The Pajama Game [Original Broadway Cast Recording] [Digipak]

Performer: Original Cast Recording
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. This release of THE PAJAMA GAME contains bonus tracks recorded April 4, 1954 for the radio show STAR STRUCK, hosted by Mike Wallace. Principal cast: John Raitt (Sid Sorokin); Janis Page (Babe Williams); Eddie Foy Jr. (Hines); Carol Haney (Gladys); Stanley Prager (Prez); Ralph Farnsworth (Joe); Ralph Dunn (Hasler); Reta Shaw (Mabel); Jack Drummond (First Helper); Ralph Chambers (Charlie); Janis Paige (Babe Williams); Themla Pelish (Mae); Marion Colby (Brenda); Rae Allen (Poopsie); Jack Waldron (salesman); Jim Hutchinson (Eddie); William David (Pop); Peter Gennaro (worker). Producer: Goddard Lieberson. Reissue producers: Didier C. Deutsch, Darcy M. Proper. Principally recorded on May 16, 1954. Includes liner notes by Andrew Velez. Digitally remastered by Darcy M. Proper. Though it used to be said that Broadway musicals (some of them, anyway) were intended for "the tired businessman," they were not usually about business until The Pajama Game. And not only was the show set in a factory, the story also revolved around a labor dispute. But the show managed to lightly poke fun at its subject matter while actually focusing on a traditional romantic plot, and, most important, it boasted a frisky score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a young songwriting team making a transition from Tin Pan Alley to the musical theater. They brought with them a knack for the kind of novelty material that was finding success in the pop music market. Adler and Ross could write more conventional show music fare in the Rodgers & Hammerstein mold and even introduce new wrinkles to it, but they excelled at witty numbers, and, not surprisingly, they also wrote some hits. Both "Hernando's Hideaway," and "Steam Heat" reached the Top Ten, and Rosemary Clooney took "Hey There" to number one in September. It says a lot about the overall quality of the cast that the film version retained nearly all the principals (including John Raitt and Carol Haney), only replacing Janis Paige with the more bankable Doris Day. Despite the novelty quality of some of the material, The Pajama Game retained its freshness over the decades, and the Original Broadway Cast Recording remained the recording to own. The 2000 CD reissue added nine minutes of previously unreleased material. ~ William Ruhlmann Broadway newcomers Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the marvellous score for this show, which ran for well over 1,000 performances in New York. Few could have foreseen that the subject of a strike in a pyjama factory would produce great songs such as 'Hey, There', 'I'm Not At All In Love', 'Small Talk' and 'Hernando's Hideaway'. That fine singer John Raitt leads the cast, which also includes Janis Paige, Carol Haney and Eddie Foy Jnr. Every track, whether witty, romantic, or downright hilarious, is appealing on this enduring and memorable album.

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