2001’s Josie and the Pussycats turned 25 this past weekend, and while the film underperformed at the time, the soundtrack was a huge hit. Based on both the Archie Comic and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, the movie starred Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson as the titular band who get caught up in a conspiracy in which the US government colludes with record labels to hide subliminal messages in popular music. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds served as the executive producer of the soundtrack, which featured songs written or co-written by Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, Jason Falkner of Jellyfish, Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Gos, and more. The singing voice for Josie (Cook) was performed by Kay Hanley, the singer for Letters to Cleo, with Cook, Reid, and Dawson providing background vocals. The soundtrack album was released the day before the film debuted and went Gold, selling over 500,000 copies. It also peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. The film and soundtrack have developed a cult following since 2001, and in 2017, Mondo released the soundtrack on vinyl as part of a belated 15th anniversary celebration. You can check out some of the songs from the soundtrack below.
