- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The soundtrack album for South Pacific was an even bigger hit than the film – the biggest selling album of 1958, as well as the second half of the 1950’s.
South Pacific (Original Movie Soundtrack) (1958): South Pacific was a favorite album of my parents; while growing up, I used to hear it being played all the time on my father’s “hi-fi” set that pre-dated the stereo era. The musical South Pacific, starring Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin, came to Broadway in 1949 – just four years after the end of World War II, the setting of the musical – and is one of the jewels of the collaboration of Broadway titans Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The film version of South Pacific came out nine years later and was carefully overseen by Rogers and Hammerstein; in particular, many of the stars of the movie had their vocals overdubbed by others, with only Mitzi Gaynor and Ray Walston singing their own parts.
The South Pacific soundtrack is loaded with classic Broadway show tunes, like “Some Enchanted Evening”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”, “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy”, “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame”, “Bali Ha’i”, “A Cockeyed Optimist”, and “Younger Than Springtime”. “(You’ve Got to Be) Carefully Taught” was subjected to widespread criticism, judged by some to be too controversial or downright inappropriate for the musical stage. The lyrics boldly state that racism is not inherent, but something that is learned after birth. James Michener, upon whose stories South Pacific was based, recalled: “The authors replied stubbornly that this number represented why they had wanted to do this play; and that even if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in.” South Pacific was one of the 10 biggest films of 1958, but the soundtrack album for South Pacific was an even bigger hit – not just the biggest selling album of 1958, but the biggest seller of the second half of the 1950’s. Its run at the top of the Billboard album charts for seven months is tied for fourth place behind the Broadway cast album of South Pacific, the movie soundtrack for West Side Story, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.