Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, wanted to include some of his favorite tracks in the film's soundtrack, but found that his selections of the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" and Elvis Costello's "Alison" had been replaced by "For Reasons Unknown" by the Killers and "Enough Love" by Duffy. When Young emailed the film's producer, Stephen Woolley, with his concern that new music would date the film specifically to the chart era of those tracks, Wooley expressed his disagreement somewhat vehemently.

I think you are so wrong about the music I don't know where to start!

Tracks like Windmills of Your Mind (The Thomas Crown Affair), Mrs Robinson (The Graduate), The Third Man Theme (The Third Man), etc, etc, etc, become classics because they represent the time and sounds when the film was made. You are fighting like a sorry sad old man to keep on board a thirty-year-old track in the same way that a UA exec would demand that Mike Nichols put songs from 1938 on The Graduate. I saw the Pistols seven times in 76/77 but I don't want to seep the film in Bowie/Buzzcocks/Roxy Music nostalgia! We haven't got the music right yet, but it won't get better by putting Supertramp/Sting or George Formby shit all over it. I also saw Led Zep in 72 but I would much prefer The Killers or Scissor Sisters to convince our audience we have made a 2007 movie.

I suppose I see Woolley's point, especially since it would be easy to stack a soundtrack with tracks that sound they were chosen by someone nostalgic for music's good old days. But on the other hand, I'm certain someone thought that including tracks by Letters to Cleo and Save Ferris would liven up the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack, but no one's comparing either of those songs to "Mrs. Robinson," are they? Has there been a movie from the past few years where the soundtrack has actually mattered?

How to Lose Friends Arguing Over a Movie Soundtrack [Guardian Music Blog]

Incredibly, the release of the "My Aim Is True Deluxe Edition" doesn't even set a reissue record. The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" has been reissued in nine configurations since its release in 1966, including three new ones in 2006 alone. Those 40th-anniversary releases included a double LP on green and yellow vinyl records. Miles Davis's iconic "Kind of Blue" and the Who's "Live at Leeds" also are contenders for the title of most-reissued albums, with as many as seven incarnations apiece.

Each of these albums has received the serial-reissue treatment for different reasons. Mr. Costello's compilations, for instance, have moved from label to label because unlike most artists, he owns the rights to his recordings and has periodically struck more lucrative deals.

But there's a bigger force: In a market that has seen CD sales fall more than 20% so far this year, proven sellers are one of the few bright spots left. The cost of issuing a new version of an album can vary wildly, according to label executives, since it can involve everything from engineering costs to new packaging. But in general, it is much cheaper than creating a new album from scratch for a new — and untested — act.

We understand that slouching sales have set the labels scrambling for revenue, but are we the only ones who find the practice of constantly reissuing the same record over and over again to be a cynical, quick-fix solution? We understand that slouching sales have set the labels scrambling for revenue, but are we the only ones who find the practice of constantly reissuing the same record over and over again—even if there are slight differences with each installment—to be a cynical, quick-fix solution?

Like That Album? Buy It Again, and Again... [WSJ] [reg. required, dangit]