Soundtrack #3 or Bullitt

When I was 10 years old or so my interests changed dramatically.  I was not interested in what was new, but what was old and what was cool and hip the previous decade or even decades.  I would tell my friends my favorite car was the Bullitt Mustang, my favorite actor was Steve McQueen.  I would watch TV shows like Mission Impossible, and Mod Squad.  I would watch old movies that my dad loved and I would always show the peace sign to all my friends.  I thankfully did not grow my hair out and become a hippie; yet, I enjoyed a decade of the 60's more then anyone my age.  Looking back that is where I got a lot of my interests was from the decade of the 1960's.  I still love films, actors, music, art and literature from that era as well.  As I told my friend when I was asked the question, what era would you have loved to live in?  I replied 1960's.  So much happened in that decade and still hard to believe that it changed the way things are today and for the future.

At first watch I was in awe of Bullitt the super cool of Steve McQueen. The awesome car and the famous chase scene we all talk about.  Even my dad telling me the story where he saw the movie at the drive-in and when the chase scene came on everyone was pumping their breaks like they were part of it.  The name Bullitt in most cases it's spelled wrong.  There is no two "T's" in most spellings, but to make it super cool there was a second "T."  It was the movie of the moment for me.  That moment has lasted my entire life.  It is still one of my all time favorites.

Fast forward to now.  In January the Bullitt Mustang sold for $3.74 Million and was one of the most desirable cars ever and the most expensive movie or TV cars out there.  My only wish was that I wish I owned it.  For the longest time I trying to find the soundtrack. It surprisingly went out of print quickly after the movie ended it's run in theaters. I searched high and low for a copy of the soundtrack and still nothing.  I went to record conventions to look for it and when I did, it was selling for $100.00.  I was not going to pay that much for an album unless it was close to mint and or was well taken care of.  It was not even released on CD in America so I had to look at CD imports.  I found one, lucky for me with bonus material and a nice book with notes for $20.00 so I grabbed it.  It took a while longer to find another CD copy and this was the exact album and it was a Japanese import for $20 also.

I was thinking and question if I will ever get an LP copy.  One day I got a call from a friend who works recycling in the next town over where I live.  He told me he had about 200 records he found from some guy who was just going to throw his collection away.  Made no sense why would he do such a thing. When I came over to grab them from him he told me that the man has more.  My friend handed me his address.  I went over and offered to take them off his hands.  Little did I know in the pile I grabbed was a copy of the soundtrack.

When I went home to check what I got from this gentleman I had a package in the mail from a friend.  It had a note.  "Sorry this is not the original by any means, but a re-issue of the soundtrack you wanted." "Hope this helps you with your quest."  I was excited that at least I had something on vinyl and at that time I did not care what edition it was.  Well I felt a bit relieved that I found something.  When I went through this guys collection I found some interesting albums.  There was some of the standard records you find at any record unloading collection.  You know the ones Rumours, Frampton Comes Alive, Best of the Bee Gees, Dark Side of the Moon, Thriller and James Taylor's Greatest Hits.  When I got to the second pile, the music became more and more lame.  I was like this collection must have been split up or something.  I jumped on the last little bit and in that pile was my fortune cookie.  It was a copy of the Bullitt Soundtrack. My only hope that it was an original and in good shape.  The cover was in good shape, better then I thought.  When I was ready to open it I closed my eyes.  I did not want to see if this is something that ended in failure or elation. I opened my eyes to see an original, first pressing in near mint shape of...Bullitt Soundtrack.

I got the cookie, the holy grail of the album much needed in my record collection.  I was so excited that I quickly ran to my turntable and put it on.  My dad quickly recognized the music and asked if I found the soundtrack to the movie.  The movie is a cultural icon, the soundtrack is a prized item in my collection and the car, is something I wish I had.  There are soundtracks that are an afterthought and others fit well with a classic movie. If anything if you love the film, then check out the soundtrack.  The pieces of music will bring back memories to see the movie again and for me make me smile.  The legacy of Steve McQueen shines here and the music shines more and more.