Judy Garland and ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Join National Recording Registry

Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” in the film “The Wizard of Oz.” The single was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress this week. CreditWarner Bros.

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical comedy-drama fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the most well-known and commercially successful adaptation based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.[3] The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. The co-stars are Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton, with Charley Grapewin, Pat Walshe and Clara Blandick, Terry the dog (billed as Toto), and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins.[4] 

Notable for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and unusual characters, over the years it has become an icon of American popular culture. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind. It did win in two other categories, including Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow" and Best Original Score by Herbert Stothart. However, the film was a box office disappointment on its initial release, earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget, despite receiving largely positive reviews. It was MGM's most expensive production at that time, and did not completely recoup the studio's investment and turn a profit until theatrical re-releases starting in 1949.


You would be hard-pressed to find many playlists that include Judy Garland’s single “Over the Rainbow” and N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton.” But they share a place among the 25 albums and broadcasts added this week to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, which collects titles because of their “cultural, artistic and historical importance to American society.”

 Ms. Garland’s single, from the 1939 classic movie musical “The Wizard of Oz,” was a breakout hit for her and one of the most enduring ballads by the composer Harold Arlen. If that song shares anything with “Straight Outta Compton,” it is their status as landmark works in their genres.

The 1988 album, a definitive West Coast rap declaration with a powerful sociopolitical message, counts Dr. Dre among its producers, with collaborators including Ice Cube, Eazy-E and DJ Yella. (The audio clip below contains explicit language.)

The diverse list of inductees also includes the original cast recording of the 1975 musical “The Wiz”; David Bowie’s 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars”; and Harry Richman’s 1929 single of the Irving Berlin earworm “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

One of Barbra Streisand’s signature songs — the 1964 hit “People,” from Jule Styne and the lyricist Bob Merrill’s musical “Funny Girl” — is also among the registry’s new additions. “This is the prestigious treasure house in which American art is archived and acknowledged as part of the flow of our nation’s culture,” Ms. Streisand said in a statement.

“I believe ‘People’ touched our common desire to relate to others with love and caring, and I’ve always tried to express this in my renditions of this magical song.” Nonmusical recordings include the first episode of NPR’s news program “All Things Considered,” in 1971, and the last game of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in 1957, announced by Vin Scully.

These additions bring the National Recording Registry’s total to 475 titles since the National Recording Preservation Act was established in 2000. The full list is at the registry’s website.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/arts/music/judy-garland-and-straight-outta-compton-join-national-recording-registry.html?_r=0
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