DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
This is an expansion of a list (Top 10 Show Tune Albums of All Time) originally posted on Dave’s Music Database Facebook page on February 21, 2010. As with most DMDB lists, this was created based on sales, chart peaks, awards, and an aggregate of lists, in this case more than 100 best-of lists focused on cast albums, musicals, soundtracks, and music-themed movies. The names before the titles indicate the composers.
1. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II South Pacific (1949)
2. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe My Fair Lady (1956)
3. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) The Sound of Music (1959)
4. Leonard Bernstein (music) & Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) West Side Story (1957)
5. Galt MacDermot (music) with Gerome Ragni & James Rado (lyrics) Hair (1967)
6. Meredith Willson (music & lyrics) The Music Man (1957)
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda (music & lyrics) Hamilton (2015)
8. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) with Charles Hart & Richard Stilgoe (lyrics) Phantom of the Opera (1986)
9. George Gershwin (music) with Ira Gershwin & Dubose Heyward (lyrics) Porgy and Bess (1935)
10. Jerry Bock (music) & Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) Fiddler on the Roof (1964)
11. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
12. Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) The Lion King (1997)
13. Cole Porter Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
14. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Oklahoma! (1943)
15. Richard Rodgers (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Carousel (1945)
16. Stephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
17. Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Camelot (1960)
18. Irving Berlin (music & lyrics) Annie Get Your Gun (1946)
19. Grease (1972)
20. John Kander (music) & Fred Ebb (lyrics) Cabaret (1966)
21. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) The King and I (1951)
22. Jerome Kern (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Show Boat (1927)
23. Claude-Michel Schönberg (music) with Alain Boublil & Herbert Kretzmer (lyrics) Les Misérables (1985)
24. Jerry Herman (music & lyrics) Hello, Dolly! (1963)
25. Jonathan Larson (music & lyrics) Rent (1996)
26. John Kander (music) & Fred Ebb (lyrics) Chicago (1975)
27. Jule Styne (music) & Bob Merrill (lyrics) Funny Girl (1964)
28. Lionel Bart (music & lyrics) Oliver! (1960)
29. Frank Loesser (music & lyrics) Guys and Dolls (1950)
30. Alan Menken (music) with Howard Ashman & Tim Rice (lyrics) Beauty and the Beast (1994)
31. Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) Company (1970)
32. Marvin Hamlisch (music) & Edward Kleban (lyrics) A Chorus Line (1975)
33. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) & Tim Rice (lyrics) Evita (1976)
34. Jule Styne (music) & Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) Gypsy (1959)
35. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) & T.S. Eliot (lyrics) Cats (1981)
36. Trey Parker & Matt Stone with Robert Lopez (music & lyrics) The Book of Mormon (2011)
37. Charles Strouse (music) & Martin Charnin (lyrics) Annie (1977)
38. Richard O’Brien (music & lyrics) The Rocky Horror Show (1974)
39. Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) Wicked (2003)
40. Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman Hairspray (2002)
41. Mitch Leigh & Joe Darion Man of La Mancha (1965)
42. Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Brigadoon (1947)
43. Harry Warren (music) with Al Dubin & Johnny Mercer (lyrics) 42nd Street (1980)
44. Richard Adler (music) & Jerry Ross (lyrics) Damn Yankees (1955)
45. Pete Townshend (music & lyrics) The Who’s Tommy (1993)
46. Henry Krieger (music) & Tom Eyen (lyrics) Dreamgirls (1981)
47. Charles Strouse (music) & Lee Adams (lyrics) Bye Bye Birdie (1960)
48. Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) Godspell (1971)
49. Alan Menken Little Shop of Horrors (1979)
50. Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) A Little Night Music (1973)
1. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
2. West Side Story (1961)
3. The Sound of Music (1965)
4. Cabaret (1972)
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
6. Chicago (2002)
7. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
8. Grease (1978)
9. Mary Poppins (1964)
