WHERE HAVE ALL THE RECORDS GONE?
Remember the days when LP records were the most common form of music medium? Well you could be forgiven if you haven’t because there are a lot of people who have had very little contact with "albums" (I knew some friends who lived in a house back in the early 90s which they proudly promoted as being a "vinyl free" household. I considered this attitude to be somewhat rebellious, but now these days it’s completely normal). Since the advent of the compact disk, 7" and 12" records have disappeared to the point where collector’s fairs remain the only stamping ground available for these disks to roam free.
Yet despite the numerous advantages the psychedelic disk has, there are still a couple of things that have kept the LP’s appeal, especially to those people who purchased them purely as collectors items and not necessarily for their musical content.
Many years ago I began picking up a few sci-fi related soundtrack LPs purely for collecting purposes, and as to be expected, the death of the "record" also sounded the end of my collection as new releases simply dried up. However for those people who may still have a vague interest in what magic the old black disks still hold, here is some information that you might find interesting. You may even have a few of these records yourself stashed away somewhere, not realising their potential worth.
The first thing to be aware of is that this article is not about music. In collecting sci-fi soundtracks, the music itself is often irrelevant (sacrilegious as this may sound), because it’s everything else about the record and its packaging that makes the difference. For this reason I have selected some films, and listed the idiosyncrasies of the respective soundtracks involved. I am referring to original soundtracks only, compilations and re-pressings by other artists are not included.
Star Wars (double LP): There is a minimum of four different soundtrack versions available, two by 20th Century Fox (US and UK), one by RSO and another by a German corporation (the music is the same for each). The two 20th Century Fox pressings come with different centre disk labels, one has the actual 20th Century Fox image in the centre, whilst the other is all blue and just has the writing instead. These records originally came with a removable poster of a painting depicting the Rebel attack on the Death Star, as well as an information sheet with notes on the music tracks and various credits. The covers are the same for each pressing however the Fox pressing has their logo on the back, whilst the RSO and German one has the RSO logo instead. (RSO picked up the rights to the music after Fox sold it off). Note the album sides are listed as 1, 4, 2, 3 and no tracks are listed anywhere on the cover.
The Empire Strikes Back: This single album version was done by RSO and is a cut down version of the proper double LP. Of note is the spelling error of Han’s name on the back, as well as the track title Astroid Field followed by its correct spelling Asteroid Field.
The Empire Strikes Back (double LP): There are two versions of this available - US and Japanese. The Japanese version is by far the most superior as the US ones were offen plagued with off-centre holes and warped disks. This record also featured an information sheet with notes on the music tracks and various credits. Inside the front cover was a colour booklet which was not removable from the sleeve. It’s also worth noting that the track arrangement is totally different to the single album.
Return of the Jedi: There are two versions of this, US and Australian, the Australian copy is the most poorly produced of the two. Distinguishing them is easy: the Australian one has a pink centre disk label, whilst the US one is silver. Also the Australian cover (fold out, though it’s a single album) has a very poor seal on the opening flap which allows it to split apart forming an unwanted second sleeve. The US version does not have this problem. A removable colour collector’s supplement was supplied along with the record, the US copy has no markings about this on the cover, whilst the Australian one has an ad for it printed in large white letters on the top right hand corner of the sleeve and is not removable. The collector’s supplement (a colour fold out photo sheet) was available with both versions.
Caravan of Courage/Marauders of Endor: Both movies had a soundtrack which was on the same album, one movie for each side.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The inside sleeve, which houses the record, featured special alien character photos from the movie.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Two versions were released, a two sided and three sided soundtrack. Both the first disks were the same for each version, however the imported version featured a second record with one track on one side only. Called The Search for Spock, it was a specially produced electronic score of the main theme by the film’s composer. The cover featured no extra information about this second record being included.
Star Trek: Classic Series: A few picture disks have been released featuring music from Original Series episodes.
The Terminator: A very hard record to find, marred only by the amount of audible static with the high pitched electronic music. Of note was the image of the Terminator on the centre disk label.
Silent Running: A special version was released on green vinyl.
The Fly (remake): The US version had the cover picture (the same as the poster) reversed, whereas the European/English version (released by That’s Entertainment Records [TER] - who were notorious for redesigning album covers) featured the same picture, but the correct way.
Escape From New York, Enemy Mine, Starman, Brainstorm, The Running Man: All featured different covers produced by TER, as well as their US counterparts.
The Running Man: The TER version came with a removable poster featuring the cover artwork.
Aliens: The US version featured the picture of Ripley with Newt, whereas the TER version just had the writing, akin to the teaser poster.
Jurassic Park: Was released on LP as a picture disk and is probably the last science fiction soundtrack to be released on LP.
When Worlds Collide/War of the Worlds: The original musical score was placed on a modern pressed LP with one movie for each side.
Mad Max II: Was released with a cover photo featuring Max by the car (see next entry).
The Road Warrior: Was released with a cover featuring the US movie poster artwork. The music titles for side two were labelled differently even though the music was the same (note: Mad Max II and The Road Warrior were the same film [renamed for US release]).
Superman the Movie (double album): Two versions are available, the first one featured pictures on the inside record sleeves of the film (note: both sleeves feature different pictures), whereas the second release did not. The first version also had the music tracks properly printed on the back cover, whereas the second release used a sticker with the same information instead stuck in the same place (unfortunately this sticker was often placed crooked).
Superman II: Two versions were released, the standard record with a cartoon cover depicting Superman flying from the top to the bottom, with three villains looking up at him. The second version was released with a laser etched design of the Superman symbol all around on the actual playing disk (the cover for this version is of Superman flying directly to the camera, with the three villains along the bottom moving to intercept). This record is quite possibly the most expensive soundtrack to buy around.
Metropolis (Giorgio Moroder version): Featured a fold out album cover that opened downwards rather than across, to extend the length of the artwork of the Robot’s body. The inside sleeve contained lyrics to the various songs, as well as a photo of the robot taken directly from the original film.
2001 A Space Odyssey: Was released with both a standard cover, as well as a fold out one.
Flash Gordon: The inside sleeve featured various pictures of the movie’s characters on one side, and photos of Queen on the other.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Released both with a standard cover then later as a fold out version, a special 7" bonus record, featuring an electronic composition of the CE3K theme, was included with the fold out version.
Battlefield Earth: A soundtrack was released inspired by the book.
Athough the compact disk has all but eliminated the worth of the LP, it can be seen that records still have some key features to them that CD owners miss out on. It is true that an LP cannot compete in sound quality, ease of operational use nor durability, however there are a lot of records out there which are still heavily sought after by enthusiasts and collectors alike, so at least somebody out there still appreciates them. May the spirit of the black disk live forever.