THE HAIRSPRAY MOVIE SOUNDTRACK

Just in case you missed my last memo, HAIRSPRAY is coming to the big screen on July 20, 2007. In conjunction with the movie release, the folks at New Line Records are making the soundtrack available in stores July 10th. As an aside for those that use hairspray, I believe Paul Mitchell is a promotional sponsor.

Any who, since "AC membership has privileges," I was able to secure the soundtrack hot off the New Line presses for review. It was very exciting to be one of the absolute first people to actually listen to the CD. However, since the production houses were leery of bootleggers taking food out of the mouths of John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer and the other wonderful artists headlined on this CD, they had it mailed it to me. In other words, there are currently no down-loadable links I can share.

Ok, so I've listened to the HAIRSPRAY Soundtrack and all I can say is, it's definitely a fun collection of music from the age bubble gum, Dick Clark, American Bandstand, Grease and most recently High School Musical.

If you haven't seen the movie previews or have no clue what Hairspray is about, here are the Cliff Notes (that's if anyone uses those anymore).

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) "is a big girl with big hair" and even bigger dreams of appearing on Baltimore's biggest televised dance program, the Corny Collins (James Marsden) Show. The problem is that the world has haters who just don't believe she will fit in. Tracy must overcome her mom Edna's (John Travolta) negativity....thank goodness her dad Wilbur (Christopher Walken) is supportive. HAIRSPRAY, follows Tracy's quest for stardom with her friends, fans and of course, haters. Therefore, the soundtrack takes you song by song through Tracy's quest to achieve her seemingly "Impossible Dream."

Some tunes I enjoyed were "Good Morning Baltimore," "Welcome To The 60's," "Big, Blondeand Beautiful," "(You're) Timeless To Me," "Run and Tell That" and "(It's) Hairspray. Once again, I was floored by John Travolta's ability to sing and remain in character, as Edna, Tracy's Mom.

Here is the full track listing:

1. "Good Morning Baltimore" --- Nikki Blonsky
2. "The Nicest Kids In Town" --- James Marsden
3. "It Takes Two" --- Zac Efron
4. "(The Legend Of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" --- Michelle Pfeiffer
5. "I Can Hear Bells" --- Nikki Blonsky
6. "Ladies' Choice" --- Zac Efron
7. "The New Girl In Town" --- Brittany Snow
8. "Welcome To The 60's" --- Nikki Blonsky and John Travolta
9. "Run and Tell That" --- Elijah Kelley
10. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" --- Queen Latifah
11. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)" --- John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer
12. "(You're) Timeless To Me" --- John Travolta and Christopher Walken
13. "I Know Where I've Been" ---- Queen Latifah
14. "Without Love" --- Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, Elijah Kelley and Amanda Bynes
15. "(It's) Hairspray" --- James Marsden
16. "You Can't Stop The Beat" ---- Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley, John Travolta and Queen Latifah
17. "Come So Far" --- Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, and Elijah Kelley
18. "Cooties" --- Aimee Allen
19. "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now"---Ricki Lake, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Nikki Blonsky

Whew, this was a whirlwind soundtrack and a wonderfully fun way to pay tribute to the original 1988 Broadway Production from John Waters. On the new soundtrack, Music and Production comes from by Marc Shaiman, with Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. Enjoy!