Hairspray [2007 Original Soundtrack]

by Adam Shankman

Overview

Hairspray began life in 1988 as the first John Waters film to earn a PG rating, despite such subversive elements as the casting of cross-dressing Waters favorite Divine as Edna, the mother of the main character, tubby teenager Tracy Turnblad. The story was further softened in its conversion to a Broadway musical hit in 2002 with a raft of songs written and performed in the period style of 1962 pop/rock; this time, openly gay actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein donned a dress to play the mother, his gravelly bass voice notwithstanding. It is some measure of the work's ongoing move toward the mainstream that in the 2007 movie musical based on the stage musical that was based on the first movie, John Travolta in a fat suit becomes Edna. It may be inevitable that a big-budget movie requires name stars and that those name stars require changes to beef up the parts they play and make them more sympathetic. The satiric edges of Hairspray have definitely been rounded off by now, but Travolta, although he doesn't make much of an impression in the film beyond his makeup and prosthetics (and, with his speak-singing, even less of one on the soundtrack), isn't really to blame for what director Adam Shankman calls the repurposing of the script and score, even though Travolta and another Hollywood name, Michelle Pfeiffer, have been handed a reprise of the song "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" that their characters did not do on-stage. The real beneficiary of that repurposing seems to have been Zac Efron, who gets a whole new song, "Ladies' Choice," in his role as Link, Tracy's romantic ideal. There is a marketplace justification for this, as attendance of early showings of the film could confirm; a whole part of the audience, entirely consisting of females under five feet tall, thought of the film as the new Zac Efron movie based on his instant stardom with the tween set as the result of High School Musical. Among the other new songs, "The New Girl in Town" was actually written for the show, but cut, and is welcome back. Finally, there is "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)," an extra number for another star, Queen Latifah. It's worth noting, however, that this song is not actually shoehorned into the film proper; it's merely performed under the lengthy end credits, along with two songs from the stage show that also couldn't fit, the delightful "Cooties" and "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now," the latter rendered as a trio by Nikki Blonsky, the second film's Tracy; Ricki Lake, who appeared in the first film; and Marissa Jaret Winokur, Broadway's Tracy. (Missing entirely is "The Big Dollhouse.") That's a nice touch, even if it means that the score's big finishing number, "You Can't Stop the Beat," now comes three songs from the end; think of the rest as bonus tracks. Whatever one makes of the alterations, it can at least be said that they were instituted by the principals. Composer and co-lyricist Marc Shaiman produced the album, and he clearly took the opportunity of an increased budget to do a bigger version of the score. Broadway cast albums generally have to be recorded in a day due to union rules, but a movie soundtrack can be constructed over time, and the credit list suggests that every session musician in the greater Los Angeles area participated on this recording. As a result, Shaiman really gets the sounds he's after, starting with "Good Morning Baltimore," the Phil Spector copy, which has a genuine Wall of Sound this time, and continuing with the other tunes, each echoing an early-'60s model. Blonsky does not impress as much as Winokur did, but she gets so much support from all concerned that this comes off as Shaiman's best realization of his music yet. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	08/14/2007
Label:	Decca
UPC:	0028947593485

