Starlight Express (London 1988) 

Act 1: Overture 0:00 Rolling Stock 0:51 Engine of Love 4:43 Taunting Rusty 7:33 This is Gonna be the Day 8:50 Rusty Can’t Be Serious 10:09 A Lotta Locomotion 10:51 Pumping Iron 13:15 Freight 17:27 Entry of National Trains 22:07 AC/DC 24:47 Coda of Freight 29:34 Pearl, You’ve Been Honoured 33:28 Make Up My Heart 35:02 Race One 38:51 That was Unfair 41:46 There’s Me 43:13 Poppa‘s Blues 45:49 Belle the Sleeping Car 50:05 Starlight Express Introduction 53:46 Race Two 56:30 Boy, Boy, Boy 59:50 Race Three 1:02:23 Laughing Stock 1:05:43 Starlight Express 1:09:16 Act 2: The Rap 1:13:25 Pearl Twirl 1:18:34 U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D. 1:19:05 Rolling Stock (Reprise) 1:22:04 C.B. 1:24:19 Race Uphill Final 1:27:47 I Was Robbed 1:31:31 Right Place, Right Time 1:33:37 Starlight Sequence 1:38:33 Rusty and Dustin 1:42:58 Dinah‘s Disco 1:44:01 Race Downhill Final 1:47:19 No Comeback 1:50:20 One Rock&Roll Too Many 1:52:24 Only You 1:56:18 Light at the End of the Tunnel (Intro) 2:01:50

Thank you so much! You just made my day. I don't mind the video quality. That is pretty much unavoidable with material this old. I'm just happy to see recordings from an 80s version of this show. Makes me wish they would perform this version on stage again and if it's only for a short time. >.< But I'm curious to know: is this an offical recording that was sold on VHS? Because in that case I've never heard of it. O.o

This is the closest I can find to the original cast CD I fell in love with. Thank you so much for this. The sounds is actually excellent for a bootleg of that era. I detest the rewrites and new version. Most of the jokes and humor were sucked out.

My Greaseball was Jeff Shankley, my Pearl was Stephanie Lawrence, and my C.B. was Micheal Staniforth. This was a ground breaking musical like Time was

Great to see this available for lots of people to see. To my knowledge, this is the oldest video boot of Starlight Express...ever, right? Exciting stuff, I adore the older versions of this show, much more synth heavy and gritty :)

I don't care what the quality is like. This is the original show (with a few revisions, sure), but the important thing is that all the characters are there, along with (most) of their songs. And most importantly, CB is there. In his original form. And while I like the later red costume best, this is the CB that I love. And now they've changed him completely (or else reduced him right down), and I don't expect I'll ever get to see him like this in life. So no matter how grainy the quality and regardless of how much the audio cuts out (I know the score well enough to be able to fill in the gaps anyway), this will remain an absolute treasure to me. My only regret is that this CB isn't Michael Staniforth, but whoever this guy is is absolutely fantastic. So, in conclusion, thank you for posting!

1:52:15 Love the addition of all the other trains/trucks telling Electra to get lost. Fabulous as he may be, dude’s a real piece of work.

This is incredible. I was about 8 years old when I was the '93 version of SE with John Partridge as Elektra (BE STILL MY HEART) who I then saw a few years later as Rum Tum Tugger in Cats. Starlight Express was the first musical I ever saw and it has a special place in my heart. My mum saw the original London version of SE and always talked about how amazing it was.

Hi this is starlight after changes to several songs, with the loss of CB,s song, the original album is available recorded 1984, it’s available on i tunes, I worked on the original dressing Electra and CB, one of my favourite shows, long live Starlight! xxx

Hello again...I think it's a shame that the creators have simply removed the song No Comeback😒Electra comes from afar and if he thinks he can find his honor elsewhere...it's just so😑

Wow! A full version of the show. I saw the second generation of this (the New Starlight Express) in 1995. I am glad I got to see it and would love to see anything more from that era. This is great to see though.

Wow...this is amazing,even with the bad camera quality its incredibles to see the original performance of the london version,its the version cloasest to the original of 1984.

Saw SE very early on with Stephanie Lawrence, Michael Staniforth, PP Arnold, Lon Satton etc. Absolutely breathtaking theatre, so to see this is amazing (although by 1988 it had already been re-worked). I sat with my sister in the front row of the circle - you could feel the hydraulics raising the track barriers. The touring versions just can't capture the excitement of the races (for obvious reasons) & you miss out on that awesome piece of machinery - the bridge.

