Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Shady Eurodance Past
Published on Saturday 29th May, 12.00pm, Written by Mike Shaw
Your secret is out, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Or should I say... DOCTOR SPIN!
You may know this, you may not, but Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn’t always been all about the musicals.
When he’s not finding cast members for Oliver, Joseph or The Wizard of Oz, ALW has other interests. One of his little-known pastimes is gaming – he loves it.
The Lord was the original choice to play King Koopa opposite Bob Hoskins in The Super Mario Bros movie, there’s a secret character in Metal Gear Solid based on the musical genius, and I’ve heard that he’s completed the internet twice… on hard.
Alright, so some of that stuff isn’t true, but what is true is that in 1992, Lloyd Webber – in association with record producer Nigel Wright – decided to pay tribute to the classic game Tetris by producing a Eurodance version of its theme tune.
Of course, he couldn’t do this under his own name, lest the musical theatre community abandon him, so he invented a clever pseudonym: Doctor Spin.
Behold the glory of Doctor Spin’s 1992 hit Tetris, which reached number six in the UK singles chart.
Isn’t it wonderful?
That’s from the same man who wrote With One Look and The Music of the Night.
Unfortunately, this is where ALW’s foray into videogame-inspired cheesy dance music ended… although legend tells of a bootleg tape containing a handful of songs for a musical about Wii Sports.
