Pops Stoppers: Greatest Hits of the Boston Pops Orchestra

• Main performer: Boston Pops Orchestra
• Booklet languages: English
• Time: 44:55
• Release Date: 1995

Review

Pops Stoppers is a retrospective look at film composer John Williams' tenure at the helm of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Cynical listeners may view the record as one more in a never-ending series of attempts by the orchestra to milk its famous conductor for every penny his revered movie tunes are worth. This is approximately the 16 bagillionth BoPops compilation to feature excerpts from Williams' Oscar-sanctioned scores for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it is especially vulnerable to accusations of mercenary motives since it was released nearly a decade after Williams hung up his Boston baton. But regardless of the motives behind its release, Pops Stoppers is a respectable collection of blustery orchestral foofaraw. The sequencing is somewhat ill-advised and monochromatic -- the movie music is clumped at the beginning rather than spread throughout the disc -- but the album does convey some of the splendor of the ensemble's stirring concerts. Particularly impressive are Williams' orchestral arrangements of big-band tunes like George Gershwin's "Moonlight Serenade" and "Strike Up the Band" and Benny Goodman's "Stompin' at the Savoy." Pops Stoppers also includes Jerry Goldsmith's theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a fine piece of work that demonstrates Williams' enormous influence on scorists for box office blockbusters throughout the late '70s and '80s. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
John Williams	E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, film score (The Flying Theme)	3:34
John Williams	Raiders of the Lost Ark, film score (March)	5:27
Jerry Goldsmith	Star Trek I, film score (Main Title Theme)	4:05
John Kander	New York, New York, film score (Main Theme)	3:19
George Gershwin	Strike Up the Band, song (from Strike Up The Band; both versions)	2:46
Irving Berlin	There's No Business Like Show Business, song (from "Annie Get your Gun")	3:24
Ervan F. "Bud" Coleman	Tijuana Taxi	2:48
Glenn Miller	Moonlight Serenade	3:46
Cole Porter	Begin the beguine, song (from "Jubilee")	3:15
Joseph C. Garland	In the Mood	3:26
Benny Goodman / Edgar Sampson / Chick Webb	Stompin' at the Savoy	2:39
Sy Oliver / Sid Garris	Opus One	3:17
W.C. Handy	St. Louis Blues, song	3:00
Duke Ellington / Mitchell Parish / Irving Mills	Sophisticated Lady	8:22
Billy Strayhorn	Take the A Train	4:28
Duke Ellington / Barney Bigard / Irving Mills	Mood Indigo
Duke Ellington	It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)
American Traditional	When the Saints Go Marching In	4:27