously great soundtrack.

Some terrific songs are included, but there are many missing--- especially "The Continental" which was
in the movie. I can't finding the complete song anywhere.
Why did they omit it on the CD?

Worth buying for the title track alone, but at 12 tracks and just over 30 minutes it's a perfect slice of early 60s pop - all at a bargain price.

The reason this only gets 4*'s is because it's without the Bunker Hill tune, "Hide And Go Seek (Part 1)".

When the LP was first released, I picked up a copy and was also disappointed not to find the remaining songs from the movie.
For years I had been collecting the songs that brought my best memories
of my youth. Here was a chance to add a few of the rarer ones.

Since then, I've been able to complete my own collection of the tunes of Hairspray. And yes, "Hide And Go Seek" was my number one priority.

I found it on 2 different CD's. "The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll Vol. 6" on Ace and the ultra-rare, "Do You Remember? 30 Original Golden Oldies" on Mr. Maestro.

Luckily, though, "The Roach", "Footstompin'", "Mama Didn't Lie" and "Nothing Takes The Place Of You" are included in the Hairspray LP/CD, which are very much repsonsible for its 4* rating.

The only so-called weak tunes on this recording are the title track, "Hairspray" and "I Wish I Were A Princess".

...however there are a lot of really good songs from the movie that were missing from this soundtrack. I probably should have looked more carefully at the track listing :( but what's on it is still awesome. But if you are looking for a full soundtrack with all the songs from the movie you will only get about half here.

Simply the best music, the best performance including Divine's last performance as the mother-perfect and make John Travolta look revolting! This is genuine Baltimore in the 80's hon.....!
No Hollywood in this gem just John Waters and a superb movie. Original oldies-the real stuff and that makes the original HAIRSPRAY the only one to watch! You will love it, not technically perfect, not the best camera angles but the best pure production!

So you were too busy watching the crazy antics associated with any John Waters film to take note that some really great songs were playing in the background, hm? That's alright because now you have the opportunity to catch a little slice of genuine americana on this CD (and it's cheap, too!) This CD is worth every cent for the final track alone, 'Nothing takes the place of you' by the wonderful Toussant McCall which incidentally was recorded in a janitors closet at the record company which gives it that wonderfully haunting sound. Other favorits include 'I'm blue' by the Ikettes (Ike Turner's group pre-Tina) and of course the memorable 'Town without Pity' by Gene Pitney....so smoke a little reefer, play your bongos, iron your hair, and listen to the hep sounds of 1962, cat! Swingin'!