''The Wiz'' is the original motion picture

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

for the 1978 film adaptation of the Broadway musical '' The Wiz''. Although the film was produced for Universal Pictures by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

' film division, the soundtrack album was issued on MCA Records as a two- LP collection (Universal was owned by MCA Inc. at the time). Chiefly produced by Quincy Jones, ''The Wiz'' soundtrack features non-sync cast performances by the stars of the film, including

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt,

Thelma Carpenter Thelma Carpenter (January 15, 1922 – May 14, 1997) was an American jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie ''The Wiz''. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fred and Mary C ...

, and

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

. Like many musicals of the period, the performances in the soundtrack album are not those used directly in the film, but pre/re-recorded by the same artists at an earlier and/or later date. Several differences are noted, including a missing line by Michael Jackson and a scat section by Nipsey Russell being dropped from the soundtrack version of " A Brand New Day", among others. The song "Is This What Feeling Gets?" was not used in the film's final cut, though the tune is used throughout the film. The track selection was made up of both songs from the original 1975 Broadway musical by Charlie Smalls and

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

, as well as new songs written for the film by Jones, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, and Anthony Jackson. This soundtrack marks Jones' first collaboration with Michael Jackson; Jones went on to produce Jackson's hit solo albums ''

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and t ...

'', ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'', and ''

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

''. The soundtrack, with its hit single " Ease on Down the Road", was more successful than the film itself, which was a commercial and critical failure. It was certified Gold in the United States by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It also did well in some European territories like the Netherlands, where "A Brand New Day" was a surprise number-one hit. In 2009, Ross ended each of two sold-out performances at the 34,000-seat Geldredome Stadium (in Arnhem, Netherlands) with a finale of "A Brand New Day". The soundtrack also sold well in Australia.

Track listing

''All songs written by Charlie Smalls, unless otherwise noted.''

Original vinyl listing

''All songs written by Charlie Smalls, unless otherwise noted.''

Record one, side one

#"Main Title (Overture, Part One)" (instrumental) #"Overture (Part Two)" (instrumental) #"The Feeling That We Have" - Theresa Merritt and ''The Wiz'' Choir #"Can I Go On?" ( Quincy Jones, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson) -

#"Glinda's Theme" (instrumental) #"He's the Wizard" -

and ''The Wiz'' Choir #"Soon as I Get Home"/"Home" - Diana Ross

Record one, side two

#" You Can't Win" - Michael Jackson #" Ease on Down the Road #1" - Diana Ross and Michael Jackson #"What Would I Do If I Could Feel?" - Nipsey Russell #"Slide Some Oil to Me" - Nipsey Russell #"Ease on Down the Road #2" - Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Nipsey Russell #"I'm a Mean Ole Lion" - Ted Ross #"Ease on Down the Road #3" - Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross #"Poppy Girls" - ( Anthony Jackson) (instrumental)

Record two, side one

#"Be a Lion" - Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross #"End of the Yellow Brick Road" (instrumental) #"Emerald City Sequence" (music: Jones, lyrics: Smalls) - ''The Wiz'' Choir #"So You Wanted to See the Wizard" - Richard Pryor (spoken dialogue) #"Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)" (music: Jones, lyrics: Ashford & Simpson) - Diana Ross

Record two, side two

#"Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" - Mabel King and Chorus #" A Brand New Day" (

) - Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, and ''The Wiz'' Choir #"Believe in Yourself (Dorothy)" - Diana Ross #"The Good Witch Glinda" (instrumental) #"Believe in Yourself (Reprise)" -

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

" - Diana Ross

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiz (1978 soundtrack), The Musical film soundtracks Quincy Jones soundtracks 1978 soundtrack albums Motown soundtracks MCA Records soundtracks Michael Jackson albums Diana Ross soundtracks Albums produced by Quincy Jones