‘PLATOON’-- THE SOUNDS OF SUCCESS

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

That was the reaction when music consultant Budd Carr went around to record companies a year ago, trying to interest them in a sound-track album for a proposed film about the Vietnam War.

Everyone thought the relentlessly downbeat subject matter was too depressing for a film to be a success, much less a sound-track album. “No one is going to want to come out of that film humming a song,” Carr recalls one label executive telling him.

So, there wasn’t a sound-track album last fall when the movie “Platoon” came out.

But the glowing reviews and early box-office momentum triggered some rethinking in the record industry. Did it have another “Big Chill” on its hands? The sound track from that ‘60s-related film was one of the biggest--and most surprising--success stories of recent years.

Atlantic Records--which hadn’t been approached the first time around--contacted Carr in January, asking about putting together a “Platoon” sound track. The idea was to combine the film’s classical centerpiece (Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”) with the Vietnam-era hits featured in the film.

The only problem was there were just three of the latter in the film: Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic landmark “White Rabbit,” (which reached No. 8 on the singles charts in 1967), Smokey Robinson’s soul classic “The Tracks of My Tears” (No. 16 in 1965) and Merle Haggard’s good ol’ boy anthem “Okie From Muskogee” (No. 1 on the country charts in 1969).

So, Carr and director Oliver Stone had to come up with five additional tunes that would fit the spirit of the movie. Their choices: the Door’s “Hello, I Love You”; Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”; Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay”; Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and the Rascals’ “Groovin’.” Composer Georges Delerue’s “Barnes Shoots Elias” from the film also was used.

The album was rushed out last month, just as “Platoon” scored its best-picture victory in the Oscars.

Thanks to that added publicity, three record companies are now trying to cash in on the film’s success (more than $114 million in grosses) by releasing singles from the LP.

RCA has released “White Rabbit,” while Motown has rushed out “Tracks” and Atlantic is tempting singles buyers with Sledge’s tune. The album has already entered the Billboard magazine Top 100 and the promotion campaign for the singles could push it into the Top 40.

Does Carr view all this belated record industry enthusiasm for the project with bemused cynicism?

“Not at all,” he said this week in his Encino office. “We are all delighted that there is an album--even at this late date. I was worried when we added the songs to the album that people were going to accuse us of trying to take advantage of the success of the film and over-commercialize the project. But it hasn’t happened.

“The truth is Oliver (Stone) saw the album as an opportunity to extend what he had done with music in the film. All the added songs were on a list of more than 100 songs he originally considered for the film.

“There was almost a scene in the film with ‘Dock of the Bay’ and a Rascals song was almost in the picture. This is the music that people listened to in Vietnam. . . .”

The only compromise, Carr said, was that all five “added” singles be from the Atlantic Records catalogue--or one of the company’s affiliated labels. But Carr said that was no problem because there were dozens of records on the original “Platoon” music list from those labels.

Because we identify old hits with places and events in our lives, classic tunes can add considerable commentary and character to a film. Among numerous examples: the poignancy of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in “The Killing Fields” and the unnerving use of Roy Orbison’s innocent “In Dreams” in a most not-so-innocent scene in “Blue Velvet.”

“If you are familiar with the music while you are watching something that is scary or unsettling, it allows you to relax,” said Carr, who also has been involved in securing music for other films, including Stone’s “Salvador.”

“You can relate in a different way to the environment of the picture. ‘Adagio,’ for instance, is certainly not a violent piece of music, but the (action on the screen) is violent and there is a strange surrealism that builds up and I think that’s what Oliver was trying to accomplish in using the classical music in the film.”

On the point of the older hit music from the era, Carr said, “That music, in Oliver’s words, was the ‘music that got me through Vietnam.’ ”

EDDIE COCHRAN-- “On the Air,” an album just released by EMI Records, isn’t the best introduction to Cochran, but for a Cochran fan, it’s a welcome reminder of one of rock’s most influential early figures. Though only 21 when he was killed in a 1960 car crash in London, Cochran was one of the first 15 performers inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His hits-- including “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody”--have been recorded by such varied artists as the Who, Rod Stewart and Sid Vicious.

Side 1 of “On the Air” features Cochran’s 1960 appearances on a British TV show called “Boy Meets Girl.” He sings 11 songs, including “Summertime Blues” and the Drifters’ “Money Honey.” Side Two consists mostly of assorted studio recordings and early radio interviews. The recording quality isn’t good on Side 1, but there is an infectious quality to the recordings that makes them appealing. For those unfamiliar with Cochran’s music, the best starting place is the hard-to-find two-record “Legendary Masters Series” LP featuring 30 of his best-known tracks. The good news for compact disc fans is that Capitol is releasing that album in May.

CD DIGEST: Warner Bros. has some timely compact disc reissues coming up. They include Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk,” the adventurous 1979 album that is certain to receive renewed attention because of the group’s new “Tango in the Night” LP, and three early releases by the Doobie Brothers, who are doing some reunion concerts next month. The Doobie albums: “Toulouse Street,” “The Captain and Me” and “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.” . . . In the stores now: XTC’s “Skylarking” (including “Dear God”), Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” the “Woodstock” sound-track album, five Kiss LPs (including 1976’s “Destroyer”), J. Geils’ “Best,” Joe Jackson’s “Will Power,” Van Halen’s “Fair Warning,” Neil Young’s “Harvest.”

LIVE ACTION: Billy Idol and the Cult, whose May 8 show at the Forum is sold out, will also be at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on May 9. Tickets go on sale Sunday. . . . Tickets also go on sale Sunday for the “Animal House” concert May 16 at the Universal Amphitheatre. The lineup includes Otis Day & the Knights plus the Kingsmen. . . . Tickets on sale Monday for Kenny Rogers’ May 24 appearance with Ronnie Milsap at Irvine Meadows and Eddie Money’s May 15 stop at the Greek Theatre.