South Pacific (soundtrack)

This article is about the 1958 record release. For the 2001 film and soundtrack, see South Pacific (2001 film).
South Pacific
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedMarch 1958
Recorded1958
GenreShow tunes
Length45:58
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerP.O.
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The Original Soundtrack to the film South Pacific was released by RCA Victor in 1958. The film was based on the 1949 musical South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The composers had much say in this recording, with many of the songs performed by accomplished singers rather than the actors in the film.[1] Mitzi Gaynor and Ray Walston (who had played Luther Billis in the original national tour and in the original London production) were the only two leading performers who did their own singing in the film (and on the soundtrack album). The roles of Emile DeBecque, Bloody Mary and Joe Cable were sung by Giorgio Tozzi, Muriel Smith (who had played the role in the original London production) and Bill Lee, respectively.

The album became a major success, reaching No.1 in both the US and the UK. In the US, the album stayed at No.1 for seven months - the fourth longest run ever.[1] In the UK, the album remained in the top five for 27 consecutive weeks before reaching No.1 in November 1958. It stayed at the top for a record-breaking 115 weeks (the first 70 of these consecutively—including the whole year of 1959), and remained in the top five for 214 weeks.[2] As of 2006, the album has sold 1,803,681 copies in the United Kingdom.[3]

  1. ^ a b c "AllMusic - Record Reviews, Streaming Songs, Genres & Bands". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Official Charts - South Pacific UK Chart run
  3. ^ Harris, Bill (17 November 2006). "Queen rules – in album sales". Jam!. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)