HAIR Co-Creator James Rado ASCAP Interview Recorded For Library Of Congress National Recording Registry

On April 9, 2019, HAIR co-creator James Rado sat down with arts journalist Patrick Pacheco at ASCAP in New York, for an in-depth podcast interview on the journey, history, legacy, Grammy Award-winning score and impact of the global phenomenon he created along with the late Gerome Ragni and the late Galt MacDermot.

In this new podcast for the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress archives, Rado recounts the chance encounter which led to the now legendary hit recordings of "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" by The Fifth Dimension; how Joseph Papp acquired HAIR for The Public Theatre and much more.

Listen to the podcast here: https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2019/07/the-magic-of-hair-an-interview-with-james-rado/

Earlier this year, the original 1968 Broadway cast recording of HAIR, the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden deemed "these aural treasures worthy of preservation because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation's recorded sound heritage."

"The National Recording Registry honors the music that enriches our souls, the voices that tell our stories and the sounds that mirror our lives" said Hayden. "The influence of recorded sound over its nearly 160-year history has been profound and technology has increased its reach and significance exponentially. The Library of Congress and its many collaborators are working to preserve these sounds and moments in time, which reflect our past, present and future."

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the Library's National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), is tasked with annually selecting 25 titles that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and are at least 10 years old. The Librarian also considers hundreds of nominations submitted by the public each year.

HAIR originally opened at Broadway's Biltmore Theatre on April 29, 1968, directed by Tom O'Horgan.

In 1969, the HAIR Broadway cast album charted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed at No. 1 for 13 weeks. The recording also received a Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album and sold nearly 3 million copies in the U.S. by December 1969.

Thousands of recordings have been made from the Grammy Award-winning score by Galt MacDermot/James Rado/Gerome Ragni. The Fifth Dimension recorded the song "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" catapulting it to Number One on the charts. Other recording artists jumped on board to cover the score: The Cowsills, Three Dog Night, Oliver, The Supremes, Nina Simone, even Barbra Streisand.

The Fifth Dimension's version of the song "Aquarius" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group in 1970. The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world was on the cusp, entering the Age of Aquarius, an enlightened age of peace, love and light for humanity.

Photo Credit; Merle Frimark