Webb first came to prominence as Ann in the original London production of Half a Sixpence opposite Tommy Steele. She later dubbed the singing voice of Julia Foster, her replacement for the film adaptation. Immediately prior to her appearance in Half a Sixpence, Webb had made her West End debut in Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, which starred and had lyrics by Anthony Newley, whom Webb considered to be her mentor. She also played Nancy in the first UK tour of Oliver! where she met and befriended the show's Assistant Stage Manager Cameron Mackintosh, who was to become one of the most prominent musical theatre producers in world. When the production returned to the West End, Phil Collins who later achieved fame with Genesis played The Artful Dodger.
During the 1970s she carved out a career as a respected, though not yet famous, West End actress and singer appearing in both The Card, written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, and Godspell, opposite David Essex, Julie Covington and Jeremy Irons. In 1979 she began to appear as a regular alternate to Elaine Paige in the original London production of Evita, taking over the role full time in 1980 just as the album of Tell Me on a Sunday was released. This was a #1 hit in the UK Albums Chart, and saw Webb become a household name.
The album of Tell Me on a Sunday had music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and was based on the story of the composer's friend, who had moved from London to the United States to begin a new life. Webb was asked to collaborate on the piece when only two songs had been written, so the rest of the album was created specifically with her voice and character in mind. Black, who became her manager and a close friend, said of her performance, "She was the girl, and that was it." Her tendency to, "Talk for hours about the most boring everyday things, like the gas or insurance," also inspired him in creating the narrative pieces in the song cycle which were letters to the character's mum.
Webb has a distinctive, untrained coloratura voice and Lloyd Webber was said to have told her "You sing in my keys." She apparently retorted, "You write in mine." He produced her second solo album Won't Change Places (1980) which featured two songs written by Lynsey De Paul:All I Am and What You Gonna do With Your Freedom. She has regularly performed at the Sydmonton Festival, his private gathering where new work is tried-out prior to a professional debut.
In the mid-1980s, she again succeeded Elaine Paige, this time in the musical Cats both in the West End production at the New London Theatre and subsequently on tour. When Tell Me on a Sunday was combined with Lloyd Webber's other successful album Variations, which had featured his brother, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, to create the show Song and Dance, Webb reprised her role as the unnamed girl in the first act. In the second act Wayne Sleep and a dance troupe performed choreographed routines to Variations. The pair toured with the show extensively in the latter half of the decade.
She sang a cover version of Michael Jackson's Ben in memory of Ben Hardwick, a young boy who died of cancer after appearing on the BBC television programme That's Life!. The single reached #5 in the UK charts. She also later released "Always There", a version of the theme to BBC television drama Howards' Way, which was written by Simon May and Leslie Osbourne with lyrics by Don Black. The success of this inspired an album of the same name in which she covered other television themes.
In 1990, on the last studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, the album Freudiana, Webb performed two songs: the solo "Don't Let the Moment Pass" and "No One Can Love You Better Than Me" in which she joined forces with Woolfson, Gary Howard and Kiki Dee.
Webb co-devised and starred in 'The Magic of the Musicals', a UK concert tour featuring songs from musical theatre in 1992 opposite Opportunity Knocks winner Mark Rattray. The gold-selling album of the show was co-produced by Webb's former husband, sound engineer Tom Button. BBC Television also filmed and broadcast the show. This was followed in 1993 by a North American and Canadian tour and numerous UK versions in the following years, in which Rattray was succeeded by Dave Willetts, Robert Meadmore and most recently Wayne Sleep.
In 1995 Webb reprised her leading role in a UK tour of Evita, opposite Chris Corcoran as Che and Duncan Smith as Peron. The popularity of the tour led to it being repeated in 1996.
She more recently appeared in the new London stage production of Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003) uniquely alternating the role of Mrs Meers with Maureen Lipman, to allow Lipman to nurse her terminally ill husband. At the beginning of the following year, she again reprised her role in Tell Me On A Sunday both in the West End and on tour. The show had been substantially rewritten for a production starring Denise Van Outen, but a combination of the new and original scores was created specifically for Webb.
Christmas 2006 was spent in pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Windsor playing the Fairy Godmother in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
In 2007, Webb is to play alongside Sheila Ferguson and Rula Lenska in a new musical about the menopause called Hot Flush.
She is a patron of The Players Music Hall Theatre in London, which specialises in Victorian variety theatre.
Webb has married and divorced three times but has no children. She was married to Alexander Balfour in 1963, the actor Tim Flavin briefly in 1985 and sound engineer Tom Button, 25 years her junior, in the early 1990s. She lives in Westminster, London and Somerset.
It Had to Be You
Marti Webb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
With all your faults, I love you still,
It had to be you, wonderful you,
It had to be you.
It had to be you, it had to be you.
I wandered around and finally found somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
With all your faults, I love you still.
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you.
Marti Webb's song "It Had To Be You" is a classic love song that speaks to the feeling of finding the one person who can make you feel true, happy, and sad all at the same time. The song opens with the lines "It had to be you, it had to be you. I wandered around and finally found somebody who" which speaks to the singer wandering around aimlessly, searching for someone who could make them feel a certain way until finally, the person they have been longing for appears in their life. The singer then goes on to say "could make me be true, could make me feel blue, and even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you" which explains how this person has the power to bring out true emotions in them, even if they're not always happy ones, and how even just thinking about this person can make them feel a sense of warmth and joy, despite any sadness they may be feeling.
The second verse mirrors the first, as the singer talks about how they have encountered other people who were nice but who could never compare to the one person who gives them a thrill. The lines "With all your faults, I love you still" speak to the idea that even though this person may not be perfect, the singer still loves them unconditionally. The repetition of the phrase "It had to be you, wonderful you" at the end of the song reaffirms this idea, that there is no one else in the world who could make the singer feel the way this person does.
Overall, "It Had To Be You" is a romantic ballad that celebrates the feeling of finding the person who makes you feel true joy and love, even with all their faults and imperfections.
Line by Line Meaning
It had to be you, it had to be you.
Out of all the people in the world, I know it's you I was meant to find.
I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
I searched high and low until I finally found the one person who
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
Someone who makes me feel authentic and even brings out my sad emotions
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Thinking of you makes me so happy that I'm even glad to feel sad if it's about you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
I've seen other people who might never be mean or harsh
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
Those people might never try to argue or act like the boss
But they wouldn't do.
But those people just don't measure up to you
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
No one else can give me that same feeling of excitement
With all your faults, I love you still,
Even though you have flaws, I continue to love you
It had to be you, wonderful you,
You are absolutely wonderful and there's no one else for me but you
It had to be you.
I know deep down that it had to be you.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Isham Jones, Gus Kahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind