Andrew Lloyd Webber — Now & Forever

3.12	Whistle Down the Wind James Graeme / Lottie Major	3:25
3.13	Cold The Everly Brothers	3:33
3.14	No Matter What Children / Adult Chorus	5:16
3.15	The Nature of the Beast Marcus Lovett / Lottie Major	3:56

4.13	A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing to Waste The Metal Philharmonic Orchestra	7:54
4.14	Whistle Down the Wind Tina Arena	3:53
4.15	Vaults of Heaven Tom Jones with Sound of Blackness	3:43
4.16	No Matter What Boyzone	4:40
4.17	Try Not To Be Afraid Boy George	3:36

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Jim Steinman

Whistle Down the Wind — Cast Recording, No Matter What — Cast Recording and The Nature of the Beast — Cast Recording
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright
Co-produced by Steve Rinkoff and Nigel Wright
Engineered by Robin Sellars
Orchestrations by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Orchestra conducted by Chris Nightingale

Cold — The Everly Brothers
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright
Executive Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman
Engineered by Robin Sellars

A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing to Waste — The Metal Philharmonic Orchestra
Produced by Jim Steinman and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Co-produced by Steve Rinkoff and Nigel Wright
Orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Cullen
Conducted by Mike Reed
Arranged by Jim Steinman, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Roy Bitan
Engineered by Robin Sellars

Whistle Down the Wind — Tina Arena
Produced by Simon Franglen and Angela Lupino
Engineered by Simon Franglen
Mixed by Mick Guzauski
Executive Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman

No Matter What — Boyzone
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nigel Wright and Jim Steinman
Additional producion and arrangement by Simon Franglen and Angela Lupino
Mixed by Steve Rinkoff and Mick Guzauski

The Vaults of Haven — Tom Jones with Sounds of Blackness
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright
Executive Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman
Additional production and vocal arrangement by Gary Hines

Try Not to Be Afraid — Boy George
Produced by Jim Steinman, Nigel Wright and Steve Rinkoff
Additional arrangement and production by Tot Taylor
Engineered by Steve Rinkoff, Robin Sellars and Tony Harris

Published by The Really Useful Group Ltd. / Universal Music Publ. Ltd. / Lost Boys Music.
℗ 2001 The Really Useful Group Ltd. under exclusive license to Polydor Ltd. (UK)

A Lloyd Webber musical of Whistle Down the Wind was a project that had been in the air for years. The gossip columns had busily reported and re-reported the composer’s fascination with Richard Attenborough’s classic 1961 film, and for a while it was rumoured that the show would begin its life — true to its roots — on celluloid. The movie never materialised, and when Whistle was permiered in December 1996, its composer had a point to prove. Musicals were becoming vastly more expensive to produce — with Whistle, the theatre world was waiting to see if he could, despite the inflating costs of the 1990’s, still pull off a blockbuster musical and stay in the black. The opening in Washington D.C. was less then auspicious and the show didn’t do well enough to satisfy its composer. It had made a profit, but the artistic team did not thyink the production strong enough to take on to Broadway (a judgement Lloyd Webber now questions). But for the London production (which opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 1 July 1998), the newly revised show broke box-office records at the Aldwych. Over 400,00 people saw Whistle Down the Wind in its first year alone. The critics were mixed, the auiences kept on coming. By the time the production closed in 2001, Lloyd Webber had won his point — the show had made its money back.

It’s easy the appeal of Whistle. The story is an old favorite — a group of children, led by the fast-growing Swallow, discover an escaped prisoner in the barn, whom they take to be Jesus. Lloyd Webber teamed up with the brilliant pop lyricist Jim Steinman (architect of hits for artists from Meat Loaf to Céline Dion). Ingeniously, they updated the tale to the 1960’s American Deep South. So the plot now had an added bite, with the bible-belt background of hellfire and puritanism. The fight between the children and the grown-ups is suddenly more than the protection of a secret fantasy; it is the struggle between innocence and bigotry.

And this allowed the composer to revisit and develop some of his favorite themes. Like Joseph and Starlight Express here is a story with children at its centre, only the stakes are far higher. For the blazing rage of the adults, stoked by the sweltering heat of the Deep South, Lloyd Webber returns to the creative volcano that produced the pulsating rock rhythms of Jesus Christ Superstar 25 years earlier. Electric guitars how, children quietly dream.

The title track, the serene, lilting melody, “Whistle Down the Wind” is sung by Swallow and her father — it is the song her mother used to sing for them, and in its nursery-rhyme simplicity catches the confident hopes of childhood. At the centre of one of Lloyd Webber’s most explosive scores, this song reposes as the show’s trusting heart.

“Cold” comes from a concept album of the show which featured various big-name pop stars, and is sung by The Everly Brothers. This recording found its way into the finished show playing on a radio.