10. My Fair Lady (1964)
11. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
12. A Star Is Born (1954)
13. Top Hat (1935)
14. Fiddler on the Roof (1975)
15. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
16. Oliver! (1968)
17. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
18. The King and I (1956)
19. The Band Wagon (1953)
20. On the Town (1949)
21. An American in Paris (1951)
22. Funny Girl (1968)
23. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
24. The Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
25. All That Jazz (1979)
26. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
27. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
28. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
29. The Lion King (1994)
30. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
31. The Music Man (1962)
32. Hedwig & the Angry Inch (2001)
33. Swing Time (1936)
34. 42nd Street (1933)
35. Phantom of the Opera (2004)
36. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
37. Gigi (1958)
38. Hairspray (2007)
39. Dreamgirls (2006)
40. La La Land (2017)
41. Rent (2005)
42. Annie (1982)
43. West Side Story (2021)
44. Hair (1979)
45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
46. Carousel (1956)
47. Oklahoma! (1955)
48. Funny Face (1957)
49. Fame (1980)
50. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
This list of songs featured in movies comes from an aggregate of more than 30 best-of lists focused on best songs from movies. Those songs which appeared on 3 or more lists were then ranked based on overall points in Dave’s Music Database.
Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.
41. The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964): A Hard Day’s Night
42. Bill Medley with Jennifer Warnes “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” (1987): Dirty Dancing
43. Kenny Loggins “Footloose” (1984): Footloose
44. Seal “Kiss from a Rose” (1994): Batman Forever
45. Isaac Hayes “Theme from Shaft” (1971): Shaft
46. Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget about Me” (1985): The Breakfast Club
47. The Champs “Tequila” (1958): Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
48. Public Enemy “Fight the Power” (1989): Do the Right Thing
49. Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band “Old Time Rock and Roll” (1978): Risky Business
50. Berlin “Take My Breath Away” (1986): Top Gun
51. B.J. Thomas “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (1969): Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
52. Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper “Shallow” (2018): A Star Is Born
53. Idina Menzel “Let It Go” (2013): Frozen
54. Dolly Parton “9 to 5” (1980): 9 to 5
55. Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle “A Whole New World” (1992): Aladdin (1992)
56. Phil Collins “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” (1984): Against All Odds
57. Destiny’s Child “Independent Women” (2000): Charlie’s Angels
58. Lionel Richie “Say You Say Me” (1985): White Nights
59. Bruce Springsteen “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994): Philadelphia
60. Bette Midler “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1989): Beaches
61. Peter Gabriel “In Your Eyes” (1986): Say Anything
62. The Dorsey Brothers with Bob Crosby “Lullaby of Broadway” (1935): 42nd Street
63. Joe Cocker with Jennifer Warnes “Up Where We Belong” (1982): An Officer and a Gentleman
64. Doris Day “Whatever Will Be, Will Be” (1956): The Man Who Knew Too Much
65. The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (1969): The Big Chill
66. Elton John “Tiny Dancer” (1971): Almost Famous
67. R. Kelly “I Believe I Can Fly” (1996): Space Jam
68. Judy Garland “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1944): Meet Me in St. Louis
69. Elton John “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (1994): The Lion King
70. Ray Parker Jr. “Ghostbusters” (1984): Ghostbusters
71. Bob Hope with Shirley Ross “Thanks for the Memory” (1939): The Big Broadcast of 1938
72. Huey Lewis & the News “The Power of Love” (1985): Back to the Future
73. Roxette “It Must Have Been Love” (1990): Pretty Woman
74. Lulu “To Sir with Love” (1967): To Sir with Love
75. Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson “Beauty and the Beast” (1991): Beauty and the Beast
76. Barbra Streisand “Evergreen (Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’)” (1976): A Star Is Born
