For ‘Gump,’ Every Oldie Was Just Too Goodie

How do you cram three decades of classic pop-rock into a single CD?

You don’t--as the team behind the soundtrack for the highly touted new Tom Hanks movie, “Forrest Gump,” discovered.

With 108 minutes of music in the film and a maximum space of about 80 minutes on a CD, director Bob Zemeckis, the film’s executive music director Joel Sill and Epic Soundtrax vice president Glen Brunman had to make a tough choice: Release an incomplete collection, or take the commercial risk of a high-ticket two-CD set.

Even such commercial heavyweights as Bruce Springsteen and Guns N’ Roses hedged their bets with double albums, each releasing two separate albums rather than one expensive two-pack. The “Gump” CD package lists at $24.95 and will be selling in most stores for more than $20--less than the standard double-CD but much more than single discs.

“This movie spans 30 years of American history and we couldn’t figure out how to present a complete picture of the movie without putting out two CDs,” says Brunman.

The set takes other commercial risks: Being all oldies--from Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” to Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind”--it bucks the trend of getting current stars to record versions of songs to help sell the soundtrack album.

“It never made any sense for us to do that,” says Zemeckis, explaining that the songs are meant to serve as “signposts” for the historical events and emotions of the story. “The whole film is a period piece. (A new recording) would have a tacked-on feeling. The hope is people will enjoy the movie and enjoy the record.”

Two videos from “Forrest Gump”--for the Doors’ “Break on Through” and the Byrds’ “Turn Turn Turn”--are being offered to music channels. But will they air the oldies?

VH-1 President John Sykes, who has seen the movie and loves it, is noncommittal for the time being. “It really depends on how effectively they’ve put the music to film in the videos and how well it fits within our programming,” he says. “VH-1 is a very current channel.”

If the “Gump” soundtrack does well, it may signal a summer dominated by film-related music. Among the high-profile items lined up for release: the rock-fueled “Airheads” and “True Lies,” the swing novelties of “The Mask” (featuring star Jim Carrey’s recording debut), the “Sleepless in Seattle”-like romance of “It Could Happen to You” (with a duet by Tony Bennett and Shawn Colvin) and the classic-rock tunes of “Pulp Fiction.”

See you at the movies.