Album · Soundtrack · 40 years old this year
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
Labyrinth is the soundtrack to Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film, shared between David Bowie and the composer Trevor Jones. It came out on EMI America on 23 June 1986. Jones supplies the orchestral score, which is split across six tracks: "Into the Labyrinth", "Sarah", "Hallucination", "The Goblin Battle", "Thirteen O'Clock" and "Home at Last".
In Bowie's story, it sits between Tonight and Never Let Me Down, and it is the middle one of three soundtracks where he played a major part. It follows Christiane F. from 1981 and precedes The Buddha of Suburbia in 1993. Its sound moves between synth-pop, pop rock and the film's more orchestral moments, which makes it a good listen for anyone who wants to hear what Bowie did in the mid-eighties beyond his regular studio albums.
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film: tracklist, credits and charts
12 tracks · 43:43Tracklist
- 1Opening Titles Including UndergroundTrevor Jones and David Bowie3:22
- 2Into the LabyrinthTrevor Jones2:13
- 3Magic DanceDavid Bowie5:14
- 4SarahTrevor Jones3:13
- 5Chilly DownDavid Bowie3:47
- 6HallucinationTrevor Jones3:03
- 7As the World Falls DownDavid Bowie4:52
- 8The Goblin BattleTrevor Jones3:32
- 9Within YouDavid Bowie3:32
- 10Thirteen O’ClockTrevor Jones3:09
- 11Home at LastTrevor Jones1:49
- 12UndergroundDavid Bowie5:57
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Trevor Jones, Arif Mardin
- Executive producer
- Jim Henson
- Recorded at
- Abbey Road Studios, Atlantic Studios
- Recorded
- July–September 1985
- Mixed by
- Marcellus Frank, Jeremy Smith, Michael O’Reilly, Lew Hahn
- Engineered by
- Chips, Marcellus Frank, Lew Hahn, Tony Clark, Michael O’Reilly
- Labels
- EMI America, EMI AML 3104
- Length
- 43:43
Line-up
- Harold Fisher · drums (drum set), membranophone · guest
- Brian Gascoigne · keyboard
- Trevor Jones · keyboard
- David Lawson · keyboard
- Ray Russell · guitar
- Paul Westwood · bass, bass guitar
- Simon Lloyd · synclavier, keyboard
- David Bowie · background vocals, lead vocals
- Robbie Buchanan · synthesizer, guitar, keyboard
- Steve Ferrone · drums (drum set), percussion
- Dann Huff · guitar · guest
- Will Lee · bass guitar, background vocals, bass
- Diva Gray · background vocals · guest
- Fonzi Thornton · background vocals · guest
- Kevin Armstrong · guitar · guest
- Neil Conti · drums (drum set) · guest
- Nick Plytas · keyboard · guest
- Matthew Seligman · bass guitar · guest
- Charles Augins · lead vocals · guest
- Richard Bodkin · lead vocals · guest
- Kevin Clash · lead vocals · guest
- Danny John-Jules · lead vocals · guest
- Ray Warleigh · saxophone · guest
- Jeff Mironov · guitar · guest
- Nick Moroch · guitar · guest
- Robin Beck · background vocals · guest
- Dave Lawson · keyboard · guest
- Maurice Murphy · trumpet · guest
- Michael Lewin · guitar, lute · guest
- Albert Collins · guitar · guest
- Bob Gay · alto saxophone · guest
- Richard Tee · Hammond organ, piano · guest
- Garcia Alston · background vocals · guest
- Mary Davis Canty · background vocals · guest
- Beverly Ferguson · background vocals · guest
- A. Marie Foster · background vocals · guest
- James Glenn · background vocals · guest
- Cissy Houston · background vocals · guest
- Chaka Khan · background vocals · guest
- Marcus Miller · background vocals · guest
- Eunice Peterson · background vocals · guest
- Daphne Rubin‐Vega · background vocals · guest
- Rennele Stafford · background vocals · guest
- Marc Stevens · background vocals · guest
- Luther Vandross · background vocals · guest
Singles
- “Underground” · 9 June 1986
- “Magic Dance” · January 1987
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1986 | 38 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1986 | 68 |
| UKSoundtrack · 2026 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1986 | 15 |
| German Albums · 1986 | 29 |
| Dutch Albums · 1986 | 39 |
| European Albums (Music & Media) · 1986 | 39 |
| Scottish Albums · 2017 | 44 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
74.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
51k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
11k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 23 June
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Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
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1973
Pin Ups
1973
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1974
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1974
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1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
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2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
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2021
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2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
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2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
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2022
Divine Symmetry
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More on EMI America
The label →
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1986-09-20 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 20 September 1986 | ignored lone early release dated 1986-06-23 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 23 June 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 23 June 1986 | |
| US release | 23 June 1986 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1986 | earliest UK or European date |
12 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | XE | EMI America | 077774631228 | other |
| 1986 | US | EMI America | 077771720611 | other |
| 1986 | US | EMI | 077774631242 | other |
| 1986 | BR | EMI America | other | |
| June 1986 | US | EMI America | 077774631228 | other |
| 23 June 1986 | US | EMI Records USA | 077774631228 | original |
| 20 September 1986 | JP | EMI America | 4988006604834 | other |
| 2016 | XW | EMI Gold | 602557202977 | other |
| 7 October 2016 | XW | EMI Gold | 0602557211689 | other |
| 12 May 2017 | US | Capitol Records | 602557354843 | other |
| 7 July 2017 | — | Capitol Records | other | |
| 7 July 2017 | XE | Capitol Records | 602557354843 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 599×591 | upscaled |