Frequently Asked Questions > Out of Print
4.0 What albums have been released on CD but are now difficult to find?
It bears mentioning that not every album on this list is equally difficult to find. The Columbia albums controlled by Sony are mostly very rare -- one might spend months searching for any of them. Some of the Decca Broadway albums, on the other hand, were printed recently enough that they might still be available in stores near you. In recognition of this fact, I now offer the most sought-after CDs in the show music market.
It also bears mentioning that a few of these albums will be back before long, notably MCA's Broadway Gold series, which Decca Broadway is slowly reactivating.
Finally, a note on the shorthand: OLC stands for "Original London Cast". BRev, LRev and OBRev are respectively used to identify revivals on Broadway, London, or off Broadway. The year is appended when there are several revivals to distinguish. Albums without any additional identification are either OBCs (of the original Broadway cast, the default designation) or the only recording of the particular score.
4.1 Sony/BMG Masterworks/Legacy
Anne of Green Gables OLC, Anyone Can Whistle concert, Avenue X, Bar Mitzvah Boy OLC, The Beggar's Opera LRev, Billy OLC, Cabaret OLC, Charlie Girl OLC, Chess, A Christmas Carol, City of Angels OLC, Company OLC, Company LRev96, Darling of the Day, Do Re Mi OBC, Fanny, The Girl Who Came to Supper, Goodtime Charley, Goya - A Life in Song, Grease BC [with Brooke Shields], Happy Hunting, Hello, Dolly!, Howard Crabtree's Whoop-Dee-Doo, Jerome Robbins Broadway, Legs Diamond, Let 'Em Eat Cake concert, Little Me, A Little Night Music OLC, Magdalena studio, Marry Me a Little, Me and Juliet, Milk and Honey, Mr. President, No, No, Nanette OLC, Of Thee I Sing concert, 110 in the Shade, Kismet Lincoln Center cast, Kiss of the Spider Woman OLC, Mrs. Santa Claus TV cast, New Girl in Town, Over Here!, Pacific Overtures OLC, Passion Flower Hotel OLC, Peter Pan [Bernstein version], Promenade, Purlie, Rags, Salad Days OLC, Show Boat studio32, Silk Stockings, Sisterella, Sophisticated Ladies, Starting Here, Starting Now, Sweet Charity OLC, Take Me Along, Weird Romance, Wildcat, Wings, Wish You Were Here, Your Own Thing
The Sony West End series, through which most of the albums identified above as OLCs were issued, has been discontinued in its entirety. Most albums issued in it have become hard to find, excepting only Fiddler on the Roof, which received a Columbia Broadway Masterworks issue.
Rags was issued as part of a small series of studio albums under none of the familiar imprints. One presumes its sales were not up to par with the rest of the series (which included Man of La Mancha and Kismet). Curiously, all of the Virgin Megastores in New York City seem to have tons of them, though they're not sold anywhere online or at specialty stores anymore.
4.2 Decca Broadway
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Coco, High Spirits, Johnny Johnson, Mack & Mabel, Mr. Wonderful, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, On Your Toes, One Touch of Venus/Lute Song, Radio Times, Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off OLC, Sunset Boulevard Canadian cast, The Tap Dance Kid, Trouble in Tahiti, Whoop-Up
Decca Broadway holds the rights to the former holdings of MCA/Universal (including Decca) and Polydor and is currently in the midst of a reissue campaign. If you'd like to see any more of these printed again, visit the message boards on the web site and say so. Staff members are regular readers of that site and take suggestions seriously.
Varese Sarabande licensed The Mystery of Edwin Drood after it was dropped by Polydor, but at the request of composer Rupert Holmes, most of the alternate endings were left off of the reissue in favor of two songs from the rest of the score (well, a song and a reprise -- but a reprise featuring Judy Kuhn and Donna Murphy). The original is much rarer (though both are now out of print) and much more desirable, in my opinion.
Half a Sixpence and Stop the World... have been announced for reissue through Must Close Saturday, though no date has been mentioned. They were originally released through London Decca, and reappeared on CD through Deram. (Special thanks to Malcolm Grove.) Must Close Saturday and Bayview have both recently released a slew of London cast album reissues (including other former London Decca holdings presumably controlled by Universal).
4.3 EMI/Angel
Annie Get Your Gun studio, Annie Get Your Gun TV cast, Annie Warbucks, The Arcadians OLC, Blitz OLC, Cabin in the Sky, Canterbury Tales, Carmen Jones OLC, Celebration, Chu Chin Chow LRev, Flower Drum Song OLC, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum OLC, High Society OLC, Kiss Me, Kate studio, Kwamina, Little Mary Sunshine OC, Napoleon Toronto cast, Nymph Errant concert, Oliver! studio, Pal Joey, A Party With Comden and Green OBC, Robert and Elizabeth OLC, She Loves Me OLC, Skyscraper, Tenderloin, Three Wishes for Jamie, Walking Happy, Where's Charley? OLC, Windy City OLC, Zorba
Special thanks to Loire21 for providing a partial list of these titles.
