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Long before she was Sandy, the good girl of Rydell High, or Kira, the Olympian muse of the roller disco Xanadu, Olivia Newton-John was just plain Livvy, the girl singer with dreams of the big time in the 1970 sci-fi movie musical Toomorrow. On July 30, the film's cult classic soundtrack is returning to vinyl for the very first time from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records.
The little-known motion picture directed by Val Guest (Casino Royale, Up the Creek) was the brainchild of music impresario Don Kirshner and Harry Saltzman, best known for co-producing the first nine James Bond films with Albert R. Broccoli. And Toomorrow wasn't just the movie's title. After a lengthy talent search, Kirshner and Saltzman assembled the band Toomorrow, whom the music mogul modestly described as "the best-looking total group that ever existed." Why the misspelling? As drummer Karl Chambers put it in the film itself, "I dig it! We're too much, we're too morrow!" Newton-John and Chambers (who replaced Chris Slade after the future AC/DC drummer had already participated in publicity events) were joined in Toomorrow by actor-singer-guitarist-RCA recording artist Ben Thomas and British keyboardist Vic Cooper.
Kirshner tapped Brill Building veterans Mark Barkan and Richie Adams for the movie's bubblegum-meets-rock tunes and composer/electronic music pioneer Hugo Montenegro for arrangements and additional score. The result was a groovy, Moog-flavored pop romp that barely reflected the action onscreen. But the movie was plagued by creative in-fighting, legal troubles, and poor reviews. It quickly disappeared, and so did the soundtrack album (originally released on RCA Victor in the United Kingdom) despite enjoyable material including Montenegro's ominous "Spaceport" and the catchy likes of Barkan and Adams' "Taking Our Own Sweet Time," "Happiness Valley," and the title track.
When Newton-John reached superstardom following the success of Grease, Toomorrow briefly reappeared in European cinemas. Over the years, its soundtrack gained cult status and began to fetch seriously high prices. Even as of this writing, an imperfect vinyl copy will likely set you back in the three-figure range. In 2014, Real Gone Music brought Toomorrow to CD as remastered by Maria Triana at Battery Studios from the original stereo tapes. Now, Triana's remaster will feature on the album's first-ever vinyl reissue.
Toomorrow will be available in three colors: purple vinyl (available everywhere), clear with copper and red swirl (available exclusively from Real Gone Music and limited to 100 units), and clear with red, blue, and green "freak" swirl (available exclusively from Rough Trade and limited to 300 units). Our reissue recreates the original 1970 album artwork and also includes an insert with expanded and updated liner notes from TSD's Joe Marchese as well as additional photos of Newton-John and her bandmates.
Look out - here comes Toomorrow on July 30 from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records. You'll find pre-order links and the track listing below.
Toomorrow: Original Soundtrack Recording (RCA Victor LP LSA 3008, 1970 - reissued Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records RGM-1253, 2021)
Purple Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music
Clear with Copper and Red Swirl Vinyl: Real Gone Music
Clear with Red, Blue, and Green "Freak" Swirl Vinyl: Rough Trade
Side One
- You're My Baby Now
- Taking Our Own Sweet Time
- Toomorrow (Instrumental)
- Let's Move On
- Walkin' on Air (Instrumental)
- If You Can't Be Hurt
Side Two
- Toomorrow
- Walkin' on Air
- Spaceport
- Happiness Valley
- Let's Move On
- Goin' Back
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Now if someone would release the movie on Blu-ray! I’ve seen it on YouTube, it was a fun watch
Why no shipping to the U.K.? Every other country can get this.
I agree not fair. I think we'll be able to get the regular one via UK amazon. It's probably Brexit and companies not understanding changes to customs and VAT.
I have an original LP of this from 1970. I'll be curious to compare the sound of this new LP to the original. I bought the remastered CD that came out a few years back and was very pleased with the sound of it. I'm guessing this LP will be mastered from the same source tape -- if it's mastered AAA, of course. It could very well be mastered from the digital master that was created for the CD...
I wonder why this movie has never been available on video, DVD or streaming. Even though Olivia’s glory days are long behind her, there have been much lesser stars in much lesser projects that have been made available through the years.
I would be more interested, though, in when we will finally start seeing some releases from Olivia’s catalog after she signed that deal last year. She is rumored to be compiling a duets collection that will feature her recent recordings with her daughter and Paul Anka. She is sooooooo overdue for a box set!
To my knowledge, various rights issues have prevented a wide release on DVD or Blu-ray, although Val Guest's estate did briefly authorize a U.K. DVD release. For all the film's flaws, there are certain pleasures (Olivia's performance chief among them). I'd love to see a full restoration if one is indeed possible.
I believe announcements will be imminent about Olivia's catalog; reissue producer Vinny Vero is involved and has promised great things are on the way.
Paul Anka may have given us a clue. Toward the end of the "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" video, there is a banner for Olivia's "Just The Two Of Us." If this is indeed Olivia's long awaited compilation of duets, it will be interesting to see what songs will be included as she has recorded enough collaborations through the years to fill about three CDs!