Sleepless In Seattle - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Sunset]

Nora Ephron's 1993 film worked because it understood that romance is mostly anticipation, and its soundtrack does the same job in miniature. Rather than chase contemporary radio, the album leans almost entirely on standards, which is why it has outlived nearly every other soundtrack of its decade.

Jimmy Durante bookends the film and the record, his cracked delivery of "As Time Goes By" and "Make Someone Happy" carrying more feeling than singers with twice the range ever manage. Louis Armstrong takes "A Kiss To Build A Dream On", Nat King Cole handles "Stardust", and Carly Simon and Harry Connick Jr. supply the two newer pieces, "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning" and "A Wink And A Smile". Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" turns up as the film's running joke and works surprisingly well on its own. Celine Dion and Clive Griffin close things out with "When I Fall In Love".

It is a compilation that became a genuine standards primer for a generation who found these songs through a Tom Hanks movie, and there are far worse ways in.

Real Gone Music pressing on sunset coloured vinyl. The kind of record that leaves the shop with people who did not come in looking for it.