Hair (original Soundtrack Recording)

Happily, it is not the responsibility of this review to address in detail the train wreck that was the 1979 film adaptation of the stage musical Hair. A complete misfire conceived by a screenwriter, Michael Weller, and a director, Czech expatriate Milos Forman, who did not seem to have the slightest familiarity with hippies, the '60s, America, or even Broadway, the movie was miscast with supposedly bankable young film stars of the day (Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly d'Angelo), and the essentially plotless libretto of the stage version was replaced by a contrived Hollywood script in a textbook example of how not to do an adaptation.

Happily, it is not the responsibility of this review to address in detail the train wreck that was the 1979 film adaptation of the stage musical Hair. A complete misfire conceived by a screenwriter, Michael Weller, and a director, Czech expatriate Milos Forman, who did not seem to have the slightest familiarity with hippies, the '60s, America, or even Broadway, the movie was miscast with supposedly bankable young film stars of the day (Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly d'Angelo), and the essentially plotless libretto of the stage version was replaced by a contrived Hollywood script in a textbook example of how not to do an adaptation.

While this soundtrack is arguably most notable for introducing Middle America to Blondie, there is also some interesting incidental music written by legendary producer Giorgio Moroder and performed by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey – the latter of which may be familiar to some as percussionist for the German prog/art rock collective Amon Düül…

While this soundtrack is arguably most notable for introducing Middle America to Blondie, there is also some interesting incidental music written by legendary producer Giorgio Moroder and performed by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey – the latter of which may be familiar to some as percussionist for the German prog/art rock collective Amon Düül. There is likewise a vocal contribution from actress/vocalist Cheryl Barnes on "Love and Passion." The album's pervading heavily manufactured and synthetically generated atmosphere is convincing in its aural depiction of the shallow decadence portrayed on the screen. It took almost two decades before American Gigolo was issued on CD in North America. The primary impetus for the release was the "extended version" of Blondie's "Call Me," which was unavailable on any Blondie album and was too long – at over eight minutes – to fit onto a single. The song was co-composed by Debbie Harry and Moroder specifically for this project, becoming the second chart-topper for the band, ultimately staying at number one for six weeks in March of 1980.

HAIR was the first musical of the Love and Peace generation epitomising the sixties hippy teaching on war, theology, authority and sex. It was a theatrical breakthrough with its contentious opinions, colourful language and nudity combining with a wonderfully original score and lyrics - and these songs gave hit records to Oliver, Nina Simone, The Fifth Dimension, Paul Jones and Three Dog Night. Many established performers launched their careers in HAIR - Oliver Tobias, Paul Nicholas, Annabel Leventon, Julien Clem, Sonja Kristina, Ronnie Dyson, Elaine Paige, Marsha Hunt, Diane Keaton, Diane Langton, Judy Loe, Maxine Nightingale, Tim Curry, Peter Straker, Lynn Kellog and Melba Moore …

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.