The John McGlinn studio cast albums of Kiss Me, Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon, Anything Goes and Show Boat were reissued in the U.K. by HMV's Classical division, along with the original London cast of Carmen Jones. The rarest of these remain on my list because they are difficult to find even in the U.K. and nearly impossible in the United States. (Special thanks to Markus Ritzmann for all of his research.)
The Broadway Angel albums vary in their scarcity; some have been hard to find for years (Canterbury Tales), while others linger on the shelves in many places (The Unsinkable Molly Brown). But all but the biggest sellers in that series (Funny Girl, Follies, A Funny Thing... OBC, Can-Can, and a few others) are no longer being printed. The West End series, relatively neglected from the start, has vanished almost completely. Some EMI studio albums like Anything Goes are still kicking around; don't waste time if you think you want them.
4.4 DRG
Bubbling Brown Sugar OLC, Call Me Madam Encores cast, Falsettoland, Forbidden Broadway Vols. 1, 2, & 4, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes BRev, Good Companions OLC, High Spirits OLC, Leave it to Jane/Oh, Kay!, Little Mary Sunshine OLC, Little Me OLC, Louisiana Purchase, The Madwoman of Central Park West, The Magic Show, March of the Falsettos, Meet Me in St. Louis, Nuncrackers, Nunsense 2 -- The Second Coming, Nunsense 3 -- The Jamboree, Scarlett, Scrambled Feet, Songbook OLC, Song of Singapore, State Fair, Valmouth OC
Most of these albums were licensed by DRG from the British Pye label and were deleted when the rights expired. Many of the others are still in stores as of Summer 2001. They won't last long, though; the print runs were not nearly as large as with the Sony Broadway or RCA catalogue albums. The Falsettos and Forbidden Broadway albums will remain available as multi-disc sets, though not as individual albums.
4.5 TER/Jay
Dance a Little Closer, Nine Australian cast
The US rights to the former are owned, interestingly enough, by Original Cast Records, which intends to issue it in the next year.
4.6 Varese Sarabande
The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Bring Back Birdie, Forbidden Hollywood, Heartbeats, Henry, Sweet Henry, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Sugar Babies
4.7 Rykodisc
4.8 Miscellaneous
All That He Was (AEI), The Ballad of Little Mikey (AEI), Barnum OLC (Chrysalis), The Card OLC (First Night), Children of Eden OLC (London), A Doll's Life (Bay Cities), EFX (Atlantic), In Gay Company (AEI), Jane Eyre Toronto cast (Mervish), King David (Disney), Kiss Me, Kate LRev87 (First Night), A Little Night Music LRev (Tring), Minnie's Boys (Project 3), The Music Man studio (Telarc), The Mystery of Edwin Drood Australian cast (GEP), Pageant Australian cast (Polydor), Show Boat BRev93 (Livent), Woman of the Year, and many others that I can't think of off the top of my head.
Woman of the Year can still be ordered directly from Razor and Tie for retail price, though it is technically out of print. (Special thanks to Sam Nystrom!)
It was long rumored that a recording had been made and issued of Clue during its off-Broadway run, but it was strangely difficult to find copies by any normal means. Eventually it became clear that there was no such recording and that the rumors had been spread in the hopes of funding a recording through pre-orders. (Special thanks to wwwnycnet!) Update: A member of the off-Broadway cast has confirmed to me that the recording was never made.
A Doll's Life is apparently now also controlled by Original Cast Records, but is for some reason only available on cassette. (These cassettes may be those printed by the erstwhile Bay Cities but never sold.) A CD rerelease is forthcoming, according to owner Bruce Yeko.
Minnie's Boys is for some reason often available on auction sites, particularly eBay and Amazon, for less than retail price. Very odd, given that I've never seen it in a store.
If you find the OLC of Children of Eden somewhere by some miracle, be cautious before throwing a lot of money at it -- due to "bronzing", a manufacturing flaw that affected some CDs of the early 90s, many copies of this disc have corroded very quickly and are now unplayable. Moreover, this album is one of relatively few for which there is no longer a replacement guarantee from the label. Secure a guarantee of some kind -- there are a few good ones out there, but you need to make sure which you're buying.
Last updated 7/3/2006. Send comments to Mike Benedetto.