Original Soundtrack
Working Girl (Arista 8593)

Working Girl ranks very high on my list of great soundtrack albums from fairly poor movies. No matter what you think of the idiotic '80s trappings of the film or its dumb-ass message, the soundtrack is one of the most enjoyable CD's I own.

Carly Simon provides the bulk of the music, beginning with the gorgeous "Let The River Run" (one of the few Best Song Oscar winners that is truly great) and the very pretty instrumental "In Love." The love theme recurs in "The Scar," while the main theme returns in a choral version by the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. Very moving.

"Carlotta's Heart" dips into sort of a smooth jazz vein, and 'Looking Through Katherine's House" presents a wordless vocal review of "Let The River Run." I'd put Carly Simon's contribution to this album as her best work ever.

The soundtrack is rounded out by some late-night "safe" jazz (Sonny Rollins with "Poor Butterfly" and a four-piece featuring Grady Tate doing "The Man That Got Away") and by a couple of pop songs you'd not expect to want to hear: Chris DeBurgh's "Lady In Red" and The Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited." The former fits perfectly into the attractive yuppie atmosphere, while the latter closes the album with surprising appropriateness.

This is another one of those CDs which hid in the box adjacent to my "real" collection until I finally had to admit that it was just one of my favorite albums. Perhaps we shall never understand the human mind, how an otherwise interesting person might like Matchbox 20, or how someone with generally impeccable taste might delight in the occasional Doobie Brothers record. In the end, what you like is what you like, and you can't help it. I love Working Girl and I'm glad to have come out about it.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Ned Atomic-Dustbin