77. Christopher Cross “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1981): Arthur
78. Los Lobos “La Bamba” (1987): La Bamba
79. Bryan Adams with Sting & Rod Stewart “All for Love” (1993): The Three Musketeers
80. Harry Nilsson “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1968): Midnight Cowboy
81. Lou Reed “Perfect Day” (1972): Trainspotting
82. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories “Stay (I Missed You)” (1994): Reality Bites
83. James Baskett “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1946): Song of the South
84. Olivia Newton John & John Travolta “Summer Nights” (1978): Grease
85. Underworld “Born Slippy” (1995): Trainspotting
86. Stealers Wheel “Stuck in the Middle with You” (1973): Reservoir Dogs
87. The Doors “The End” (1967): Apocalypse Now
88. Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, and Joseph Williams “Hakuna Matata” (1994): The Lion King
89. Paul McCartney & Wings “Live and Let Die” (1973): Live and Let Die
90. Carly Simon “Nobody Does It Better” (1977): The Spy Who Loved Me
91. Olivia Newton-John “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (1978): Grease
92. Shirley Temple “On the Good Ship Lollipop” (1934): Bright Eyes
93. Henry Mancini “The Days of Wine and Roses” (1963): The Days of Wine and Roses
94. Sixpence None the Richer “Kiss Me” (1998): She’s All That
95. Adele “Skyfall” (2012): Skyfall
96. Jon Bon Jovi “Blaze of Glory” (1990): Young Guns II
97. Tex Ritter “High Moon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” (1952): High Noon
98. Irene Cara “Fame” (1980): Fame
99. Vangelis “Chariots of Fire – Titles” (1981): Chariots of Fire
100. Will Smith “Men in Black” (1997): Men in Black
There is a moment in Pirate Radio (2009) – an inexplicably deleted scene relegated to DVD extras status – that nails the joy of being a music geek better than anything since High Fidelity (2000). Academy Award winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman leads his band of fellow DJs through London in the late ‘60s on a bachelor party night of depravity. They pause for reflection across the street from Abbey Road studios. Hoffman points out that the Beatles might be in there recording at that very minute. In a salute to the power of music, he states “there’ll always be poverty and pain and war and injustice in this world, but there will, thank the Lord, also always be the Beatles.”
Similarly, there will always be movies about poverty and pain and war and injustice, but there will also be those about the Beatles. And Elvis. And the Rolling Stones and the Who and Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash and Ray Charles and…Anvil.
Anvil? In the mid ‘80s, these metal-also-rans seemed poised to take over the world alongside contemporaries like the Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Bon Jovi. The where-are-they-now documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008) is a real-life This Is Spinal Tap (1984) that doubles as a heartwarming tearjerker about a group that should have hung it up years ago, but just can’t abandon the dream that they still might make it big. Singer Steve “Lips” Kudlow says that jumping off a cliff would be the easy way out to which drummer Robb Reiner replies, “You won’t jump off the cliff ‘cause I’ll stop you.”
Of course, music-oriented movies aren’t just about rock ‘n’ roll. The relationship between the two mediums dates to roughly the births of both art forms. The first couple of decades of the 20th century saw the simultaneous rise of recorded music and the addition of sound to film, the latter most notably in 1927’s The Jazz Singer. As soon as Hollywood saw dollar signs and discovered the power of pilfering instead of creating something new, they raided Broadway. If it was big on stage, it could be big on screen (1933’s 42nd Street, 1936’s Show Boat, 1949’s South Pacific, 1956’s The King and I).
Disney spawned its own version, complete with animated princesses, woodland creatures, and puppets (1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1940’s Pinocchio, 1940’s Fantasia, 1941’s Dumbo, 1942’s Bambi, 1950’s Cinderella).
When Elvis started swiveling his hips the musical gasped for breath. The rock ‘n’ roll era saw the arrival of vanity projects from the genre’s biggest stars. The King of Rock and Roll churned out Jailhouse Rock (1957) and a slew of other B-grade movies while the Beatles made A Hard Day’s Night (1964), which some call the greatest music movie ever made.