Tracks

1. Hairspray~Good Morning Baltimore
2. Hairspray~The Nicest Kids in Town
3. Hairspray~It Takes Two
4. Hairspray~he Legend Of) Miss Baltimore Crabs
5. Hairspray~I Can Hear the Bells
6. Hairspray~Ladies' Choice
7. Hairspray~The New Girl in Town
8. Hairspray~Welcome to the 60s
9. Hairspray~Run and Tell That
10. Hairspray~Big Blonde and Beautiful
11. Hairspray~Big Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)
12. Hairspray~(You're) Timeless to Me
13. Hairspray~I Know Where I've Been
14. Hairspray~Without Love
15. Hairspray~(It's) Hairspray
16. Hairspray~You Can't Stop the Beat
17. Hairspray~Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)
18. Hairspray~Cooties
19. Hairspray~Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Amanda Bynes   Primary Artist,Vocals
Elijah Kelley   Primary Artist,Vocals
Nikki Blonsky   Primary Artist,Vocals
Ricki Lake   Primary Artist,Vocals
Zac Efron   Primary Artist,Vocals
Marc Shaiman   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Travolta   Primary Artist,Vocals
Christopher Walken   Primary Artist
Jennifer Lewis   Primary Artist
Chester Gregory   Primary Artist
Keala Settle   Primary Artist,Vocals
Pattie Darcy Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals
James Marsden   Primary Artist,Vocals
Marissa Jaret Winokur   Primary Artist,Vocals
Arthur Adams   Primary Artist,Vocals
Aimee Allen   Primary Artist,Vocals
Brittany Snow   Primary Artist,Vocals
Corey Reynolds   Primary Artist,Vocals
Michelle Pfeiffer   Primary Artist,Vocals
Christine Ebersole   Primary Artist,Vocals
Queen Latifah   Primary Artist,Vocals
Nathan Lane   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jenifer Lewis   Primary Artist,Vocals
Shoshana Bean   Vocals
Terron Brooks   Vocals
Dan Higgins   Saxophone
Arnold McCuller   Vocals
Gary Grant   Trumpet
Bobbi Page   Vocals
Leslie Kritzer   Vocals
Shayna Steele   Vocals
Joel Peskin   Saxophone
Carmel Echols   Vocals
Terita Redd   Vocals
William White   Vocals
Keith Cotton   Vocals
Michael Cuno   Vocals
Lon Hoyt   Music Direction
Christopher Walton   Vocals
Candice Rumph Burrows   Vocals
Sophia Pizzulo   Vocals
Leonard Sullivan   Vocals
Davia Walker   Vocals
Warren Luening   Trumpet
William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr.   Trombone
Wayne Bergeron   Trumpet
Louis Price   Vocals
Jerry Hey   Trumpet
Larry Williams   Saxophone
Lucian Piane   Vocals
Donna Vivino   Vocals
Matthew Sullivan   Vocals
Steven Holtman   Trombone
Christopher Johnson   Vocals
Alex Iles   Trombone
Don Taylor   Choir Director
Peter Mathew Smith   Vocals
Kamilah Marshall   Vocals
Jamison Scott Robinson   Vocals
Chyla Anderson   Vocals
Chester II Gregory   Vocals
Cliff Frazier   Vocals
Jonathan Byram   Vocals
New Dimension   Choir/Chorus
Ayana Williams   Vocals
Bill Liston   Saxophone
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra
LA Mass Choir   Choir/Chorus
Larry Hall   Trumpet
Charles Loper   Trombone
Frank Wolf   Vocals
Laura Lively   Vocals
John West   Vocals
Clarke Thorell   Vocals
Jessica Rotter   Vocals
Jennifer Gambatese   Vocals
Katharine Leonard   Vocals
Michael Mayo   Vocals
Sabrina Sloan   Vocals

Technical Credits

Michael Valerio   Performer,Musician
Shoshana Bean   Performer
Rick Gratton   Musician,Performer
Neil Stubenhaus   Musician,Performer
Terron Brooks   Performer
Michael Thompson   Musician,Performer
Stephen Stepanic   Assistant Engineer
George Doering   Musician,Performer
Chris Spilfogel   Engineer
Arnold McCuller   Performer
Eric Weaver   Assistant Engineer
Paul Broucek   Executive Producer
Larry Saltzman   Musician,Performer
Jason Linn   Executive Producer
Paul Jackson, Jr.   Musician,Performer
Francisco Centeno   Musician,Performer
Bobbi Page   Performer,Vocal Contractor
Leslie Kritzer   Performer
Ed Cherney   Mixing
Ryan Kennedy   Assistant Engineer
Greg Allen   Art Direction
Peter Mokran   Mixing
Jim Cox   Musician,Performer
Greg Hayes   Assistant Engineer
Patrick Spain   Assistant Engineer
Carmel Echols   Performer
Lori Silfen   Music Business Affairs
Peter Rotter   Music Contractor
John F.X. Walsh   Music Business Affairs
Adam Shankman   Liner Notes
William White   Performer
Keith Cotton   Musician,Performer
Michael Cuno   Performer
Candice Rumph Burrows   Performer
Sophia Pizzulo   Performer
Leonard Sullivan   Performer
Davia Walker   Performer
William Kaplan   Music Editor
Doug Sax   Mastering
David Spinozza   Musician,Performer
Dean Parks   Musician,Performer
Scott Wittman   Composer,Lyricist
Louis Price   Performer
Pete Karam   Engineer
Nathan East   Musician,Performer
Peter Calo   Musician,Performer
Sabrina Sloan   Performer
Lucian Piane   Producer,Performer,Score Preparation
Donna Vivino   Performer
Matthew Sullivan   Performer,Music Supervisor
Mike Fisher   Musician,Performer
Christopher Johnson   Performer
Brett Pierce   Score Preparation
Peter Mathew Smith   Performer
Steven Schaeffer   Musician,Performer
Clint de Ganon   Musician,Performer
Jamison Scott Robinson   Performer
Chyla Anderson   Performer
Chester II Gregory   Performer
Cliff Frazier   Performer
Jonathan Byram   Performer
Ayana Williams   Performer
John "J.R." Robinson   Musician,Performer
Marc Shaiman   Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Performer,Liner Notes
Steve Genewick   Assistant Engineer
Frank Wolf   Mixing,Engineer,Performer
Sally Boldt   Music Editor
Laura Lively   Performer
Sandy De Crescent   Music Contractor
Lisa Jaime   Music Editor
John West   Performer,Vocal Contractor
Clarke Thorell   Performer
Katrina Schiller   Music Editor
Jason Cienkus   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Jessica Rotter   Performer
Jennifer Gambatese   Performer
Katharine Leonard   Performer
Michael Mayo   Performer
David James   Photography