"A Boy Who Needs a Friend Finds a World That Needs A Hero."  So proclaimed the tagline to the 1984 fantasy film The NeverEnding Story.  The film became a hit that year and featured a title song which also climbed the charts.  Cherry Red imprint Strike Force Entertainment has recently released an expanded reissue of the film's soundtrack.

The movie, based upon the 1979 German fantasy novel by Michael Ende, tells the tale of ten-year old Bastion Balthazar Bux who begins to read a book chronicling the adventures of Atreyu as he attempts to save The Childlike Empress, ruler of the fantasy world Fantasia, and end the threat of the "The Nothing."  As Atreyu continues his quest, he meets fantastical beings such as Morla, a giant turtle and Falkor, a huge dog-like "luckdragon."  Fantasy and reality eventually collide as Bastion is literally pulled into the story to help save the day.

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen (in his first English-language production), the film struck a chord with audiences, grossing over $100 million worldwide.  The music for the German version of the film was completely scored by Klaus Doldinger of the jazz band Passport (sometimes described as a European version of fusion group Weather Report).  He had previously worked with Petersen when he scored the 1981 movie Das Boot for the director.  For the U.S. and U.K. versions of the film, the score was augmented by musical pieces from Giorgio Moroder.  Moroder rose to prominence in the 1970s as a producer of many of Donna Summer's hits such as "Hot Stuff" and "MacArthur Park."  As a songwriter and performer, he helped to pioneer electronic dance music.  He also contributed to soundtrack albums and wrote the scores for Foxes and American Gigolo.  After The NeverEnding Story, he would go on to contribute to the soundtrack of Top Gun, co-writing Berlin's "Take My Breath Away."  More recently, Moroder picked up a Grammy Award for his work on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.

Among Moroder's additions to the soundtrack of The NeverEnding Story was a new title theme, co-written with Keith Forsey.  The singer Christopher "Limahl" Hamilton, whom Moroder met at the 1984 Tokyo Music Festival, was chosen to sing the track.  Limahl had previously been the lead singer of the new-wave group Kajagoogoo, who had topped the UK charts in 1983 with "Too Shy."  Additional vocals on the song were contributed by Beth Anderson on the English version and Ann Calvert on the French version.  Released as a single in January 1984, the song would top the charts in Norway and hit No. 4 in the U.K. and reach No. 6 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart.

The soundtrack has appeared on CD before, mostly in Japanese issues.  This new CD edition expands the original 15-song U.S. and U.K. album by an additional 6 tracks.  There are four additional mixes of the title theme together with the French version.  Also included is the 12-inch mix of Moroder's score cue "Ivory Tower."  Ironically, the soundtrack version was never featured in the film, and the film's version still has never been released.

The release comes in a cardboard sleeve with a protective cloth envelope for the CD.  A six-page full color booklet is included, which featuring pictures of some of the single releases and movie posters and an essay from reissue producer Barney Ashton.  No remastering credits are included.

If you would like to take a trip back to Fantasia sure to keep you dancing, we've got the full tracklisting and preorder links below.

Various Artists, The NeverEnding Story Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Expanded Edition) (Cherry Red/Strike Force Entertainment, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. The NeverEnding Story - Limahl
2. Swamps of Sadness - Giorgio Moroder
3. Ivory Tower - Giorgio Moroder
4. Ruined Landscape - Giorgio Moroder
5. Sleepy Dragon - Giorgio Moroder
6. Bastian's Happy Flight - Klaus Doldinger
7. Fantasia - Klaus Doldinger
8. Atreju's Quest - Klaus Doldinger
9. Theme of Sadness - Klaus Doldinger
10. Atreju Meets Falkor - Klaus Doldinger
11. Mirrorgate / Southern Oracle - Klaus Doldinger
12. Gmork - Klaus Doldinger
13. Moonchild - Klaus Doldinger
14. The Auryn - Klaus Doldinger
15. Happy Flight - Klaus Doldinger
16. Ivory Tower (12" Version) - Giorgio Moroder
17. The NeverEnding Story (12" Mix) - Limahl
18. The NeverEnding Story (12' Dance Mix) - Limahl
19. The NeverEnding Story (12" Dub Mix) - Limahl
20. The NeverEnding Story (Rusty 7" Mix) - Limahl
21. L' Histoire Sans Fin (French Language Version of 'The NeverEnding Story') - Limahl

Tracks 1-15 from The NeverEnding Story Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, EMI LP EJ 2402221, 1984
Tracks 16 - 20 from EMI 12" single 12 LML 3, 1984
Track 21 from EMI French single 2004937, 1984