Various
The Final Vinyl

Listening notes

Released by Sony Music in 1991, The Final Vinyl is a various artists compilation catalogued under the Stage and Screen genre. The record arrives without an assigned catalog number and spans sixteen tracks across two sides, running a combined total that covers a broad sweep of material drawn from stage musicals, early radio, film, and television.

Side A opens with "Artist's Life" at just under three minutes before moving into two extended selections devoted to the golden days of radio — one focused on commercials, the other on drama — each running just over six minutes. The remaining Side A tracks include "How High the Moon," "Selections from The Desert Song," "It Could Happen to You," "Hey Sheriff," and the overture to South Pacific, the longest of those entries at three minutes and thirty-four seconds.

Side B shifts across similarly varied territory. "Get Me to the Church on Time" leads the side, followed by "Ninety Nine Years," "How Will It End," and "Melody." The television theme "Bonanza" appears at B5, and the title number from the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot occupies over four and a half minutes at B6, making it the longest individual track on the record. The side closes with "Billy Jean" — listed here without the more commonly seen spelling — and "Never Let Me Go," which rounds out the album at just under four minutes.

The title The Final Vinyl and its 1991 release date on Sony Music suggest the compilation may have been intended to mark a transitional moment in the format's commercial presence, though no specific context for its production has been confirmed. What the tracklist does plainly demonstrate is an interest in surveying mid-twentieth century American entertainment broadly, from Broadway and film to radio programming and early television drama.

This entry requires verification of contributor credits, correct track title spellings, and any accompanying liner note documentation before publication.