Im so happy that there is footage of No Comeback, you my good man(or woman) are a savior!

I miss the first version of He wishtle at me, is one of my favorites

OMG, 我就是當年在倫敦看這一場的STARLIGHT EXPRESS!從挪威來的客戶的招待，讓我改變了一生！原來音樂劇也可以用這樣方式演出！不過我此後還是選擇 安德魯·洛伊·韋伯，勞埃德-韋伯男爵（Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber）

Sure the audio cuts out sometimes But damn this is an amazing musical

I first saw the show in 1989 and No Comeback was still in it. When we went back in 1990 it had been removed. And then other bits like Hitching and Switching just fell away / got written over, until the revamp came and all the magic disappeared. I was a student in London in the early 90s and would often get the £5 standing tickets, amazing view from the back of the auditorium. Great to see the show here again in its near-original form.

Why has this show never returned in this format.it has more fans 18 years after closing than most new or current long running shows yet the best we get is a cheap nasty version that tours the uk.i want the full set where they race round the audience,this was my first ever musical I attended and sadly only got to see it once,I now have seen easily 100 different musicals ,many multiple times,yet this is still the best by far,but did not enjoy the uk tour anywhere near as much as the original,the race track just added that extra magic

Naturally, of course, whoever filmed it started scrabbling about with the microphone at 1:15:44 , during the one and only bit I really wanted to hear in The Rap, the part conspicuously skipped over on the album so clumsily as to start again on the wrong beat. I've always wanted to know what goes there, and it looks like I'll still have to just guess.

Anyone know the cast list? It's so magical to see starlight in what is almost it's original form. This is the version of the show I love.

I wasnt even aware of the subtle changes made prior to the 1993 revamp. For a second, I couldn't figure out why Call Me Rusty was not near the beginning of the show after the overture and the other minor song. I then looked at the date of 1989, and realized that THIS version of the London version must have been influenced by some of the Broadway 1987 additions of Engine of Love and re-writes for Starlight Express ("When the night is darkest") and Only You (sung as a duet instead of a country pop ballad Only He). The only English recording of the 1987-91 period was the 1987 poped up radio like album Songs From Starlight Express with El DeBarge, and then there was the Japan/Australian tour CD. Both recordings weren't as great as the 1984 OLC 2CD on Polydor with the misprint on the second CD saying Only Me. First the DeBarge highlights was not even a representation of the real show. However, it was the introduction of one of the greatest songs Engine of Love. The Japan/Aussie tour CD also had Engine of Love, but it sounded really synthesized and unlike the 1984 CD or even like the 1987 CD. But the recording of Engine of Love was more similar to that of the real orchestrations, unlike the Broadway highlights. Nevertheless, Bobby Collins voice makes it sound more like a high school production. The tour CD also has the Broadway version of the title song. That's why I really wish ALW made a OLC of the 1989 London version. He did this with Song and Dance. First, he released the regular OLC LIVE version staring Marti Webb and Wayne Sleep. Then in the early 2000's he released the original London cast but with Sarah Brightman/Wayne Sleep. I shouldn't have said OLC but just the 1980's LC recording. Song and Dance had some subtle changes when Brightman took over suchlike removal of The Last Man in My Life and adding in Unexpected Song. This recording is actually SHORTER than the Marti Webb version. I wish ALW would do this for Phantom of The Opera and Starlight Express. As we all know, POTO had some subtle re-writes just a couple of years later after the release of the OLC. However, i am glad ALW made a recording of the Love Never Dies additions made on the US tour. Oddly, it's the Aussie version but with The Streets of Conney Island and The Beauty Underneath changes. Yet it is listed as US Tour CD, which is misleading.

