Album Information
The soundtrack contains nineteen songs from the film written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, three of which were not included in the stage musical version. Shaiman, who produced the original cast album for the Broadway musical, produced the songs for the film musical as well. Hairspray's music is written and performed to conform to the story's 1962 setting, with influences spanning the genres of rock and roll, soul, and pop.
"Ladies' Choice", a new song performed by Zac Efron, was the Hairspray soundtrack's first single. iTunes released the single on May 15, 2007. The iTunes version of the album includes bonus features such as the bonus track "I Can Wait" (a song written for the film but cut), the "Ladies' Choice" music video, an instructional dance video for "Ladies' Choice", and a digital version of the album booklet. The soundtrack debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 20 and peaked at number two.
"The New Girl in Town", "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)", and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" are the three songs new to this version of Hairspray, although "The New Girl in Town" was originally written for but dropped from the Broadway production. "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" is played over the film's end credits, as are renditions of two songs from the stage musical which were not included in the film proper: "Cooties" and "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now". "Cooties" is performed on the soundtrack in a contemporary pop style by singer Aimee Allen. It was also played (without vocals) while the contestants, for Miss Teenage Hairspray, danced to show off their "moves". "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", is performed by each of the three women most famous portraying Hairspray's main character, Tracy Turnblad: the 1988 film's Ricki Lake, the Broadway production's Marissa Jaret Winokur, and this film's Nikki Blonsky. Harvey Fierstein, who played Edna in the original Broadway production, also has a vocal cameo at the end of this track.
Several of the songs from the Broadway musical had their lyrics altered and/or verses removed for use in the film version. These songs include "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Welcome to the 60s", "Big, Blonde and Beautiful", "Without Love", "(It's) Hairspray", "You Can't Stop the Beat", et cetera.
Read more about this topic: Hairspray (2007 Soundtrack)
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