Chart history was made this week when the Original Broadway
Cast Recording of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ debuted
at number 8 on this week’s Billboard 200 album chart. With ‘Hamilton’ still
holding strong at number 13, this is the first time two Broadway Original Cast
Recordings placed in the top 20 of this chart at the same time in more than
five decades. The last time this happened was when ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘Hello,
Dolly!’ both ruled the chart in 1965.
It might seem like nowadays musicals have fallen out of
favor in terms of pop music popularity, but given the right show and the right
timing, they can be extremely relevant. Just take a look at the recent phenomenon
of ‘Hamilton,’ ‘Book of Mormon’ or ‘Rent.’ And when you get culturally ground-breaking
shows like these, the soundtrack is guaranteed to do well too.
Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s top music outlet, is delving
into some of the best-selling Original Broadway Cast Recordings of the last 30
years. Here are six that broke records upon their release and continue to stay
relevant long after their debut.
1.
‘Hamilton’: The speed and intensity at which the
‘Hamilton’ soundtrack (and ‘Hamilton’ in general) caught on is astounding. The
cast recording was released in 2015 and nearly a year later was certified
double platinum. That doesn’t happen to most single artist albums, let alone a
cast recording of a Broadway musical. ‘Hamilton’ peaked at number three on the
Billboard 200 and has stayed on the chart for more than a year. Not only that,
but it went to number one on the Rap Album chart, surpassing some of the most
revered rappers in the game.
2.
‘Rent’: ‘Rent’ was a ground-breaking musical
when it came out in 1996. It dealt with subjects like homosexuality and AIDS,
which were very much taboo at the time. The cast recording was just as
groundbreaking, bringing original rock compositions to the Broadway stage for
the first time. That new-found eagerness for a new kind of Broadway showed in the
recording’s sales, debuting on the Billboard 200 chart at number 19 and going
on to become certified double platinum.
3.
‘Wicked’: It took a while for the cast album of ‘Wicked’
to catch on, but it did. The album peaked at number three on the Top Pop
Catalog albums in 2009, six years after its release. Its sales since have
skyrocketed, leaving it with a double platinum certification.
4.
‘Book of Mormon’: Though the success of a
musical written by the same people as the popular ‘South Park’ series sounds
like it might only be meant for a specific group of theater goers, the
popularity of ‘Book of Mormon’ broke all expectations. The Original Cast
Recording also broke records, debuting at number two on the iTunes sales chart
upon release. The album saw another surge after the show won a number of Tony
Awards in 2011, shooting to number three on the Billboard 200 with more than
60,000 copies sold that week.
5.
‘If/Then’:
Fresh off the popularity of ‘Frozen,’ Idina Menzel (who is no stranger to
groundbreaking Broadway theater, she originated roles in both ‘Rent’ and ‘Wicked’)
returned to Broadway with ‘If/Then.’ Perhaps it was the name recognition, but
the musical became a success and so did the cast recording. It debuted at
number 19 on the Billboard 200 in 2014, which at the time was the highest debut
for a cast recording since ‘Rent.’
6.
‘American Idiot’: It comes as no surprise that a
musical made out of one of the top albums of 2004 would be a success,
especially since that album was Green Day’s critically acclaimed ‘American
Idiot.’ When the band released the Original Cast Recording for the 2010
Broadway show, which featured Green Day playing backup for the cast, the album
jumped to number five on the iTunes charts. The album also topped Billboard’s
Catalog Albums chart as late as last year, six years after its release.
While Broadway Cast Recordings will probably never see the
same kind of popularity they once did, modern musicals can still have a big
impact on the charts. These six albums prove that, as does the fact that two
popular Broadway recordings are sitting in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 as
we speak.
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Find Original Cast Recordings and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and
vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of
titles to choose from in genres ranging from Broadway show tunes to rock and
metal to dance and R&B, with more titles being added all the time. We have
an enormous selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes and DVDs,
as well as cultural memorabilia. Stop by the store or shop online to see what
we have in stock!
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