
Now let’s get all ratted up like a teenage jezebel! Although Spotify has a ton of playlists for the 2007 Hairspray, it seems nobody yet bothered to make one for John Waters’ original (ahem, superior) version of the movie. Luckily, I was able to find almost all of the original songs on Spotify, which is surprising given the rarity of some of them. What’s a Tracy Turnblad wannabe hair hopper to do? Oh, you want Gravy for your Mashed Potatoes? Don’t even think about it. For example, none of the four Chubby Checker songs are included. You could buy it from Amazon for less than $8 if you really want, but you’re only getting less than half the songs featured in the movie.

The official soundtrack that was released for John Waters’ Hairspray only contains twelve songs. (And just to be clear, I’m NOT talking about the 2007 movie based on the musical starring John Travolta in drag.)

Being from Baltimore myself and a fan of cult movies in general–especially ones that involve lots of cheesy dancing and kitschy humor–it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hairspray is one of my favorites. Such is the case with John Waters’ Hairspray, the campy 1988 dance movie set in racially tense Baltimore during the 1960s. Other times, the “official” soundtrack that was released is incomplete, lacking many of the key songs that made the film so memorable to begin with. Sometimes there aren’t even legal ways to acquire it. I couldn’t find a good clip of the scene to show you (you’ll have to watch the film!) so here is The Ikettes singing it live on American Bandstand in 1965.It’s ridiculous how hard it can sometimes be to find soundtracks for the movies you love, especially from older movies with out-of-print soundtracks. I find this song difficult to describe, it is just damn cool.

In contrast to every other day, the room is dimly lit, there doesn’t appear to be cameras around or the usual competitiveness between the kids. It plays on The Corny Collins Show’s monthly Negro Day. My favourite song in the film is I’M BLUE (THE GONG-GONG SONG) by The Ikettes. The subplot focuses on the racial divide between the privileged white teenagers who are on the show every day, and the equally talented African American kids who are given one day a month. The main story line is about Tracy’s dream of becoming part of The Corny Collins Show, which according to John Waters was “based on a real show in Baltimore called the Buddy Dean show, where the girls wore higher hair and the guys wore tighter pants and it was a little more exaggerated than anywhere else in the country” ( Ross, 1998, page 3).

'It's Madison Time' excerpt from Hairspray (1988) Her confidence and enjoyment is obvious, as is her talent as she catches the eye of several people. Tracy goes right to the front, in between Link (the object of her affection) and Amber (her racist, fat-phobic arch nemesis) and she shines. It’s a very sweet scene, Tracy knows the Madison and Penny knows that she has what it takes to be on the show so urges her to join the dance. Tracy’s first appearance on the show occurs during IT’S MADISON TIME. Several of these songs reference each other, in WADDLE WADDLE, the Bracelets sing “there is more satisfaction, because there’s more hip action, than the Twist and Mashed Potato too”. Many of the songs in HAIRSPRAY are about novelty or fad dances that were popular in the early 60s, like THE BIRD, THE TWIST and THE ROACH.
1988 HAIRSPRAY MOVIE SOUNDTRACK TV
They turn on the TV and dance along to MASHED POTATO TIME. Tubby teen Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Leslie Ann Powers) race home from school to watch the show, they run past Tracy’s mum Edna, who is at home ironing (Edna is played by Divine, who passed away shortly after the film was released).
