Annie - Original Cast Recording (1977)

Never seen the show or any of the movie adaptations, but am familiar with many of the songs anyway (see below).

Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. The show itself won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Liner notes include show photos and a plot synopsis to help people like myself who've never so much as read a Little Orphan Annie comic strip, much less seen the musical. I like the music good enough, but that may be nostalgia talking.

Cash Box, June 4, 1977, p. 23

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #81
Peak on CashBox album chart: #72

Tracks: see below

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The album was a constant presence in my 7th grade speech/drama class, most commonly used for record pantomime mess (aka over-emoting lip syncing).

• Maybe - I'm not sure who tried using this for pantomime, but it doesn't seem to lend itself to much, but its familiar, so someone musta done it.
• It's the Hard-Knock Life - Two girls (Darla & Mary) used this song and were successful at several forensic tournaments. If I remember, their only props were two chairs.
• Tomorrow - a good song, but leapin' lizards, it's been overplayed.
• Little Girls - A girl named Tracie pantomimed to this one and she was fantastic because she did everything over-the-top which made her perfect for junior high drama endeavors.
• N.Y.C. - If the melody worked for Edelweiss in The Sound of Music, why not use it again?
• Easy Street - this chorus is very familiar but I can't place the memory.
• You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile - somehow, this one took on a life of its own apart from the show as it has a catchy melody and the lyrics play right into the self-help racket.
• Tomorrow (Reprise) - and all I can think of is Kevin Kline singing this song in the movie Dave.
• I Don't Need Anything But You - throughout high school, this was the go-to audition song for my friend Scott. He owned the thing, so I can't really blame him for sticking with it.

For the record, I wasn't a record pantomimer; my events were typically prose/poetry reading, duet acting, and (very rarely) extemporaneous speaking. The following year, this cast album was replaced in drama class by the soundtrack of The Muppet Movie, but those are stories for other times.

Now that I've heard the whole thing, I'm thinking maybe we played a medley of these songs in band? Unfortunately, I don't have the archives to check that out.