''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is the original soundtrack album to the 1975 film ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...
'', an adaptation of the musical ''
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...
'' that had opened in 1973. The soundtrack was released as an album in 1975 by
Ode Records
Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label was ...
, produced by
Richard Hartley.
Release and reception
The album peaked at No. 49 on the
''Billboard'' 200 in 1978.
It reached No. 12 on the
Australian albums chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
and No. 11 on the New Zealand albums chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...
. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
gave the album a star rating of five stars out of five and described it as the "definitive version of the 'Rocky Horror''score". This version of the soundtrack was certified Gold by the RIAA on 23 February 1981.
Following its initial release, the album was not successful, and was deleted everywhere but in Canada. Marty Scott, co-founder of Jem Records
Jem Records (also known as JEM Records) was a United States record label that existed from 1970 to 1988, at the time principally known as the parent company of Passport Records. The label was resurrected in 2013 as Jem Recordings.
History
Jem R ...
, obtained a licensing agreement from Ode Records owner Lou Adler
Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass R ...
, which enabled the album to be imported to the United States. Scott also obtained a production and distribution license from Adler, which resulted in renewed interest in the album.[Interview: Excavating Jem with Marty Scott]
The Second Disc. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
Omitted songs
The original soundtrack release omits two songs sung in the film: Rocky's "The Sword of Damocles
Damocles is a character who appears in an (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the cou ...
" and the Frank-N-Furter-led "Planet, Schmanet, Janet" (often referred to as "Wise Up, Janet Weiss"). Also omitted was "Once in a While", which was filmed but later cut.
All three songs were restored for the 25th anniversary release of the album (''25 Years of Absolute Pleasure'') however "Planet, Schmanet, Janet" lacks the final verse ("don't get hot and flustered") and they are in mono and ported directly from the film itself and so include all the sound effects and dialogue that would normally be omitted from a soundtrack album.
In 2011 these three songs were released, as MP3 format only, in their stereo, studio mixes on the download-only release ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show Complete Soundtrack: Absolute Treasures 2011 Special Edition''. The 2011 album was later issued on double red vinyl for the film's 40th anniversary. However, incidental music and cues are not included and "The Sword of Damocles" features Brian Engel in place of Trevor White. The latter is included with Trevor White's vocals as a bonus track for the iTunes edition; this is the same version found on the "25 Years of Absolute Pleasure" release, albeit in stereo and contains the dialogue and sound effects from the film.
Track listing
Original 1975 release
Bonus tracks (1989 CD release)
# "The Time Warp (Remix 1989 Extended Version)"
# "The Time Warp (Music − 1 = Background Track + U Mix)"
25 Years of Absolute Pleasure (2000)
Absolute Treasures: 40th Anniversary Re-Mastered Edition (2015)
Personnel
* Count Ian Blair - electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and acoustic guitars
* Mick Grabham
Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single " A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for ...
- electric guitar
* Dave Wintour
David M. Wintour (1 September 1944 – 12 July 2022) was a British bass guitarist and session musician.
Wintour was born on 1 September 1944 in Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and died on 12 July 2022 in Drumnacross, Kilraine.
Dave Wintour is be ...
- bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
* B.J. Wilson - drums
* Phil Kenzie - saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
* John Bundrick
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is an American–English rock keyboardist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Rog ...
- keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
* Martin Briley
Martin Steven Briley (born 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist. He was born in London and has recorded with and written for a variety of well-known musicians, as well as releasing several solo albums.
Music career
B ...
, Helen Chappelle, Brian Engel, Barry St. John, Liza Strike, Clare Torry
Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, well known for writing and performing the wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She also c ...
- backing vocals
In popular culture
As announced by video game developer/publisher Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
in a press release on 12 October 2010, "Time Warp", "Sweet Transvestite", and "Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul" were released for the game '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' as downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
on 26 October.
Charts
The album initially charted in the US in 1978; however, in 2010, following the " Rocky Horror Glee Show" episode of ''Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'', the album re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 55.
Certifications
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975 soundtrack albums
Film soundtracks
Glam rock albums
Sanctuary Records albums
Ode Records soundtracks