Little Shop of Horrors [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by Howard Ashman, Alan Menken

Overview

In 1978 Alan Menken and Howard Ashman created a new musical take on Roger Corman's 1960 film Little Shop Of Horrors, which became a Broadway hit. Both involve a man-eating, Venus flytrap-inspired plant named Audrey II, raised in a skid-row flower shop into a massive beast with excessive chloroplast (testosterone?) levels. Though the film was inventive and campy, Menken and Ashman's music music - a mix of doo-wop and lavish songs along the lines of Rocky Horror Picture Show -- made the show's fun hilarious, its thrills outrageously gruesome. The soundtrack to Frank Oz's 1987 film adaptation carries on the musical's spirit: Steve Martin's rendition of "Dentist," about a demented psychopath who drills mouths (not just teeth) without novocaine, is achingly funny. "Downtown" is a full-powered choir of the slums; Rick Moranis works for an uptight flower shop manager ("He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed, crust of bread and a job, treats me like dirt and calls me a slob, which I am.") Martin and Moranis' sincere if limited singing is charming, and Ellen Greene returns as the original Audrey from the Broadway version; the way she belts out earth-shakingly high notes is bewildering, particularly on the lovely duet with Moranis, "Suddenly Seymour." The Four Tops' Levi Stubbs is a scene-stealer as Audrey II, particularly on the new track, the raunchy, boisterous finale "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space"; since film nominations must be new songs, it was added in hopes of an Academy Award (and did indeed receive a nomination.) When Disney added a tribute to Howard Ashman on the Beauty and the Beast credits after his death in 1992, it read: "To Ashman who gave a Mermaid her voice and a Beast his soul." He also gave a plant its appetite. ~ Peter Fawthrop

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/2015
Label:	Geffen / Polydor
UPC:	0602547196590
Rank:	20272

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alan Menken   Primary Artist
Howard Ashman   Primary Artist
Siedah Garrett   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Steve Martin   Vocals,Vocals
Bob Gaudio   Synthesizer
Derek Austin   Keyboards,Synthesizer
Frank Oz   Vocals,Voices
Ellen Greene   Vocals
Lynn Davis   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Joe Pizzulo   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Jay Gruska   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Levi Stubbs   Vocals
Julia Waters   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Peter Beckett   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Rick Moranis   Vocals
Neil Stubenhaus   Bass
Bobbye Hall   Tabla,Congas,Tambourine
Monalisa Young   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Tichina Arnold   Vocals
Gary Martin   Vocals,Voices,Vocals
Dann Huff   Guitar,Bottleneck Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Tisha Campbell   Vocals
Tommy Funderburk   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Barry Morgan   Drums,Percussion
Debra Dobkin   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Donny Gerrard   Vocals,Voices,Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
John Philip Shenale   Synclavier,Synthesizer
Maxine Willard Waters   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Michelle Weeks   Vocals,Voices
Oren Waters   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Andrew Pask   Bass
Luther Waters   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Tom Nichol   Drums
Gene Morford   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Lindsay Benson   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Morgan Winters   Synclavier
Greg Stuart   Synclavier
Jonathan Sorrell   Synclavier
Alan Carvell   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Doreen Hermitage   Vocals,Voices
Julia Tillman Waters   Vocals
London Rhythm Section   Orchestra
Phil Shenale   Synclavier,Synthesizer
Robert Billing   Voices
Bob Caudio   Synthesizer
Phil Nicholl   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Robert Billig   Vocals
Do Wops   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Nick Curtis   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Stephen Hoye   Vocals
Maxine Waters   Vocals
Martin Kershaw   Guitar
Robby Merkin   Piano,Voices,Synthesizer
Bob Sherman   Vocals
Bob Sessions   Vocals

Technical Credits

Steve Martin   Performer
Bob Gaudio   Arranger,Producer,Adaptation to CD,Musical Adaptation
Bernie Grundman   Mastering,Original Mastering
Barry Sage   Engineer
David Jacob   Engineer
Howard Ashman   Composer,Lyricist
Levi Stubbs   Performer
Alan Menken   Composer
John Philip Shenale   Programming,Synclavier Programming
Miles Goodman   Orchestration,Unknown Contributor Role
Dan Reed   Assistant Engineer
Morgan Winters   Producer,Programming,Synclavier Programming
Greg Stuart   Producer,Programming,Synclavier Programming
Jonathan Sorrell   Producer,Programming,Synclavier Programming
Tony d'Amico   Mixing,Engineer
Bill Mitchell   Narrator
Robert Sobo   Production Coordination
Billy J. Mitchell   Narrator
Suzan (Kapner) Mann   Production Coordination
Robert Billing   Vocal Arrangement
Bob Sutton   Production Coordination
Gabrielle Raumberger   Package Design
Marvin Hall   Technical Advisor
Tonia Davall   Vocal Contractor
Robert Billig   Arranger,Vocal Arrangement
Martin O'Donnell   Assistant Engineer
Robby Merkin   Arranger,Orchestration,Adaptation to CD,Music Supervisor,Musical Adaptation
Daniel Reed   Assistant Engineer