Fucking hell, I love you for this. I saw Starlight Express (and have a copy of the programme autographed by most of the cast, including Danny JJ, then a massive hero of mine) back in '87 or so, when I was a child. I was completely entranced even though I'd not known what we were going to see, and had been disappointed that the "play on rollerskates" didn't mean we were rollerskating there. Sometime in the early 2000s I met the love of my life, and we shared a taste in most types of music, comedy and show, but we'd been together for years before Starlight Express came up, and it turned out that she had also seen the original version as a child, had also adored it, and that we were both still word perfect on all the songs! I really appreciate you posting this. The quality really doesn't matter, I can see it all through the eyes of a 7-year-old :D

Think this was around the time they did the first big revisions of songs/lyrics/story in 1988? Some of the vocals here are beyond shocking (should have turned the booth singers up a bit!) but I can't say I didn't love this show as a teenager, queuing for £2 standing tickets at the back at the Apollo Vic! Thems the days.

damn, did they really get rid of "call me rusty" this early on??? what a shame, because so much of what you understood about his character was lost with the removal of that song :( thank you for sharing this!

This really gives me an idea how the odd, thin, sometimes almost haunted-sounding arrangements on that old album could've sounded *big* live. I have a question that this video doesn't answer, so if anyone who saw the OLC reads this, please tell me - on the OCR, there's a note about He Whistled At Me having been produced for the album by someone different from the rest of the album, which has always made me wonder if it was some sort of remix, intended to release as a single. So I guess my question is, did the original Whistled At Me actually sound like that, or was it a slower affair, like the 1992 album's He'll Whistle At Me?

Omg wow!! Thank you so much for posting this! I saw this in 1988 and it's giving me the shivers now just watching it! The theatre looked like a building site when you go in lol but when those lights go down and the ceiling lights up with the stars .... Its AMAZING! Saw it three times from various seats and can still sing most of the words now 😊.Fantastic 👍😘

I believe this isn’t London, Make up my heart wasn’t introduced into the London performance until the revamp.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! THIS is what I recall loving so much as a kid 😍

OMG I saw this in London in 1988, made my day finding this, 🙏

Oh, this brings back so many memories. I saw this around 88, 89. Such an awesome experience back then.

So it seems Koffi Missah plays Electra throughout this performance, but No Comeback's audio is from the 1984 bootleg of Jeffrey Daniel in the role.

This is Kim Leeson as Pearl.

omg thank you so much!

1:54:54 *Chair mode activated*

What a treat to be able to see this! Glad you got your hands back on it recently, thanks for sharing with us. Quick question - if it’s a boot, how’s it got the shots of the races at different angles? Just curious. Also, the quality is rough of course but I kind of love how it makes the backup skaters in C.B. disappear until Red Caboose skates near them. Genuinely did a double take trying to figure out where they were coming from and going.

I saw this over 20 yearsago , and it has stayed with me ever since !! - truly memorable !!! X

Did anyone get to see the late great Stephanie Lawrence as Pearl? Of Jeffrey Daniel as Elektra? It's such a shame that we never got a properly recorded version of the original London cast with all the original material. I think all musicals should do it as a matter of course now. TFS :)

Which production was this?

this is AWESOME!! do you know who plays cb in this production?

Does anyone know if this CB is Micheal Staniforth? I'm pretty sure he's not but I'm just making sure

I grew up listening to the original

It's so cool that Reva Rice is still part of the cast

Was this too early for Greg Ellis as Rusty?

Any footage of He Whistled at me survived?

OMG, No Comeback! THANK YOU, I WANTED TO SEE THAT SO BAD!!!

A DVD of the '84 version with Rusty Ray Shell, Pearl Stephanie Lawrence & Dinah Frances Ruffelle would be great!!! Please make one. The New Version would break my heart💔. Because I JUST PLAIN HATE IT!

Kim Leeson as Pearl! So many memories.

I have seen this show in the West End, more times than I care to count. certainly, it is the show I have seen more performances of. I work in theatre, and always knew people involved in the show, so I certainly will have seen this cast. Sadly, I can't make out who is performing here. Thank you for posting. Great memories

i watched the show in 1996

I love this musical, but the image and sound here are awful, even if it's an old video

Hi, thank you for providing this. It would be great if full production of the show was released. I have looked for it, but have been unable to find it. I also think the song Next Time you fall in Love is great, but I am aware that it doesn't always feature in the show.

this is a great rcord of how the original show ran, its also a carbon copy of the Broadway version from 1987 which I had the pleasure to work for. loved watching this, lots of memories

I saw this in London on my first trip to Europe in 1997.

What about one for the 1984 production

My happy memories from my childhood

Where is Dinah you’re honoured

9:04 16:50

Who was Rusty and Pearl?