Charice debuts in David Foster tribute CD

No shrine to the greatness of David Foster exists. But if there is, you can bet your last buck that producers and arrangers and maybe even songwriters would be visiting from all over the world. In a devout pilgrimage frame of mind they would be hopeful that the Hitman would bless them with his gold or platinum powers so that they can also make big hits like he does.

There is no way that can happen, as yet. Foster is acknowledged as the most successful pop music producer and arranger of our times and the rest, though no less talented are merely also-runs. As his biography, the aptly titled Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts and Winning Grammys, clearly shows, you can name a big music star from the past four decades and there will surely be, behind them, a hit or more created in some way by Foster.

I am limiting this list to one song per artist because I might need this whole page or more if I put down everything. Barbra Streisand, Somewhere; Chicago, Hard to Say I’m Sorry; Whitney Houston, I’ll Always Love You; Celine Dion, The Power of Love; Andrea Bocelli, The Prayer; Earth Wind & Fire, After the Love is Gone; Josh Groban, You Raise Me Up; Peter Cetera, The Glory Of Love; Natalie Cole, Unforgettable; Michael Bublé, Home; Toni Braxton, Unbreak My Heart; Skylark, Wildflower; Madonna, You’ll See; Air Supply, Goodbye; The Corrs, Runaway; James Ingram, Whatever We Imagine; Chaka Khan, Through the Fire; Michael Bolton, To Love Somebody; Color Me Badd, Closer to Heaven; All-4-One, I Swear; etc. 

He has also produced soundtracks, Dream Girls from Broadway, The Bodyguard, Footloose and others from Hollywood. He has discovered and launched the careers of major new talents, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, The Corrs, All-4-One and others. He has sung, Best of Me with Olivia Newton-John, appeared in a reality series, Princes of Malibu and given the ‘80s generation its most heart-tugging soundtrack with his score for St. Elmo’s Fire.

The goosebumps-inducing Love Theme from that iconic film with Kenny G on the sax sets the mood for You’re The Inspiration, The Music of David Foster & Friends. The two-disc set, one audio and one video, covers a one-night only concert held last May at the Mandalay in Las Vegas, where Foster played host and pianist to some of his favorite artists as they performed the hits he made for them.

It is an impressive cast. Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Babyface, Josh Groban, Brian McKnight, Michael Bublé, Katharine McPhee, Rene Olstead, Boz Scaggs, Eric Benet, Peter Cetera and prepare for more goosebumps, Charice. She is tiny and she is all of 15 years old but she is the one to whom Foster entrusted two of his most memorable works, I Have Nothing and I’ll Always Love You. These songs were performed by Whitney Houston in his award-winning and very big selling soundtrack for The Bodyguard. Foster gave her a worthy heir. Charice is incredible. 

Not a note or nuance missed. She sounds like she means every word. I know, finding a Filipino talent in such company is nothing new anymore. Lea Salonga and Arnel Pineda have already paved the way. But Charice is very special. Aside from her youth, she is a product of a local talent show on television, who got noticed on YouTube. Her success signals the arrival of a new generation and ours is a large talented one from which Foster and maybe other producers should be able to find others to perform their works.

It has been often said that Foster makes hits because he inspires talents to do their best. That maybe true, but as David Foster and Friends clearly shows, his strength as a musician lies in his ability to go for the heartstrings. He finds a particularly moving passage in a song and you can be sure he will milk it for all the drama he can wring out. His style has been described as yucky and corny and old-fashioned, etc. but it really works.

Times keep changing and trends come and go but the sound of flowing piano keys, or the rising plaint of a violin and that of a beautiful voice soaring in ecstasy will always touch the heart. That is the music that David Foster makes.