50 years since its release, the original motion picture soundtrack for Hal Ashby’s 1971 classic cult film ‘Harold and Maude’, made up exclusively of songs by Cat Stevens, will be released on 11th February 2022 in new 180g 1LP / 1CD via Island / Cat-O-Log / UMC. The new edition of the soundtrack will combine Cat Stevens’ 9 original songs, as well as dialogue from the film, for the first time. Hal Ashby’s 1971 film about the unlikely friendship-turned-love story of suicidal teenager Harold Chasen (played by Bud Cort) and 79 year old free spirit Maude (played by Ruth Gordon) is now widely praised as a bona-fide cult classic. Filled with dark humour and existential drama, the film represents the potentially glorious benefits that can arise from a balanced partnership between conservative pragmatism and colourful free-spirited idealism. It reveals the deep lying synergy that exists between seemingly opposing views and how, when united, they can flourish to their mutual advantage. The movie’s success and cult status has in part been bolstered by its whimsical and poignant soundtrack, in which all songs are performed by Cat Stevens. Originally not wanting to release the soundtrack in fear of it being perceived as a ‘greatest hits’ album in the early days of his career, film director Hal Ashby had to do some convincing. Having listened to songs from landmark albums ‘Mona Bone Jakon’ and ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ whilst editing Harold and Maude, Ashby knew from the start that he wanted exclusively Stevens’ songs to sonically narrate his film, and after a significant campaign, Ashby won Stevens over and thus, the soundtrack was brought to life.