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Cats
Cast recording by
the original Broadway cast
ReleasedJanuary 26, 1983 (1983-01-26)
RecordedOctober 1982
Genre Show tunes
Length1:41:07 [1]
Label Geffen Records [2]
ProducerAndrew Lloyd Webber

A cast recording by the original Broadway cast of the musical Cats was released on January 26, 1983, by Geffen Records. It was later reissued by Polydor in 1993, and remastered in 2005.

The recording won Best Cast Show Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.

Development and release

The original Broadway cast of Cats, including the understudies, recorded the album in October 1982. Andrew Lloyd Webber flew in from London to oversee the recording, which was estimated to cost as much as $400,000. [3]

The recording was released on January 26, 1983, [4] in two versions: a two- record/ disc/ cassette complete set, and a one-record/disc/cassette highlights version. [5] [6]

Track listing

All tracks written by T. S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber, with any additional writers noted. [1]

In the later Polydor reissue of the recording, the third track on disc two is incorrectly listed as containing "The Ballad of Billy McCaw," a duet based on an unpublished poem by Eliot that was used in the original London production. It actually contains a parody of Italian opera titled "In Una Tepida Notte," which replaced "Ballad" in the original Broadway run and was incorporated into all other US and UK productions of Cats until the removal of "Growltiger's Last Stand" in 2016.

"The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles," a song describing a fight between two tribes of dogs, is not included in this recording. It originally appeared between "Old Deuteronomy" and "The Jellicle Ball" in Act One, then was moved to Act Two to replace "Growltiger's Last Stand" after the latter song was cut.

Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Overture" 2:52
2."Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"
5:17
3."The Naming of Cats" 3:02
4."The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball" 2:10
5."The Old Gumbie Cat" 3:49
6."The Rum Tum Tugger" 3:42
7."Grizabella, The Glamour Cat" 3:06
8."Bustopher Jones" 3:08
9."Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer" 4:28
10."Old Deuteronomy" 4:03
11."The Jellicle Ball" 9:34
12."Grizabella, The Glamour Cat/Memory"Nunn4:22
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Moments of Happiness" 3:14
2."Gus: The Theatre Cat" 6:32
3."Growltiger's Last Stand/The Ballad of Billy McCaw" 11:41
4."Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" 4:52
5."Macavity: The Mystery Cat" 8:23
6."Mr. Mistoffelees" 4:25
7." Memory"Nunn5:21
8."The Journey to the Heaviside Layer" 2:44
9."The Ad-Dressing of Cats" 4:22

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]

Critical reception

Matthew Murray gave the recording four out of five stars, praising the orchestration and the cast's performance, particularly Betty Buckley's rendition of "Memory". However, he was wary of "the unconvincing Brit[ish] accents and American vocal mannerisms." [7] The recording also received favorable reviews from the Star Tribune [6] and the Times Colonist. [8]

Commercial performance

The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 5, 1988. [4] [2] According to Playbill, it has sold over 2 million copies [9] and is the 16th-best-selling cast recording in the United States of all time. [4]

Accolades

The recording won Best Cast Show Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards. [10]

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums ( Ö3 Austria)
[11] 		5
New Zealand Albums ( RMNZ) [12] 17
US Billboard 200 [13] 131

References

  1. ^ a b c "Cats (Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording)". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Cats (Original Cast)". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  3. ^ Nelsen, Don (24 October 1982). "'Cats' on wax: Will it break any records?". New York Daily News. p. 260. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Culwell-Block, Logan. "The Definitive List of the 42 Best-Selling Cast Recordings of All Time". Playbill. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  5. ^ "The sound of Cats is unforgettable (ad)". The Boston Globe. 12 May 1983. p. 102. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Anthony, Michael (13 February 1983). "Records: Cat-chy music creeps along". Star Tribune. p. 87. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Murray, Matthew (25 February 2015). "Cats: Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Geffen)". Cast Album Reviews. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  8. ^ Hogbin, John (9 April 1983). "Cats". Times Colonist. p. 32. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Nassour, Ellis (17 June 1997). "Cats Trivia Encyclopedia". Playbill. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Winners: 26th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1983)". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  11. ^ "austriancharts.at – Suche nach: cats" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  12. ^ "charts.nz – Search for: cats". New Zealand charts portal. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Original Broadway Cast Recording: Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
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