Fame
We don't know whetherFamewill, like its iconic,Irene Cara-sung title song insists, "live forever." But director Alan Parker's vibrant, ambitious 1980 tale of New York's High School of the Performing Arts has been remarkably influential, spawning a TV series, stage musical, and helping cast the mold--for better or worse--for the decades of pop-song dominated soundtracks that followed in its wake. But the innocent, urgent charms of the original won't be denied, and this release marks the album's first digital remastering, an edition supplemented by three previously unreleased bonus tracks (the wistful ballad "Miles From Here," as well as instrumental versions of the title track and Top 20 Cara hit, "Out Here on My Own," that underscore composer Michael Gore's pop-disco inspirations).--Jerry McCulley