COLLECTING RARE FILM MUSIC ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK LPS -- THE JAPANESE REISSUES

During the 1970s, following a huge increase in the interest and demand for rare soundtrack LPs here in the United States, our company began to encourage various Japanese record companies to release limited reissues of these rare film scores. The first company to begin reissuing these LPs was MCA Japan (which had the rights to the Decca library, among other record companies).  From their library came titles like VICTOR YOUNG's 1957 film score to the cult film 'THE BRAVE ONE' which had a market value for the original Decca soundtrack LP in mint condition in 1973 of over $ 100! Another rarity was PAUL MISRAKI's score to the 1950s erotic film starring Brigitte Bardot, 'AND GOD CREATED WOMAN' which the original soundtrack LP was selling for over $200 mint! There was HUGO FRIEDHOFER's  1950s score to 'BOY ON A DOLPHIN' with a great cover featuring its stars Sophia Loren and Alan Ladd on it. FRIEDHOFER was also represented by the cult war film, 'THE YOUNG LIONS' which starred Marlon Brando. There was GEORGE DUNING's great western score for 'COWBOY' starring Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon. A later reissue was that for another cult war film scored by the legendary MIKLOS ROZSA for 'A TIME TO LOVE, A TIME TO DIE' starring John Gavin and Lilo Pulver from the intriguing Erich Maria Remarque story. What the Japanese did was a magnificent production as they pressed these reissues with 'Virgin Vinyl' (the best substance available for making soundtrack LPs at the time, which meant the surface was minimized and the fidelity capability was the best), reproduced the front cover art (come of the early back covers were not from the original back side and written in Japanese, but most did include the original back side artwork).  They utilized near 'Clean Room' (the most sterile environment so as not to introduce any dust or other contaminants on the record surface) during the stamping process. At several companies they also used a 'Robotic' manufacturing process so that human hands never touched the soundtrack LPs as they were placed in inner sleeves and then the jackets by robotic arms! This provided the collector with the world's cleanest and best possible sounding reissues available at the time. Of course, since the original recordings date back to the 1950s in most cases, then one could not expect the fidelity of today's recordings--but for their time, they were exceptional!

With the success that MCA Japan enjoyed from the reissuance of those rare soundtrack LPs, other Japanese companies followed suit--MGM, RCA most notably. Probably the rarest title MGM released was that for BRONISLAU KAPER's 'THE SWAN' which has one of the most beautiful fron covers ever put on a soundtrack LP--a portrait of the legendary beauty, Grace Kelly.  At the time, this was a $200+ mint soundtrack LP!  A title from RCA Japan which was also a very rare one was MIKLOS ROZSA's 'SODOM AND GOMORRAH' from 1962.  This was a $300 title for the original at the time.  There are numerous other rare soundtrack LP titles that followed in reissues. You can check our available stock of these rare soundtrack LPs in our Ebay store by clicking on our 'Rare Soundtrack LPs', then in the search box put in 'Japan' to see what we have today!  Even those these are reissues and not originals, because of the painstaking process the Japanese utilized in the production as described above, collectors feels these are great additions to their soundtrack LP libraries. The prices are reasonably less than that for mint originals, and in many cases, originals in mint condition are no longer available due to their rarity or they are astronomically expensive to obtain.

In ensuing years, reissues of rare soundtrack LPs not released in Japan began to appear from sources in Australia (like GEORGES DELERUE's very rare 'CHINESE ADVENTURES IN CHINA'), New Zealand, Spain, England (some MGM titles actually were reissued prior to the Japanese reissues such as MIKLOS ROZSA's 'EL CID'  & 'IVANHOE/MADAME BOVARY/PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE', as well as, some rare musicals like MARILYN MONROE's 'GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES'; click on 'BRITAIN' to see what we have in the store today), France, Germany, Italy, Canada (most notably GEORGES DELERUE's very rare 'OUR MOTHER'S HOUSE'). These European reissues will be covered in a separate guide soon! 

As most of these reissues date back over 20 years, many 30 years, they are becoming more and more valuable; and, as a result, more expensive to obtain.  What is so desirable in addition to the audible beauty of the film score is the great care made in reproducing the album covers which incorporated some beautiful artistry in their creation. They are so bewitching when hold and look at them, 12" x 12" of visual impact!  This is something that is truly a beautiful possession. We can only recommend that you purchase these while you still can, because as the legendary Will Rogers said, 'They ain't making anymore of the stuff'!

Check out our Ebay Store 'RTS Rarities' today for these Japanese & European soundtrack LPs, original soundtracks, Broadway Shows / Original Casts, Pop / Nostalgia, Jazz, Classical, Television & Radio LP recordings (some in cassettes & CDs too!), along with videos, books and other collectibles.  Check into purchasing our RTS PRICE GUIDE (ordering information in previous columns of this Guide) with over 8,000 listings of rare soundtracks, original casts, television LP record values, composers, record numbers.

Look for our next edition in this series soon!