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1/14/13

London Philharmonic Orchestra - "Music From Star Wars" (Stereo Gold Award, 1977)

As you can see, the actual title for this album, on the cover, is "Music From the Sci-Fi Film Composed By John Williams For Star Wars," but I went with the shorter version that is on the label! This is yet another in a long line of Star Wars LP's that were cranked out in 1977.  That year was jam-packed with Star Wars LP's...I suspect no other film has resulted in so many records, spanning the spectrum from "cover versions" to what can only be called rip-offs.
The good news here, though, is that you get a "real" orchestra.  One side of this album is devoted to a condensed A NEW HOPE soundtrack (which is what you get here, though strangely out of order), and the other side has the obligatory "2001 Theme" of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and some other items that are either original, or interpolations of Holst's "Planets" tracks....anyway, if you have a personal collection of Star Wars theme covers, here's an addition for you.

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7 comments:

  1. John SmallJanuary 16, 2013 at 6:46 AM

    I used to have a copy of this and it somehow became lost during one of my moves over the years. A million thanks for posting it here!

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  2. John SmallJanuary 16, 2013 at 8:02 AM

    Well, after lavishing praise on you earlier for posting this I now have to express disappointment over the fact that you only posted one side of the album. (Didn't notice this at first.) It's the OTHER side I am most interested in hearing again, frankly, as it contains music I enjoyed and served as my introduction to the works of Holst. Any chance that you might post the second side at some point?

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  3. Sampoerna QuatrainJanuary 17, 2013 at 6:08 AM

    You know, after reading your compliment, I wondered too if you needed the second side! Well, give me a few days, and I'll get it converted and posted here! I should've just done the whole thing, but I was in a hurry!

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  4. John SmallJanuary 17, 2013 at 7:05 AM

    Understood. Hope my comment wasn't too harsh; that wasn't my intent. Looking forward to the follow-up post!

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  5. KL from NYCJanuary 19, 2013 at 7:52 PM

    Those Stereo Gold Award budget LPs are actually produced by the guy who made up the 101 Strings (which never actually existed).
    This is the first US issue of a Stereo Gold Award LP that I've seen - they usually show up as imports from the UK (he had moved his base of operations to Germany at the time).

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  6. Sampoerna QuatrainJanuary 21, 2013 at 8:30 AM

    KL - interesting about 101 Strings and Stereo Gold Award coming from Europe (but, of course it's the London Philharmonic, so I guess that should make sense)! The only clue of origin on my copy says New Jersey!

    John Small - Second side is posted! Enjoy!

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  7. John SmallJanuary 21, 2013 at 10:55 AM

    Thanks, amigo - just found it and downloaded to place on my iPod. You're the man!

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