This is an updated version of an article that appeared in my previous blog Doctor Theatre in 2018.
One of the bonuses of musical theatre is that we are often treated to more than one recording of a particular show, indeed often several international versions in a variety of languages around the world. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s global popularity means that his shows have more than their fair share of availability with cast recordings worldwide. None more so than Starlight Express, the ground breaking musical where the cast perform entirely on roller skates. Richard Stilgoe's infernally clever and witty lyrics are just one of the reasons this show has cast its spell over audiences for some 40 years. In this article I am going to take a look at the recordings that have been issued over the years, their merits and how they differ. I have discounted the cheap cash-in recordings that can be found online, this article concentrates on official cast recordings affiliated to productions running around the world. Clicking on the covers takes you to the DISCOGS music website where the albums are available to buy from sellers internationally. So lets literally get our skates on and start with...
5/10
BOCHUM CAST CONCEPT ALBUM 1988
The legendary Bochum production in Germany was initally represented by an album that is a hybrid of cast album and pop album. The original Bochum cast are let loose on the songs and had the Broadway production gone for this approach the U.S. album might have had the panache that this album still has in spades. Produced and arranged by Jürgen Fritz, the arrangements don’t veer too far from the source material but just enough to keep your toes a-tappin’ throughout. For the first time we hear the mother and son bedtime dialogue at the start of the show then Paul Kribbe’s opening “Rolling Stock” sets the tone nicely. “Liebesexpress” mixes things up even more by being in German but with a backing of “Nobody can do it like a steam train” English refrain. We get the equivalent of the “C.B.” track from the English recording here called “Ganz Allein” (All Alone) nicely performed by Hans Johanson. Natalie Howard’s “G.E.K.U.P.P.E.L.T.” is just one of many stand out tracks, channelling her inner Tammy Wynette to bring a touch of C & W class to proceedings. The one nod towards a fully fledged concept album is “Du Allein” (All Alone / Only He) which sees Irish Eurovision king Johnny Logan pair up with German chanteuse and actress Ute Lemper, replacing the German cast members for this one track. All told it is a strong presentation of fourteen of the shows best known numbers. 8/10
As if to rectify the demand for an album which accurately reflected the show version, just twelve months after the pop album from the original cast, the first replacement cast were given a chance to shine on a live album featuring the entire show. Recorded live then mixed and tweaked (with some possible overdubbing) in Holland, this is as close to the live experience on audio as it is possible to get. The second act opens with an Entr’acte followed by "Hymn To Victory" thus losing "The Rap" opening that had been present on the only other full show recording, the 1984 original. By this stage in the shows development, there have been a few tweaks to the original songs (including ‘Make Up My Heart’ written for the Broadway debut) but it follows fairly faithfully the original song order. David Michael Johnson delivers his Electra for the second time on record, the first being in the Australia / Japan recording. The energy of the show literally leaps out of the speakers and is pretty much a text book example of how to do a live show album. The German people certainly liked it because to date it has sold well in excess of 400,000 copies. 10/10
GIRLS' ROLLING STOCK 1990
Duration: 3m17s Language: English
Something of a curiosity and released in conjunction with the remounting of the Australian / Japan arena tour in Tokyo, four cast members of Starlight Express perform a song called "The Train" (nothing to do with the show) but also offer up "Girls' Rolling Stock", the Act 2 reprise which I think has disappeared from both London and Bochum versions of the show. Cast members performing the song are C. Jay Ranger, Caran Cardelle, Debbie Wake and Nikki Belsher. 5/10
Within the space of four years, we have a third album from the Bochum production. Offering eighteen newly recorded tracks. None seem to veer from the show versions and in itself, this is another excellent release showcasing the talent gathered in Bochum. For the second time Stevie Woods gives his Papa, this time paired with Colin Munro as Rusty. Steve Casey also has a second outing as Greaseball. Original London cast member Kofi Missah returns to the show on record, this time playing the major role of Electra, a great job he makes of it too. Claudia Bradley is Pearl and she and Munro nail their love duet. 9/10
THE NEW STARLIGHT EXPRESS 1992
Running time: 69 minutes Language: English
Perhaps fearing the show was starting to show its age and lose its appeal to younger audiences, Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe set about revamping the score some eight years after it opened, adding and subtracting numbers and re-vamping the arrangements. “Entry Of The National Trains” precedes “Rolling Stock” whilst Rusty has a new song “Crazy”. The biggest change is that Rusty and Pearl's ballad “Only You / Only He” has gone and in comes a replacement song with lyrics by Lloyd Webber’s collaborator on Tell Me On A Sunday and Sunset Boulevard, Don Black. The song “Next Time We Fall In Love” is a pretty generic song, its one you either love or you don’t and I personally fall into the latter category. I think the original is a better fit for the show. Parts of the melody later get an airing as "Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime" - a song added to Tell Me On A Sunday. Then there is the Megamix, having introduced the concept into the 1991 Joseph revival at the Palladium, its a chance to reprise all the best numbers and get audiences on their feet and dancing along. Although technically a highlights album, this does feature a large portion of the show. The talent on display is as always with Starlight exemplary. Having been denied a cast album at the time, the original Broadway Pearl, Reva Rice, is given a chance to shine on this latest recording and her duet with Greg Ellis of the new song is very pleasurable listening. John Partridge makes a charismatic Electra and Maynard Williams provides one of the best Greaseball’s to be heard on disc. Caron Cardelle having previously recorded a version of “Girls’ Rolling Stock” for the 1990 Japanese tour is here promoted to Dinah, and her “U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.” is a fine rendition. Lon Satton still holds court as Papa and as on the original recording, his contributions are always wonderful to listen to. 9/10
