Footloose [Original Soundtrack]

Performer: Original Cast Recording/Original Soundtrack
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: All tracks have been digitally remastered. Principal cast includes: Jeremy Kushnier (Ren McCormack); Catherine Cox (Ethel McCormack); Stephen Lee Anderson (Reverend Shaw Moore); Dee Hoty (Vi Moore); Jennifer Laura Thompson (Ariel Moore); Catherine Campbell (Lulu Warnicker); Adam LeFevre (Wes Warnicker); Donna Lee Marshall (Eleanor Dunbar/Doreen); John Hillner (Coach Dunbar); Stacy Francis (Rusty). Recorded at the Hit Factory, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Dean Pitchford. FOOTLOOSE was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. The successful 1984 film Footloose was more of an extended music video � la MTV than a movie musical. There was plenty of music, most of it written or co-written by composer Tom Snow (with individual tunes by Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar, Jim Steinman, and Eric Carmen among others) and lyricist/screenwriter Dean Pitchford, and it was popular; the soundtrack album topped the charts and sold eight million copies, and five singles -- "Almost Paradise," "Dancing in the Sheets," "Footloose," "Holding out for a Hero," "Free," and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" -- became hits. But the movie characters didn't sing those songs, and the songs were not directly tied into the plot. Thus, Pitchford, in turning his screenplay into a stage musical libretto, had the challenge of retaining the popular songs (only "Dancing in the Sheets" is missing) and somehow putting them into the mouths of the characters, while writing extra material to fill out the more extensive needs of a musical score. At the same time, the property's advantages for transfer to the stage were obvious: It was a known property, much of the score was already familiar, and, by definition, the plot involved a lot of dancing. When the show opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998, theater critics (known for their disdain of rock music) felt Pitchford had failed, but Footloose settled in for a long run. Perhaps inevitably, the cast album is not as impressive as the soundtrack, and the new songs Snow and Pitchford have written, such as the duet "Learning to Be Silent" and "Can You Find It in Your Heart?," are closer to character-based theater songs, but also inconsistent with the lively, rock tone of the familiar hits. Onstage, audiences never have long to wait for another driving, danceable production number, but the record's production never matches the sound of the original soundtrack. ~ William Ruhlmann Footloose was a throwback to '50s rock & roll movies, with a silly plot about a town where it was illegal to dance. It was a major hit, as was its soundtrack, which spent a grand total of ten weeks at number one and sold over seven million copies. It's easy to see why -- the album delivers its mainstream pop, anthemic rock, and light dance-pop with style and an abundance of hooks. Six of the nine tracks became Top 40 hits, and three -- Kenny Loggins' bouncy title song, the excellent power ballad "Almost Paradise" (a duet between Loverboy's Mike Reno and Heart's Ann Wilson), and Deniece Williams' frothy, charming "Let's Hear It for the Boy" -- shot into the Top Ten. The sound and production of Footloose has dated badly -- there is a reliance on synthesizers and drum machines that instantly announces that the record was made in 1984 -- but that isn't necessarily a weakness. Not only does it function as a time capsule of a certain moment in pop music history, but many of the songs are catchy enough to transcend their production. There's nothing of substance on the Footloose soundtrack, but it's a light, entertaining listen. Sometimes, that can be better than something substantial. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine By the tail end of the '90s, everything was grist for the pop culture mill, which recycled and redefined itself at an alarming rate, especially in the world of musical theater. In the '80s, FOOTLOOSE was a cheesy teen movie starring the notoriously ubiquitous Kevin Bacon as a rebel in a small town whose only cause seems to be a sock hop. Nearly 15 years later, FOOTLOOSE had been transformed into a successful Broadway musical, where the somewhat dubious plot took a backseat to elaborate dance numbers and, of course, songs. The original FOOTLOOSE soundtrack featured hits by Kenny Loggins and Deniece Williams that were pure '80s pop at its most unapologetic. A bit of the synthesized '80s sheen has been sanded off for the stage, and there's more traditional-sounding Broadway-style music here than you might expect, but if the songs grabbed you in their original form, you'll find whole different side to that material as presented here.

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