To Live and Die in L.A. (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
The To Live and Die in L.A. soundtrack is Wang Chung
's third album and second on Geffen Records
. Instead of following up on the success that Points on the Curve
landed them, Wang Chung switched gears to produce an original motion picture soundtrack. The switch allowed for them to experiment with different styles of music from the conventional pop music on their previous album. Released in 1985, only the album's title song made it on the Billboard Hot 100
where it peaked at #41 in the U.S.
; all songs produced by Wang Chung, unless noted otherwise.
Geffen Records Cassette
Geffen Records CD
Wang Chung (band)
Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
's third album and second on Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
. Instead of following up on the success that Points on the Curve
Points On the Curve
Points on the Curve is Wang Chung's second album and first album since changing their name from Huang Chung and switching from Arista to the Geffen record label...
landed them, Wang Chung switched gears to produce an original motion picture soundtrack. The switch allowed for them to experiment with different styles of music from the conventional pop music on their previous album. Released in 1985, only the album's title song made it on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
where it peaked at #41 in the U.S.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Wang ChungWang Chung (band)
Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
; all songs produced by Wang Chung, unless noted otherwise.
Geffen Records CassetteCompact CassetteThe Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
: M5G 24081
Geffen Records CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
: GED 24081
Chart performance
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
85 |
Background
- According to William FriedkinWilliam FriedkinWilliam Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
, director of the film To Live and Die in L.A., the main reason he chose Wang Chung to compose the soundtrack was because the band "stands out from the rest of contemporary music... What they finally recorded has not only enhanced the film, it has given it a deeper, more powerful dimension." http://www.wangchung.com/archive/wc/albums/toliveanddie.shtml This, of course, was his response after listening to the band’s previous album, Points on the Curve. In fact, he loved the album so much, that he took one of the songs straight off of the album, "WaitWait (Wang Chung song)"Wait" is a single by Wang Chung, released as the fourth and final single off their 1984 album, Points on the Curve. The single reached #87 on the UK Singles Chart. Aside from the early singles released as Huang Chung, "Wait" was the only single by Wang Chung that failed to chart on the U.S....
", and used it as part of the soundtrack. "Wait" plays at the end credits of the movie, and is the only song to appear on two different non-compilation albums. - Every song on the soundtrack, excluding the title song and "Wait", was written and recorded within a two-week period. Only after Wang Chung saw a rough draft of the film did they produce the title song. http://www.wangchung.com/archive/wc/albums/toliveanddie.shtml
- On the original vinyl release, side one was all vocal tracks, side two was all instrumental.
Credits
- All songs published by Chong Music Ltd., adm. by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. BMI
- Executive Producers: John KalodnerJohn KalodnerJohn David Kalodner is a retired American A&R executive. His achievements included signing Foreigner, AC/DC, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins to Atlantic Records in the seventies....
and David Massey - Arranged by William Friedkin
- Music Supervision: John Kalodner
- Production Supervisor: Bob Weiner
- "Lullaby" engineered by Brad DavisBrad DavisBrad Davis may refer to:*Brad Davis *Brad Davis *Brad Davis , American baseball player*Brad Davis , American basketball player*Brad Davis , American soccer player...
- Mastered by Greg FulginitiGreg FulginitiGregory Fulginiti is an American recording and mastering engineer.In a career spanning three decades, Fulginiti was nominated for the TEC Awards by Mix magazine 6 times, earned 175 Gold and Platinum Awards, 25 Multi-Platinum Awards, 100 Number One recordings, 135 Grammy nominees, including the...
at Artisan Sound RecordersArtisan Sound RecordersArtisan Sound Recorders was one of Southern California's premier disk mastering facilities. It was founded by Bob MacLeod in the 1960s and acquired by Kent Duncan in 1979 when MacLeod retired. In the early 1990s it was sold and the mastering operation ceased operation.More than 500 Gold & Platinum...
, Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... - Art Director/Design: Steve Gerdes
- Graphic Design: Pablo FerroPablo FerroPablo Ferro is a graphic designer and film titles designer.Born in Antilla, Oriente Province, Cuba, he was raised on a remote farm until emigrating to New York with his family as a teen.- Education :...
- Thanks to William Friedkin, Bud Smith and all at Todd A.O., Maggie Abbott and all at Triad, Bob Weiner, Ed Rosenblatt and Elaine Black.
- Management: David Massey at Domino Directions, Ltd., London