Description
Barbarella – The Hit Songs Of The Wild Movie & Other Way Out Themes – Vinyl Record
Barbarella – The Hit Songs of the Wild Movie & Other Way Out Themes is a soundtrack-related album inspired by the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella. Rather than being the complete original film score, it is a companion release centered on the film’s songs and psychedelic pop aesthetic, supplemented with additional “way out” or space-age themed material that captured the spirit of the era’s fascination with science fiction, psychedelia, and pop culture.
Released during the height of the psychedelic movement, the album reflects a moment when popular music embraced experimentation, colorful imagery, and futuristic themes. The film itself, starring Jane Fonda, became an enduring cult classic thanks to its striking visual design, playful tone, and blend of comic-book fantasy, science fiction, and 1960s counterculture.
The music was composed primarily by Bob Crewe and Charles Fox, who created a score that fused orchestral film music with contemporary pop, lounge, jazz, and psychedelic rock. Their work avoided the ominous, electronic approach common in later science fiction films, instead embracing bright melodies, swinging rhythms, and playful arrangements that matched the film’s tongue-in-cheek sensibility.
The title song, “Barbarella,” immediately establishes the album’s playful character. With infectious melodies, lush harmonies, and buoyant orchestration, it captures the optimism and stylish excess of late-1960s pop. Throughout the record, brass sections, sweeping strings, electric guitars, harpsichords, organs, and layered vocal arrangements create a sound that is unmistakably rooted in its era.
One of the album’s greatest pleasures is its sense of fun. Unlike many science-fiction scores that emphasize suspense or grandeur, these compositions celebrate adventure, romance, humor, and fantasy. The music mirrors the film’s camp aesthetic, never taking itself too seriously while remaining highly accomplished from a compositional standpoint.
The orchestral writing is particularly strong. Crewe and Fox balance cinematic sweep with pop accessibility, creating themes that are memorable both within the context of the film and as standalone listening. Their arrangements draw equally from Hollywood film scoring, television themes, jazz orchestration, and contemporary pop production.
The production reflects the sonic character of the late 1960s. Stereo effects, reverberant vocals, rich orchestration, and psychedelic studio techniques contribute to an immersive listening experience. While unmistakably vintage, the sound retains a warmth and charm that continues to appeal to collectors of classic soundtrack music and space-age pop.
Historically, the album occupies an interesting place in soundtrack history. It arrived during a period when film music was becoming increasingly influenced by contemporary popular music rather than relying exclusively on traditional orchestral scoring. In that respect, it anticipated later soundtrack albums that blurred the boundaries between film score and pop record.
Although often overshadowed by the film’s visual style and cult reputation, the music has developed its own devoted following. Collectors of 1960s soundtracks, lounge music, psychedelic pop, and exotica frequently cite it as one of the more imaginative examples of late-1960s soundtrack production. It also serves as an excellent snapshot of the optimism and creative experimentation that characterized the “Space Age” aesthetic before science fiction cinema adopted the darker, more serious tone of the following decade.
Today, Barbarella – The Hit Songs of the Wild Movie & Other Way Out Themes is appreciated as both a nostalgic artifact and an engaging musical experience. It captures the exuberant imagination of the late 1960s, when pop music, fashion, cinema, and science fiction intersected in delightfully unconventional ways.
With its infectious melodies, colorful orchestration, and playful futuristic atmosphere, the album remains one of the more distinctive soundtrack-related releases of its era. Stylish, whimsical, and unmistakably psychedelic, it continues to evoke the optimistic, anything-is-possible spirit that made Barbarella a lasting cult phenomenon.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Barbarella
I Love All The Love In You
The Black Queen’s Beads
Love Drags Me Down
Danse Macabre
An Angel Is Love
Sabre Dance
Turkish March
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
