Re: "Bells Are Ringing":
I found the soundtrack in a cutout bin in 1964 or 65. It was mono, undrilled (i.e. no hole punched in a corner) and featured the MGM studio orchestra conducted by Andre Previn.
I knew of the latter two from many film musicals I had enjoyed, and I was eager to get this one onto my record player. I was NOT disappointed. The sound was glorious, the performances a dream, and it became on of my favorite albums.
Flash forward many decades when the score was first issued on CD in stereo. I was blown away! Still am!
I first saw the film on TV in the late 1970s. Not an ideal viewing because it was in an Army barracks at Fort Myer in Arlington VA. There was a channel that would show Holiday Movie Network programming on special holidays, and "Bells Are Ringing" was one of the films being shown.
But I later saw it on TV during a different holiday when I lived in Lawrence, IN (a suburb of Indianapolis), and I fell in love with the film.
"Bells Are Ringing" is, for me, one of the best recorded soundtracks ever released. The songs are terrific, the orchestrations and performances superb, and it truly tells the story of the film.
The Blu ray is superb (except for a scene or two where there seems to be too little room above Judy Holliday's head when she is singing and dancing).