Something of a curiosity,
this is a studio recording featuring songs from the Mexico City run. There was
apparently some problem with the rights to the show and the production closed
prematurely and thus this cast album in waiting was permanently shelved. Although it does not have the production
values of some of the earlier recordings (maybe because it is an unfinished album), it is however an interesting look at a
Spanish translation which underwent some changes. “Rolling Stock” becomes “The Power Of The
Rails” in Spanish for example. 7/10
Perhaps feeling a little left out by not releasing a recording for twelve years, the Bochum production suddenly entered the fray again with a five track EP entitled New Songs showcasing the changes to the production since the last offering. We get Jamie Golding showcasing “Crazy” and “Starlight Express”, then dueting with Danni Kearsley-Wooller on “Allein Im Licht Sterne” (a version of “Next Time You Fall In Love”). A Megamix is followed by “Starlight Express Boy Band Version”. Basically Jamie Golding and all his Rusty covers in the show are united in a Westlife style version of the song, it’s rather nice actually. 7/10
BOCHUM LIVE CAST ALBUM 2015
Running Time: 125 minutes Language: German
Recorded in June 2013, but released in 2015 (amid rumours of Lloyd Webber not being happy with some of the recordings) this is again a hybrid. Taken from an initial live recording, this has been heavily overdubbed and remixed so that truthfully it cannot be considered a true live album. That is not to say that it isn’t a great listen, because it is. The arrangements have been worked with a techno vibe in places in an effort to give some of the songs a more contemporary soundscape. This is most evident in the race sequences but can be heard elsewhere. Among the changes to show are the inclusion of material re-worked for the 2013 UK Tour. “A Whole Lotta Locomotion” with lyrics by composer David Yazbek has been translated as “Nie Genug” (Never Enough) and is a much more strident dance floor song, not the light poppy vibe of “A Lotta Locomotion” which it replaced. Der Rap is a curious mixture of the original and re-vamped versions, perhaps the most surprising change though is the inclusion of a song by Lloyd Webber’s son Alistair originally with English lyrics by Nick Coler called “I Do”. Here it is “Fur Immer” (Forever), and is a nice slice of Europop, and a better fit for the show than “Next Time We Fall In Love” for this fan boy’s tastes. Georgina Hagen and Marcel Brauneis make the most of the new song, delivering a great track (and later encore reprise). It may not be a truly live album but it is the complete show as it stood that year and as such provides another major slice of Starlight action. Its boppy, its poppy and you'll want to listen to it more than once. It also has the distinction of being the recording with the longest running time of all those thus far released. 9/10
ICH BIN ICH 2023
Running time: 11 minutes Language: German / English
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Bochum production, a three track promotional CD was issued (available as a download too) of a new song written for the show "Ich Bin Ich". Its English version "I Got Me" was also included, along with a dance mix of "I Got Me". The English lyrics are penned by Lauren Aquelina with the German translation by Wolfgang Adelberg. The song replaces "A Lotta Locomotion" / "A Whole Lot Of Locomotion" in previous iterations of the show. Bochum cast members Emilie du Leslay, Rose Ouellette, Sydnie Christmas and Dieuwke Tonissen perform on the recording. 8/10
REVIVAL LONDON CAST ALBUM 2024
Running time: 65 minutes Language: English
Finally on the 40th anniversary of the original production, and 30 years since the previous London cast album, the 2024 revival production is given its own recording and in keeping with tradition, the track listing is unique. No cast recording of Starlight Express has thus far replicated any previous version. Such is the nature of the ever evolving score and characters. The production running at the Troubadour, Wembley Park has wowed audiences since June 2024, but how do the cast fare on record? The 21 tracks mirror the New Starlight Express recording of 1992, it is a 'Highlights' album with the major musical passages included. For the first time on record we have a female Greaseball (Al Knott) and Momma (Jade Marvin). The production on the album whilst generally sound does occasionally give the vocals too much prominence, a better balance might have been preferable. A case in point "Rolling Stock" makes Al Knott appear very shouty and you wonder why the vocals haven't been mixed into the soundscape to a better effect. Perhaps in the world of computer game music, for whose attention this has to compete among the younger audience, that is how things are done. "I Got Me" has now had a lyric makeover as "I Am Me", and we get the extended single version of the futuristic engine "Hydrogen" with its brain washing refrain "Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when..." (music by Andrew, lyrics by Richard Stilgoe's son, Joe) which as far as I know isn't the version used in the show. If there is one criticism of this album, its that it lacks a bit of subtlety. Its very in your face, the characters are not quite so endearing as in previous versions, the nuance diluted. We finally get an English recording of "I Do" sung by Jeevan Braich and Kanya Montecillo, and a good job they make of it. And of course a revised Megamix closes the album. All in all fans of the 2024 show will love it, but longer term admirers will perhaps yearn for a few touches from the past. Starlight Express is still an evolving piece, enticing in a new generation of theatre fans. For them certainly this album will be a streaming hit. 7/10
So there you have it, Starlight Express on record... until now. With Bochum nearing its 40th anniversary and the London version about to be launched worldwide, I am sure its not the last we will be hearing of the engines and carriages and their desire to win the Railroad Championship. Race time minus one minute....
Rob Cope
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