Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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All I Ask of You

Originally recorded by Sarah Brightman & Cliff Richard (UK #3 1986).
US hit version by Barbra Streisand (US #15 1988).

From the wiki: “‘All I Ask of You’ is a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of The Phantom of the Opera.

“Sarah Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her West End musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several West End and Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she originated the role of Christine Daaé. The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in 1987 and sold 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.

“Barbra Streisand first appeared on Broadway in the small but star-making role of Miss Marmelstein in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale. Her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, won two Grammy Awards in 1963. Her early recordings in the 1960s (her debut The Barbra Streisand Album, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, The Third Album, My Name Is Barbra, etc.) are considered classic renditions of theater and cabaret standards. Starting in 1969, she began attempting more contemporary material, and she gained new-found success with the pop and ballad-oriented Richard Perry-produced album Stoney End in 1971. The title track, written by Laura Nyro, was a major hit for Streisand.

“But, after years of largely ignoring Broadway and traditional pop music in favor of more contemporary material, Streisand returned to her musical-theater roots with 1985’s The Broadway Album, which was unexpectedly successful. Streisand was set to release another album of Broadway songs in 1988. She recorded several cuts for the album under the direction of Rupert Holmes but was not happy with the direction of the project and it was ultimately scrapped. Only ‘Warm All Over’ and a reworked, lite FM-friendly version of ‘All I Ask of You’ were ever released, the latter appearing on Streisand’s 1988 collection Till I Loved You.”

Barbra Streisand, “All I Ask of You” (1988):

http://youtu.be/rXqFNyLA0Xc

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