Turning Japanese

Charlie's Angels ran on television between 1976 and 1981, and several of the 15 songs that make up this "music from the motion picture" soundtrack could have been heard during its tenure, including Leo Sayer's "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Heart's "Barracuda," the Vapors' "Turning Japanese," and Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up, Part I." Others, such as Tavares' "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" and Aerosmith's "Angel's Eye," seem to have been included for the use of the word "angel." But there is no rhyme or reason to the choices on this collection, at least on strictly aural grounds. In the film, such oldies as Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" and Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" are integrated into the action (it helps that the movie was the first feature by a video director), but on disc their inclusion makes no apparent sense. Among the new tracks, there are two typical efforts from Destiny's Child (one of which, "Independent Women, Pt. 1," admittedly became a long-running number one hit); electronic dance assemblages by Fatboy Slim and Apollo Four Forty; Caviar's half cha-cha, half hard rock "Tangerine Speedo"; and the Aerosmith song, which is as close to heavy metal as the veteran band has ever come. Movie fans who enjoy the movie and associate the songs with scenes in the film may enjoy this album; to anyone else, it is liable to seem like a pointless hodgepodge of unrelated material. ~ William Ruhlmann