written by David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock & Paul Gordon

This week highlight was a little-known cover of David Foster’s called “Whatever We Imagine” sung by celebrated actress/singer Cybill Shepherd. “Whatever We Imagine” was originally performed by r&b star James Ingram on his 1983 debut album, It’s Your Night, and this precious gem’s review can be found in the archives. The Hitman co-wrote the song with his longtime collaborator, Jeremy Lubbock and lyricist Paul Gordon. Produced by Quincy Jones and arranged by Foster with Jerry Hey, “Whatever We Imagine” was a masterpiece song where a magnificent melody meets a spectacular execution by the cream of the crop.

Around 1990, Ms. Shepherd was riding the successful wave of her lead role on the TV series Moonlighting alongside Bruce Willis. She recorded a cd titled Somewhere Down The Road with late producer and Memphis ’ music legend Sid Selvidge (July 21 1943 to May 2, 2013).Somewhere Down The Road was a nice collection of good tunes that belong to the golden repertoire of pop/adult contemporary heavyweights like Foster, Steve Dorff, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Randy Goodrum and Eric Kaz. Ms. Shepherd did a good job on her vocal performances. She certainly is no Barbra or Celine, but her treatment of those songs was quite nice. The instrumental back-up was mostly handled by the great Randy Waldman who arranged the bulk of the cd and played keyboards. The problem with this cd was the overall late eighties sound that feels very dated with its heavily programmed keyboards and drums compared to today’s tunes. Given the previous statement, Ms. Shepherd’s take on “Whatever We Imagine” isn’t comparable to Ingram’s timeless original which has such a superior execution that makes for a pleasant listen. Compared to that spectacular recording, Ms. Shepherd’s take was only downgraded due to its cold instrumental track.

Listen

Lead Vocals: Cybill Shepherd
Synthesizers & Drum Programming: Randy Waldman
Percussion: Michael Fisher
Background Vocals: Janey Clewer, Jon Joyce & Susan Boyd

Arranged by Randy Waldman
Produced by Sid Selvidge

Lyrics

Don’t be afraid
I can meet you half way
We can’t always know
Where the road ends up
But with some luck
I know we can go
Where-ever we imagine

Why should we wait
Later on maybe too late
Cause where can we run
When you see there’s half a chance
That we might really become
Whatever we imagine

And I imagine you and me
Just taking shots at what we see
And if we falter
Take away the dust
And just outlast them all

You ought to see
All your heroes in me
But if we get wise
We can break the walls we make
And you can see in my eyes
Whatever we imagine

And I imagine you and me
Just taking shots at what we see
So let the walls go down
And we can try it again
Cause nobody can stop us now

Dont be afraid
Cause I’ll meet you half way
You’re not far behind
If we climb this hill
I know there’s still a chance we can find
Whatever we imagine in our life

We can make it there baby
Ohhh, Whatever we imagine
Dont you see baby
It’s all in our minds
I’ll meet you halfway
Whatever we imagine (faded)