The traditional movie musical sounded a few last hurrahs (1961’s West Side Story, 1965’s The Sound of Music) before going largely mute until the new millennium (2001’s Moulin Rouge!, 2002’s Chicago). In the meantime, though, Hollywood figured out how to marry the musical to rock ‘n’ roll (1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar, 1979’s Hair) and churn out celluloid treatments of classic rock albums (The Who’s 1975 Tommy, Pink Floyd’s 1982 The Wall). The Wall and Heavy Metal (1981) also de-Disneyed the cartoon world with decidedly non-kid-oriented animated fare.
Shooting a dose of electric guitar into the film community didn’t just banish the musical to has-been status, but also birthed new genres. The tradition of seeing rock legends on stage and off kicked into high gear with 1967’s Don’t Look Back, 1970’s Woodstock, and 1970’s Gimme Shelter and has continued to the present with the aforementioned Anvil movie, Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009), and It Might Get Loud (2008). How can you not be awed into rock star worship by the scene in the latter movie of Jack White crafting an electric guitar out of scrap material?
Of course, reality isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be so the film industry also embraced the biopic. This allowed film makers to more liberally edit which details of real-life personalities to embellish and which to forget. While telling the story of a musical legend was nothing new – the story of composer George M. Cohan in 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy comes to mind – the zest and decadence of rock star lives (1986’s Sid & Nancy, 1987’s La Bamba, 1989’s Great Balls of Fire) gave the format a new twist, for better or worse. On the plus side, the past decade has rewarded us with Academy-Award-winning performances in the depictions of musical icons Ray Charles (2004’s Ray!) and Johnny Cash (2005’s Walk the Line).
On the negative side, the rock-and-roll lifestyle is little more than a cliché in other movies. The Runaways (2010) had its moments, including Kristen Stewart’s spot-on Joan Jett look, but what should have been deeper commentary on the exploitation of girls in a predominantly male-driven business was yet another look-how-drugs-destroyed-them cautionary tale.
Then there was Crazy Heart (2009). While seemingly about a fictional character, it played like a biopic about Kris Kristofferson in an alternative world where he:
a) passes out nightly in a drunken or drugged stupor
b) is relegated to performing in small-town seedy bars and bowling alleys
c) has an inevitable meltdown on stage as “a” clashes headlong into “b”
d) still commands more than his share of sexual conquests no matter how old, fat, or drug-addled he becomes
Don’t get me wrong – Jeff Bridges earned his long overdue Best Actor Oscar – but did we need another musical journey through the life of a damaged soul who beds much younger women on his hopeful road to redemption?
Movies don’t always take music so seriously. The Blues Brothers (1980) reminded us just how fun music is. This Is Spinal Tap delighted in its absurdities. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) gave us the full-on participation of live performance in all its camp and bad movie-making glory.
Speaking of camp, the ‘80s saw the MTV-inspired era of “is this a film or one big soundtrack promo?” with Flashdance (1983), Footloose (1984), and Dirty Dancing (1987). Not that light, adolescent-oriented fare was new – Elvis’ movies weren’t exactly competing for Oscars and the Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon music-fueled Beach Party romps of the ‘60s weren’t focusing energy on commentary about the political relationships of the world’s super powers.
Of course, the very birth of rock ‘n’ roll, and subsequently its introduction in film, is tied to marketing to teens. Bill Haley & the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” provided the soundtrack for the opening of 1955’s Blackboard Jungle. While the movie aimed for anti-social commentary, it incited its audience to riot more than ponder the consequences of delinquent behavior.
Okay, so what’s the point of this music-goes-to-the-movies history lesson? Well, the first point is a music-goes-to-the-movies history lesson. Second, though, is this: at its worst, music-meets-film can evoke eye-rolls with over-the-top portrayals of people inspired to delinquency or decadence. At its best, however, a cherished musical film moment serves up a metaphor for pondering the human condition.
