Quad LP/Tape Poll ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST: HAIR [CD-4/Q8/QR]

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Rate "Hair"

  • 9

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Bad Mix, Bad Sound, Bad Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8

EMB

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Since 2002/2003
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
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The Top 40 Radio of My Mind
From 1968, the origins of "Hair" on vinyl reaches back to the previous fall, when an early(not the version heard on the Lp)take of "Frank Mills" turned up to universal disdain....:( But, that was short-lived: by the following summer, the cast album slowly took off commercially, until, in 1969, it all but dominated the charts and AM radio.

This was a fine showcase for Quad, with over a dozen featured players jockeying for position, and a playful, inventive score by Galt MacDermot(wonder whatever happened to him?)
 
I am not into musicals much at all, but this one of course is more rock than most, so the music is fairly enjoyable, the quad mix is quite good.
 
To be honest, I never much cared for the music... My US-pressed quadradisc is fine for what it is (crappy US vinyl, miserable quality control) but what the heck. It is still fun to have. Hope to get a Japanese pressing eventually...
 
Anything that deals with the topics of soddomy, masturbation, illicit narcotics use and flamboyant sexual innuendo and DOESN'T bare a large warning label on the cover is A-OK in my books!! :banana:

Good Quad mix. Fairly creative considering the source tape was 8 track maybe? Still pretty trippy.
Content-wise however, this is definitely NOT a cartridge you want to pop in and call your mother over to have a listen to.

Unless of course she was a flower child.
 
This album also has some alternate vocals and even takes, if memory serves...I've got the quad vinyl here, just have to work up the interest to actually give it a spin.

For those who dug the whole "Hair" phenomenon, if you haven't heard it, find the Japanese cast version(stereo-only, AFAIK)that was issued in 1969. I have it somewhere in the archives, great fun! Everything's re-orchestrated and of course sung in Japanese, but really a novelty for those of us used to the other permuations of the show, and must be among the most obscure adaptations.

ED :)
 
For those who dug the whole "Hair" phenomenon, if you haven't heard it, find the Japanese cast version(stereo-only, AFAIK)that was issued in 1969. I have it somewhere in the archives, great fun! Everything's re-orchestrated and of course sung in Japanese, but really a novelty for those of us used to the other permuations of the show, and must be among the most obscure adaptations.

It's also a much higher-energy performance than the Broadway cast. I don't especially mind not understanding the lyrics since I already know them so well anyway.

The original London cast as issued on Atco probably remains my favorite.
 
Good time to bump this one up, methinks...:)

Actually, I'm very fond of this album (beyond its time capsule status), since it is very creative and sensible in quad (given the big cast, which moves around quite a lot, heh).

I was wrong about the Japan cast Lp, though: LSO-1170 was issued in March 1971, not in 1969. The previous May, a French cast album was issued by Philips. Both are interesting not only for the language differences, but for a few songs that were dropped from the 1968 hit album (though they may still have been used in the play itself).

ED :)
 
I was wrong about the Japan cast Lp, though: LSO-1170 was issued in March 1971, not in 1969. The previous May, a French cast album was issued by Philips. Both are interesting not only for the language differences, but for a few songs that were dropped from the 1968 hit album (though they may still have been used in the play itself).

There were always too many songs in the show to include on a single LP, so it seems like all the various cast recordings decided on different songs to keep. There was also an RCA album called "DisinHAIRited" that featured songs dropped from the show and songs included in the show but not on the Broadway cast album. The British cast version of that same idea was on Polydor and called "Fresh Hair". I don't know if anything from "DisinHAIRited" has ever been reissued, but some of the tracks from "Fresh Hair" are on the London cast CD. In fact, that CD includes the obscure "Sentimental Ending" instead of "The Flesh Failures", which I think is a big mistake.
 
Personally, the Icelandic Cast recording is one of my favorites, though it's not in Quad.

http://castalbums.org/shows/Hair/142

85 different recordings of "Hair" listed.

The same guys wrote "The Highway of Life, Songs from 'Dude'" Kilmarnock 72007 QS - great surround overture.
 
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