Rating:
Genre:
Soundtrack
Release Date: 04/26/2005
Broadway Magic: Broadway 1968-1980 is the fourth of six budget-priced compilations of cast recordings issued by
Universal Music's
Decca Broadway imprint, covering the six decades since the founding of the American
Decca Records label. Actually,
Decca was part of
MCA Records during the period covered by the disc, and the label was phased out by the early '70s. But the company that later morphed into
Universal also gobbled up lots of other firms, with the result that there was plenty of catalog for producers
Brian Drutman and
Joseph S. Szurly to choose from -- tracks on this disc originally appeared on LPs issued by
Motown,
Casablanca,
ABC,
ATCO, and
MGM/
Verve Records in addition to
Decca and
MCA. Nevertheless, the album represents only a sampling of some of the Broadway music of those years. There are no songs from
Company,
Follies,
Grease,
A Little Night Music,
The Wiz,
A Chorus Line,
Chicago,
Pacific Overtures,
Annie, or
Sweeney Todd, simply because the cast albums for these shows went to other record companies. There wouldn't be a song from
Hair, either, if the producers hadn't bent the rules by using a track from the
Original London Cast album. And the inclusion of the old songs
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and
"Won't You Charleston with Me?," drawn from revivals, makes the date range questionable. But revivals are a part of Broadway, too, and by mixing them in with British imports, elements of
rock and
disco, and more traditional
show tunes, this short album gives a taste of what the Great White Way sounded like in the '70s.
~William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
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