“No Matter What” simplified for the international pop charts, became a hit for the boyband Boyzone, shooting to No. 1 and staying there to become its composer’s biggest seller yet (it sold well over two million copies). It is in the show, however, that the song realises its true drama. As the children touchingly pledge their faith in their backyard ‘Jesus’, a chorus of adults can be heard plotting their manhunt for the escaped convict — You gotta be prepared to wrestle with the devil.

Opened at the National Theatre, Washington D.C., 6 December 1996
Opened at the Aldwych Theatre, London, 1 July 1998
James Inverne, Now & Forever liner notes

The ultra-spectacular Metal Philharmonic Orchestra, heard here in “A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” from Whistle Down the Wind, was a dream project from Lloyd Webber and lyricist Jim Steinman. The idea was to create something really big — in every sense — for us to write for, says the composer. The project has yet to take flight, but Lloyd Webber, who describes this task as one of the best recordings of my music, is convinced that the Metal Philharmonic could still be a great succes. Again, this recording is previously unreleased. James Inverne, Now & Forever liner notes

So, Jim didn’t know me previous to that, and couldn’t know how I would be in the studio etc, so he decided to try me out in a simple role. At the time of the recording of [“A] Kiss [Is a Terrible Thing to Waste”], my job was simply to sing the demo. More to the point, my job was to sing live with the rhythm section, so the drummer would know where to fill around lyrics etc. There was never a thought that my vocal would mean anything.

The take you hear on the record was a complete take, no punches or edits. Further, we did more than 30 takes of this song over 4 or 5 days. They kept the take with the best drum performance. My vocal wasn’t chosen as the best of the vocals, just the one that happened to go with the best drums. (...) It was a complete take. We added more vocals to the back of it, but the lead vocal is all the way through a live performance, and not even chosen as the best vocal of the bunch. Maybe it was, I dunno, but at the time, they chose the take they liked the rhythm section best.

By the way, what fun to sing a song like that LIVE with Drummer Kenny Aronoff, Bassist, Kasim Sultan, Guitarist Eddie Martinez and Pianist Roy Bittan.

Q: I heard they were originally going to use Brian May on the ‘Kiss’ demo?

I think they did, as an overdub. But I’m pretty sure there are some of Eddie’s tracks on it too. Interview with Kyle Gordon, from the Rockman Record

Label	Really Useful Records	Cat.No.	314 589 393-2	Format	5CD	Year	2001	Country	USA

A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing To Waste

(aah, if only) (aah, if only) …

If you listen to the night you can hear the darkness call
I can barely stand to wait, I can’t barely stand at all
C’mon closer to me now like we’re sharing the same skin
We gotta get out of this jail, we gotta let the future in!

So many things in your life that you’re bound to regret
Why didn’t I do that? Why didn’t I do this?
So many chances you lost that you’ll never forget
Why didn’t I make it? Why didn’t I take it right there?

The loneliest words you’ll ever know:
If only, if only it was so
The emptiest words that there’ll ever be:
It could have been me, it could have been me

You’ll have to pay for it later
If you don’t get it when it’s going for free
Believe me! Believe me!

A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
It’s something that’s always been so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste

And one of these nights you’re gonna show me that you already know
There’s a feast waiting for you and you never even gotten a taste
It’s later than you think
And a kiss is a terrible thing to waste

You shouldn’t tremble when we touch, there’s no reason for these fears
It’s a promise that was made, wWe’ve been promised this for years
I wanna show you it all: what to do, and where and how
‘Cause we’ll never be as young as we are right now!
We’ll never be as young as we are right now!

So many cries in the night that you try to ignore
Why didn’t I do this? Why didn’t I do that?
So many unanswered prayers, so many unopened doors
Why didn’t I take it? Why didn’t I make it come true?

The loneliest words you’ll ever know:
If only, if only it was so
The emptiest words that there’ll ever be:
It could have been me, it could have been me

You’ll have to pay for it later
If you don’t get it when it’s going for free
Believe me! Believe me! Believe me!

A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
It’s something that’s always been so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste

And one of these nights I’m gonna show you that you already know
There’s a feast waiting for you and you never even gotten a taste
It’s later than you think
And a kiss is a terrible thing to waste....

There’s a feast waiting for you
And you never even gotten a taste
It’s later than you think
And a kiss is a terrible thing to waste....

Tire tracks and broken hearts
That’s all we’re leaving behind
It doesn’t matter what we’re losing
It only matters what we’re going to find!

Tire tracks and broken hearts
That’s all we’re leaving behind
It doesn’t matter what we’re losing
It only matters what we’re going to find! …

Tire tracks and broken hearts
That’s all we’re leaving behind
It doesn’t matter what we’re losing
It only matters what we’re going to find!

There’s a feast waiting for you and you never even gotten a taste
It’s later than you think
And a kiss is a terrible thing to waste
(a kiss is a terrible thing to waste)
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste.....

Published by The Really Useful Group Ltd. / Universal Music Publ. Ltd. / Lost Boys Music. ℗ 2001 The Really Useful Group Ltd. under exclusive license to Polydor Ltd. (UK)