John Waters' Cry-Baby: Classic or Dud

I thought this was going to be about the new musical.

last time I watched it (10 years ago?) my main reaction was that its great but way too long

RIP enchanted forest ;_;

ELLICOTT CITY STAND UP TALL

http://www.agilitynut.com/06/8/ef44.jpg

classic, obv

Maybe this should have been a "rank John Waters movies in order of preference"

this would be somewhere in the middle for me

This past weekend I played bass in the pit band for a school production of "Cry Baby." The songs were all from the original movie version, not the more recent musical. Really fun stuff (like all Waters soundtracks) with its mix of girl-group, rockabilly and vintage R&B, and all of the songs are now replaying in my head on an endless loop!

But I have a question: Is the title song genuinely old, or a modern-day pastiche (which is my guess) like the Dave Alvin and James Intveld songs in the film?

It's credited to The Honey Sisters, but googling only turns up one single by them on Fable Records, an interesting song-poem label:

Honey Sisters, music by Sandy Stanton -- Dream Of The Teens / Fast Fast Beats My Heart (both wr. Stephen F. Todd) (1958)

The credits from the film soundtrack are:

"CRY BABY"
Written by Morgan C. Robinson and Lawrence Robinson
Performed by Beth Andersen, Suzie Benson, Rosemary Butler and Terry Wood, Produced by John Boylan

Morgan C. Robinson appears to be legendary producer/writer Bobby Robinson (Red Robin, Fire, Fury and Enjoy record labels), so this could be fromm that era, but he remained active through the early years of hip-hop, so...?

Anyone have any info?

Here's Rosemary Butler's resume. Looks like you guessed right.

http://www.rosemarybutler.com/resume.htm

Thanks, yeah, I figured out that the actual recording is new (unlike, say, The Jive Bombers cuts which are the actual oldies used as background music.)

But "Please Mr. Jailer" is an old song by Wynona Carr, but re-recorded by Rachel Sweet for the soundtrack, whereas "High School Hellcats" is a new song written in an old style. I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out: is "Cry Baby" actually an old song?

Man, I like the word "actual." Sorry...

Got it!!!

Late in 1954 The Scarlets recorded "Love Doll" and "Darling I'm Yours" for #133. Although today most fans love both sides as classic group harmony, at the time the record sunk without a trace. The Scarlets quickly returned the following February with "True Love" and "Cry Baby" on #135, and although it fared somewhat better than their previous release getting good trade press notices, it was the uptempo flip "Cry Baby" that became a footnote because of the success of a lame pop music cover of the tune by three Bellvue nurses called The Bonnie Sisters a year later. On the live version with Alan Freed (who pushed the record extensively) even a blistering sax break by Sam "The Man" Taylor couldn't save the Bonnies, and hopefully Parris received some composer royalties to help ease the pain.

So, not the Honey Sisters, the Bonnie Sisters:

Big ol' 4k edition out from Kino Lorber:

https://kinolorber.com/product/cry-baby-4kuhd