American Pop (soundtrack)

American Pop
Soundtrack album by Various
Released	1981
Label	Fantasy Records
Ralph Bakshi film soundtrack chronology
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings OST (1978) American Pop OST (1981) Songs from the Cool World (1992)

The American Pop OST is the soundtrack album to the 1981 film of the same name.^[1] The film tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music.^[2]

The album was released on vinyl to coincide with the release of the film, but has not been re-released onto compact disc. According to director Ralph Bakshi, this is because the cost for licensing the music from the film has gone up significantly since the movie was made: "The amount of music was so spectacular in the picture – it would be millions."

Though the movie itself features nearly fifty popular songs that span 1930 to 1980, the album features only ten, nine of which come from the film's third act (which covers the late 1950s to the mid-1970s).

Track listing

Side A

1. "Hell Is for Children" (Benatar, Capps, Geraldo, Giraldo) – Pat Benatar
2. "Summertime" – Big Brother and the Holding Company
3. "California Dreamin'" – The Mamas & the Papas
4. "This Train" – Peter, Paul and Mary
5. "Somebody to Love" – Marcy Levy

Side B

1. "Purple Haze" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
2. "Take Five" – The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3. "You Send Me" – Sam Cooke
4. "Turn Me Loose" – Fabian
5. "People Are Strange" – The Doors

References