It doesn’t have to be that deep, though. Sometimes a movie simply prompts people to dance in the aisles or be transported beyond their surroundings for the moment. One afternoon, my sons and I were walking home from school during a light drizzle. We were all equipped with umbrellas but I soon noticed my boys twirling theirs on the ground and dancing around them instead of holding them aloft. Sure enough, their impromptu rain-soaked musical number was inspired by – what else? Singin’ in the Rain.
* Track comes right before “Till There Was You” on soundtrack.
c indicates song that appears only on cast album.
s indicates song that appears only on soundtrack.
Singles/Hit Songs:
As was common in the pre-rock era and early days of rock and roll, songs from musicals were often recorded by artists not associated with the musical and released as singles. Here are some of the most notable hit singles resulting from the show:
“Till There Was You” – Anita Bryant (#30, 1959), Valjean (#100, 1962)
Rating:
4.478 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)
Awards (Cast Album and Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).
About the Show:
“The original Broadway cast of Meredith Willson’s most successful musical was headed by Robert Preston, who played the part of Harold Hill, a conman” R-C “intent on swindling the good people of River City, IA, by selling them on a fictitious boys' band.” R-S
“Willson concentrates on percussive effects and rapid-fire spiels for Preston, though the musical standout is Barbara Cook as Marian the Librarian. Highlights of this perennial hit show include Seventy-Six Trombones and Till There Was You.” R-S
“Coming along in the summer of 1962, four and a half years after the Broadway opening, the film version of The Music Man appeared in an era when Hollywood was more likely to be faithful to stage musicals, rather than dramatically altering them, as had been the practice in the past. R-S
The movie version “found Robert Preston re-creating his starring role as conman Professor Harold Hill…and some minor roles were also filled by the Broadway originals. More important, Meredith Willson’s score was rendered intact, the only change being a revision of the song My White Knight into Being in Love.” R-S
“The major casting change was the substitution of Shirley Jones, who had a box-office track record, for Barbara Cook, who did not, in the role of Marian the librarian. Cook may have been preferable, but Jones handled the part well, too.” R-S
“Musically, the big change had to do with scale; the Broadway pit orchestra and original cast were replaced by a vast Hollywood orchestra and chorus, and musical director Ray Heindorf made the most of the larger effects on songs like ‘Seventy Six Trombones’.” R-S
“Still, the music fan who already owned a copy of the original Broadway cast recording didn’t really need to plump for the original motion picture soundtrack, which didn’t keep the album from racing up the charts…as the film became one of the year’s top grossers. But it remains true; unless you are a Shirley Jones fan or want to hear future Andy Griffith Show co-star and film director Ronnie Howard sing Gary, Indiana with a lisp, stick to the Broadway version.” R-S
* 2 versions back-to-back on cast album
** appears only on soundtrack
Singles/Hit Songs:
As was common in the pre-rock era, songs from musicals were often recorded by artists not associated with the musical and released as singles. Here are some of the most notable hit singles resulting from the show:
“On the Street Where You Live” – Vic Damone (#4, 1956), Eddie Fisher (#18, 1956), Lawrence Welk (#96, 1956), Andy Williams (328, 1964)
”I Could Have Danced All Night” – Sylvia Syms (#20, 1956), Rosemary Clooney (#49, 1956), Dinah Shore (#93, 1956), Ben E. King (#72, 1963), Biddu Orchestra (#72, 1976)
”I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” – Rosemary Clooney (#70, 1956), Gordon MacRae (#96, 1956)
”With a Little Bit of Luck” – Percy Faith (#82, 1956), Jo Stafford (#85, 1956)
”Get Me to the Church on Time” – Julius LaRosa (#89, 1956)
Rating:
4.462 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)
Quotable: “The most perfect stage musical ever” – Colin Larkin, Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums
Awards (Cast Album): (Click on award to learn more).
