The ROCKY HORROR SHOW (UK) - Original London Cast

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
-LP
1973 (UKAL 1006)





".....The album that started it all.....
Although TRHS has become a huge pop culture phenomenon today, back in 1973, the original production was a very simple show put on in a very small, intimate theatre. Since there wasn't much of a budget to speak of, very few props and special effects were used (unlike most of the official productions staged by Rocky Horror, Ltd. today). The fact that the first production of TRHS was such a low-budget, experimental piece of musical theatre MUST be considered when listening to the Original London Cast album for the first time.

The album is very different in that it was actually recorded in a day (and you can tell.) The musical arrangements and the orchestrations sound very amateurish, but that's how the music was originally written. Plus, it was recorded back when the show had only been running a short while. This recording is really the only official release of the score as it was originally performed.

Technically speaking, this album leaves a lot to be desired. Compared to the professionally produced Original Roxy Cast album it sounds like a demo recording...

The great thing about this album is the nostalgic value, it's the VERY FIRST production, and the fact that five of the members from this ensemble went on to do TRHPS makes it more appealing...

Another interesting note is that when this album was released in 1973 on UK/King Of England Records, it had a few engineering flaws in the first pressing. The errors were fixed with a bit of re-mixing, and the album was re-issued a short time later. ALL versions of the Original London Cast Album are the re-mixed version EXCEPT for the vinyl UK/King Of England release (UKAL 1006).


***Here are the differences in the 2 versions of the Original London Cast album:

# On the first pressing (UKAL 1006), 'The Time Warp' is mixed very poorly. During the chorus, the voices are mixed unevenly, and all you can hear is Richard O'Brien's voice. This make the song sound like a Riff solo. (Some Ritz junkies may argue that this makes this version superior...) The REMIXED version (all other releases) features an evenly mixed chorus in which you can hear all the right performers.

# On the first pressing, there's a small flaw in 'The Sword Of Damocles'..... in the beginning of the song when Rocky is being created and the music starts, Rocky sounds like he lets out a belch to start out the song. In the REMIXED version, the flaw has been fixed, and the song starts fine.

# On the first pressing, 'Hot Patootie (Bless My Soul)' is a few seconds longer, and the song ends abruptly with Eddie's death. In the REMIXED version, the song is shorter, and it ends in a fade. (Why they remixed this is beyond me.)

Remember that ALL versions of this album are the re-mixed version except for the original vinyl UKAL 1006 release. This first pressing is a bit difficult to find, but the differences in the two versions are few and far apart that it would probably only be of value to the extreme die-hard collectors." - sanityfortoday.com


CAST:
Narrator: Jonathon Adams
Frank-N-Furter: Tim Curry
Riff-Raff: Richard O'Brien
Brad Majors: Christopher Malcolm
Janet Weiss: Belinda Sinclair
Rocky Horror: Rayner Bourton
Usherette/Magenta: Patricia Quinn
Columbia: Little Nell
Eddie/Dr. Scott: Paddy O'Hagan

MUSICIANS
Richard Hartley: piano and organ
Count Ian Blair: guitar, electric and acoustic
Dennis Cowan: bass guitar
Martin Fitzgibbon: drums
Phil Kenzie: sax


TRACKLIST:
01 Science Fiction Double Feature
02 Dammit Janet
03 Over at the Frankenstein Place
04 Sweet Transvestite
05 The Time Warp
06 Sword of Damocles
07 Hot Patootie (Bless My Soul)
08 Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch Me
09 Once in a While
10 Rose Tint My World
11 I'm Going Home
12 Superheroes
13 Science Fiction Double Feature (Reprise)

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