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.
Tell Me On A Sunday
Marti Webb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't call me at 3 A.M. from a friend's apartment
I'd like to choose how I hear the news
Take me to a park that's covered with trees
Tell me on a Sunday please
Let me down easy, no big song and dance
No long faces, no long looks, no deep conversation
Take me to a zoo that's got chimpanzees
Tell me on a Sunday please
Don't want to know who's to blame
it won't help knowing
Don't want to fight day and night
bad enough you're going
Don't leave in silence with no words at all
Don't get drunk and slam the door
that's no way to end this
I know how I want you to say goodbye
Find a circus ring with a flying trapeze
Tell me on a Sunday please
I don't want to fight day and night
bad enough you're going
Don't leave in silence with no words at all
Don't get drunk and slam the door
that's no way to end this
I know how I want you to say goodbye
Don't run off in the pouring rain
Don't call me as they call your plane
Take that hurt out of all the pain
Take me to a park that's covered with trees
Tell me on a Sunday please
The song "Tell Me On A Sunday" by Marti Webb is about a woman who is being left by her lover and how she wants the news to be delivered to her. She doesn't want to be left in silence with no words at all or for her lover to call her in the middle of the night from a friend's apartment. Rather, she wants to be taken to a park that's covered with trees or a zoo that has chimpanzees and be told gently and honestly. She wants it to be easy for her and doesn't want to have an emotional conversation or fight about who's to blame.
In the second verse, the woman reiterates that she doesn't want to fight or be left in silence. She wants her lover to say goodbye in a way that won't cause more pain. She suggests finding a circus ring with a flying trapeze, which could symbolize taking a risk and letting go. Overall, the song is about wanting to be treated with respect and kindness even in the midst of heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't write a letter when you want to leave
Please do not leave a letter behind to break things off between us
Don't call me at 3 A.M. from a friend's apartment
Please do not surprise me with a call in the middle of the night to tell me you're leaving from a friend's house
I'd like to choose how I hear the news
I would prefer to hear about us going different ways on my own terms
Take me to a park that's covered with trees
Take me to a beautiful natural setting to deliver this news
Tell me on a Sunday please
Choose Sunday as the day to tell me that we are separating
Let me down easy, no big song and dance
Please deliver the news gently and simply without any drama
No long faces, no long looks, no deep conversation
Please do not drag out the conversation with heavy emotions and prolonged eye contact
I know the way we should spend the day
I have a preference for how we should continue with our day after this conversation
Take me to a zoo that's got chimpanzees
Take me to an entertaining location like a zoo with chimpanzees after delivering this news
Don't want to know who's to blame
I am not interested in putting the blame on anyone
it won't help knowing
There is no benefit in knowing who is responsible for us going separate ways
Don't want to fight day and night
I am not interested in engaging in arguments all the time
bad enough you're going
It is already hard enough to think about you leaving
Don't leave in silence with no words at all
Please do not abandon me by leaving without saying anything at all
Don't get drunk and slam the door
Do not exit the situation in a violent or uncontrolled manner
that's no way to end this
Ending things on a negative and harsh note is not the right way to do it
I know how I want you to say goodbye
I have a preference for how I would like to hear you say goodbye
Find a circus ring with a flying trapeze
An unusual, adventurous place like a circus ring with a flying trapeze would be an appropriate place to part ways
Don't run off in the pouring rain
Please do not leave while it is raining heavily
Don't call me as they call your plane
Please do not call me while boarding your plane to leave
Take that hurt out of all the pain
Please do something to ease the hurt that parting ways will inevitably cause
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Donald Black
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
p 28
This woman's voice....the range...the power....it's incredible!
reenougle
One of my favourite songs of all time. So heart wrenching.
WilsonBrown Official
I know where you’re coming from. Don Black has that special skill - ‘ I’ll put you together again’ also does the same . Sometimes it’s to much to bear to listen to.
Paul Bloom
Lyrics by the incomparable Don Black. He has a CV that is simply untouchable. A genius with words and a lovely gentleman to boot. The greats always are.
Cully X
💯
sugardaddy1801
I couldn't agree more! This is a heart moving song. My Late Fiance used to play this song every Sunday morning (whenever he wasn't at work and said it reminded him of me and he used to sing it to me-just one of a load of songs he said)! Makes me so sad and happy at same time as such a beautiful song-but we were so happy! I feel for those who suffered break up of relationship-heart goes out to. In my case he's in the arms of the angels!
kelvin golden
This is how to sing a song , real emotion, stunning
ivh1968
Saw her this evening doing a one woman show in London: Absolutely brilliant, and we met her after the show. A fantastic singer. When she sang Tell me on a Sunday you could hear a pin drop.
rickytleg
You can't hear a pin drop - you can see it drop, and hear it hit the floor!
Steve lee
This lady had such a wonderful voice.