Awards (Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).
About the Show:
My Fair Lady is “the crowning achievement” AZ for lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. In fact, some consider it to be “the most perfect stage musical ever.” CL “It boasts a magnificent score…witty, intelligent, beautiful, and romantic.” NRR This is “a collection of performances that long ago became a ubiquitous and indispensable fixture of American musical theater.” AZ
Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
After several productions in the 1940s, Lerner and Loewe first tasted major Broadway success with 1947’s Brigadoon. They next worked together on 1951’s Paint Your Wagon before adapting George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion into My Fair Lady. It was a story about “the mythic Greek figure who falls in love with his sculpture.” TM In My Fair Lady, the story focuses on “the relationship between an elocutionist” R-C and “pre-World War I London flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who aspires to a better accent and the social advantages that will come with it.” R-S
The show opened on Broadway on March 15, 1956. It ran for 2717 performances, closing on September 29, 1962. It had what was then the longest run in history for a major musical. W-M The production has been called “the perfect musical.” W-M
Julie Andrews was a “twenty-year-old revelation” ZS as “the fairest of all ladies,” ZS making the “loverly…score soar” ZS with her “glorious voice and emotional range.” ZS Rex Harrison is “effortlessly charming” ZS in his recreation of the stage role as “Professor Henry Higgins (he had also appeared in the film adaptation of…Pygmalion.” R-S He “enjoys every wink of his ironies: When he describes himself, in I’m an Ordinary Man, his exaggerated demeanor suggests his character is anything but ordinary. That Harrison caught this specific dynamic so early in what became a historic extended run is remarkable.” TM
“The show yielded an astounding number of songs that became standards, including the luminous I Could Have Danced All Night and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” TM Among the other gems in this “embarrassment of riches,” AZ including The Rain in Spain, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, Why Can’t the English?, and On the Street Where You Live.
As was common in the 1950s, the cast album “was recorded in one marathon fourteen-hour session on March 25, 1956.” TM “Producers tried to schedule the sessions as close to the opening of the musical as possible, thinking that the nuances of the work would be fresh in the performers’ minds.” TM This sometimes backfired, but here Harrison and Andrews “are beyond lively… and the supporting cast – which, as was often the case with Lerner and Loewe, got the meatiest songs – positively sparkles.” TM
“The recording established a new relationship between Broadway productions and record companies; the album’s critical success and popularity with the public were unrivaled at the time of its release.” NRR The cast album spent fifteen weeks atop the Billboard album chart, making it one of the biggest #1 albums in U.S. chart history. What’s incredible, however, is that those chart-topping weeks were spread out over four years time. Billboard magazine named it album of the year – in 1957 and 1958.
The album stuck around on the charts for a total of 480 weeks. Only Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Johnny Mathis’ Johnny’s Greatest Hits have logged more weeks.
For the film version, Harrison and Holloway were back, but since they were making their third recordings of the score, they didn’t have much to add…The result was an acceptable recording that did not surpass the Broadway or London cast albums.” R-S However, despite starring in the Broadway and London stage productions, Julie Andrews was deemed “not enough of a star to carry the movie. (Embarrassingly, by the time the movie opened, Mary Poppins had made her more than enough of a star to do so.) Instead, Audrey Hepburn stepped into the role.” R-S
Hepburn’s singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who “was an accomplished Hollywood voice ghost, having previously sung for Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Rosalind Russell in Gypsy.” R-S She “was fine…lacked the flair that Andrews would have given it.” R-S
A “1965 Best Picture Oscar capped the show’s decade of prominence.” AZ
ZS Zagat Survey (2003). Music Guide: 1,000 Top Albums of All Time. Coordinator: Pat Blashill. Music Editor: Holly George-Warren. Editors: Betsy Andrews and Randi Gollin. Zagat Survey, LLC: New York, NY. Page 170.
