The original supernanny, Mary Poppins, returns to our screens later this year with another British actress, Emily Blunt, taking over the title role from Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins Returns. The new film may be a triumph but it will be a surprise if Emily can match Julie in the singing department. Julie had a four-octave range and many thought she had perfect pitch.
So it’s no surprise that The Record Album has a superb collection of Julie’s recordings, ranging from her early solo albums to the soundtracks of Camelot, The Sound of Music, for which she won an Oscar nomination and immortality in 1965, and the stage version of My Fair Lady, for which she was controversially replaced by the non-singing Audrey Hepburn in the 1965 film with Rex Harrison.
Julie was deemed not to be a big enough star for that production even though Audrey’s voice was deemed inadequate for all but one of the songs (Just You Wait). Her singing was otherwise done by Marni Nixon.
And now, for what will probably be a fleeting appearance given its evergreen popularity, we have in the shop a copy of the Original Cast Soundtrack for Mary Poppins, including A Spoonful of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius, Chim Chim Cheree and the rest. It’s the original 1964 mono pressing and has a few pops and crackles toward the end but plays very well.
The film was a runaway success, breaking box office records for the time and bringing Julie both the best actress Oscar and the Golden Globe, triumphs made all the sweeter for being achieved against My Fair Lady, which was also nominated.
A practically perfect result in every way, as Mary might say. So just as she sailed in on the wind to 17, Cherry Tree Lane, breeze into 8, Terminus Road, Brighton, and enjoy.