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WHATEVER WE IMAGINE

from THE BEST OF ME

Written by David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock & Paul Gordon

 

In the early eighties, one of the few, precious gems that David Foster and the great Jeremy Lubbock (1931-2021) co-wrote was “Whatever We Imagine”. The song was first recorded as an instrumental for Foster’s 1983 solo album that took its name, The Best Of Me, from another Foster/Lubbock classic. The Best Of Me was released in Japan by Sound Design Records. It included a string of mostly instrumental tunes that immediately bloomed into hits plus signature songs for stars including Chaka Khan, Boz Scaggs, Olivia Newton-John, Al Jarreau and Dionne Warwick. The Best Of Me was performed by Foster with minimal accompaniment on a few songs by friends comprised of Lubbock, hi old partner, Jay Graydon plus Tom and John Keane. The strength of the record was in the melodic beauty of the compositions, the superior performance of Foster on various keyboards and synths plus the excellent level of the arrangements.

“Whatever We Imagine” was a dreamy ballad with a deep emotional and nostalgic feel perfectly delivered by Foster’s sublime musical touch. Around the 80’s, Foster was working a lot with Quincy Jones, who was selecting material for James Ingram’s (1952-2019) debut album. With lyrics by Paul Gordon, “Whatever We Imagine” became one of the highlights of Ingram’s It’s Your Night. “Whatever We Imagine” stands as one of the most beautiful ballads in Foster’s vast songbook.

The Hitman kindly sent a commentary about the song:

“I recorded the “Whatever We Imagine” instrumental in my house on a Yamaha PA
board with a Linn drum machine. Jeremy and I wrote the music and Jeremy also played the Fender Rhodes including the beautiful intro. Later on, Paul Gordon put lyrics to it. Quincy heard the demo and loved the song so I brought my drum machine down to the studio for the recording. Q eventually used quite a bit of my original recording for James Ingram’s version. I can’t remember if I played piano on it, probably so, but I’m sure I playe moog bass on it. I absolutely loved James’ vocal on it. What a singer!! He is truly missed!!”

 


Listen



  • Acoustic Piano, Synthesizers & Moog Bass: David Foster
  • Fender Rhodes: Jeremy Lubbock
  • Synthesizer Programming: Amin Bathia & Steve Porcaro
  • Arranged by David Foster & Jeremy Lubbock
  • Produced by David Foster & Take Narni

Lyrics

No lyrics