Movie Musicals on Record

This discography provides a comprehensive listing of the songs from motion picture musicals, and the singers who performed them on commercially available albums. Covering the period from The Jazz Singer in 1927 to Three Amigos in 1987, and including 666 albums and 6,500 song titles, the book is a companion volume to Lynch's Broadway on Record (Greenwood Press, 1987), arranged in a similar format. While the scope is primarily American, albums of some foreign films that became popular in this country have been included. The entries are listed alphabetically by film title with the name of the company that produced it and the year it was first released. Remakes of musicial films are listed chronologically, and the original label and number are given, as well as information on the most recent reissue. This thoroughly researched reference offers easy access to a wealth of information on the subject of recorded songs from motion picture musicals and assists the user in identifying many little-known facts, such as the names of the title-song singers, names of singers who dubbed the voices of the stars, and additional composers and lyricists where there were several contributors to the film's score. Also provided is a complete guide to recording availability and type, and major composer, lyricists, and musical conductor credits are given, with an alphabetical list of cast members who sing on the recording. An exhaustive source for students and scholars of film history, film music, and popular culture, this book will be a valuable addition to all university and public libraries.

RICHARD CHIGLEY LYNCH was Assistant Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library. He compiled Musicals! A Directory of Musical Properties Available for Production, Broadway on Record: A Directory of New York Cast Recordings of Musical Shows, 1931-1986, and is a regular contributor to Show Music.