"West Side Story Original Soundtrack" (October, 1961)

Dad's Take:

From the initial finger-snapping, there's no doubt that this is Bob Fosse (Or "Don Fosse," as I call him when talking to my Fosse-fanatic wife). West Side Story was not just a hit. It was a phenomenon. Bringing modern (at the time) jazz and rock and roll to Broadway with a streetwise, hipster, racially charged twist on Romeo and Juliette, this musical revolutionized Broadway in 1957 and set the charts on fire when the movie was released in 1961. 54 weeks atop the U.S. album chart, and 175 weeks on the chart in Britain, where it also hit number one.

West Side Story is so heavy with jazzy dance numbers that just listening is only a partial experience, even more so than with other musicals. But the music stands out, so that experience, incomplete as it is, is still pretty spectacular. And if you've seen the movie (and, really, who hasn't) your brain will fill in the pictures even if, like me, you don't have every strut and finger snap memorized.

This record was released three months after I was born, but it was still everywhere when I became old enough to notice. I mean, fifty years later it's still hard to avoid, and it's still a moving experience. As silly as the choreographed "fight scene" might seem in our more realistic time, this remains one of the most beloved soundtracks in Broadway history.

Whether it's your cuppa or not, there's no way to deny this album a spot on any list of classic albums. In the history of the long-playing record, there's been very little that can compare with the phenomenal success of this record.

Brad's Take:


I think I am one of the only humans who has seen this movie less than two times. That's right, I've only seen it once. But even after seeing it that one time, I make references to it all the time by hunching over and snapping my fingers, and then slowly moving my arm in front of me like I'm holding a switchblade.

I had forgotten how jazzy the soundtrack was. It's obviously a film score, but I like it a lot, especially with all of the finger snaps. I love how intense some of the songs get. It's the most intense jazz music I've heard. It makes me feel like a mouse getting chased by a cat.

The instrumental songs were my favorites. Like every musical, the songs with the characters singing are cheesy, but it's hard to deny the classics like "I Feel Pretty."

This isn't an album I'd just put on when I'm wanting to listen to music, but for what it is, it's really fun. I feel like saying the name "Maria" over and over and over and over and over now...