#29: Memory by Menage

City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: October 1983
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Memory”
Lyrics: “Memory”

Menage was a disco project by Warren Schatz and Eric Matthew focused on disco adaptations of Broadway show tunes. Schatz was born in Brooklyn in 1945. He recorded an album in 1971. He went on to variously write, arrange or produce songs for Frankie Valli, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Vicki Sue Robinson, Donny Osmond, Dolly Parton and others. His most notable effort was with Vicki Sue Robinson’s “Top Ten Hit Turn The Beat Around” in 1976. He also was the executive producer for Evelyn “Champagne” King’s Top Ten 1977 hit “Shame”.

Warren Schatz

Eric Matthew was born in 1953 in Queens, New York, with the given name Joseph “Joe” Tucci. In the late 70s was a member of Gary’s Gang. They had a number-one Dance Club Song in the USA in 1978 titled “Keep On Dancin'”. The single peaked at #8 in the UK and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Eric Matthew

Matthew formed Radar Records in 1982. He worked with a number of disco recording artists including Sharon Redd. In 1981 he produced Tracy Weber’s #3 dance hit “Sure Shot”. In 1982, he co-wrote and produced the number-one dance hit “Thanks To You” by Sinnamon.

“Memory” is a show tune from the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn. Webber was born in 1948 in London, England. He began writing music at the age of nine. In 1966, Webber collaborated with Tim Rice to present the musical The Likes of Us (which was not performed in public until 2005). In 1968 Webber and Rice composed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which was first performed in 1972. A 1982 Broadway production earned Webber and Rice Tony Award nominations. In 1970, the pair composed Jesus Chris Superstar and earned Webber and Rice Best Original Score Tony Award nominations in 1972. They lost out to Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. The following year they received their first Academy Award nomination in the for Jesus Christ Superstar, but lost out to Marvin Hamlisch’s The Sting. Webber also received a Grammy nominations in both 1972 and 1973 in the Album of the Year category for Jesus Christ Superstar. 

In 1976, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice composed Evita, based on the life of Argentina’s political figure Eva Perón. In 1981, Evita won a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. In 1996, the movie version of Evita earned Webber and Rice an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “You Must Love Me”. In 1980, they later shared a Tony Award for Best Original Score in the Broadway production. The production won seven Tony Awards and was nominated for four more. In 1981, Andrew Lloyd Webber launched his seventh musical production Cats.

In 1982, Webber collaborated for the musical Song and Dance which earned him a Tony Award Best Original Score nomination in 1986. In 1987, Andrew Lloyd Webber received a Tony Award nomination in the Best Original Score category for Starlight Express (which was published in 1984).

In 1986, Webber and Rice composed a musical short titled Cricket which was commissioned for the 60th birthday celebration of Queen Elizabeth II. It was performed at Windsor Castle. That year, Webber collaborated with Charles Hunt and Richard Stilgoe on a musical version of The Phantom of the Opera. In 1988, it won the composers a Best Original Score Tony Award, along with six other wins, and three more Tony Award nominations. In 1989, Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborated on the musical Aspects of Love, which earned him another Best Original Score Tony Award nomination in 1990.

Across his career, Andrew Lloyd Webber has received 23 nominations across Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Grammy Award, Lawrence Olivier Award, and Tony Award nominations (and more).

Trevor Nunn was born in 1940 in Ipswich, England. After studying drama, in 1964, Nunn joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and in 1968 he was appointed its artistic director, a position he held until 1986. His credits as director include MacBeth, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Les Misérables, All’s Well That Ends Well, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Fiddler on the Roof, King Lear, The Tempest and Oklahoma! Nunn has been nominated twelve times to receive a Lawrence Olivier Award, and won it on four occasions. He has been nominated nine times to receive a Tony Award, and has been the winner on three occasions. In September 1997, he became the Royal National Theatre’s artistic director, a position he retained until 2003.

In the musical Cats, former glamour cat Grizabella enters the stage once again and the cats still recoil from her. She is now a mangy and decrepit old cat. She is now all alone and left with only the memories of her happier days. Despairing, she sings “Memory” which highlights her desperation to rejoin the Jellicle tribe of cast and have love and warmth in her life again.

In the lyrics to “Memory”, Grizabella notices a) withered leaves collect at her feet, b) the wind beginning to moan, c) burnt out ends of smoky days, and d) the stale cold smell of morning. Recalling her youth, she sings “Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then. I remember the time I knew what happiness was. Let the memory live again.” Anyone who has felt a longing for the days of their youth, or felt passed over as they age can resonate with “Memory”.

In the Menage recording of “Memory”, Warren Schatz and Eric Matthews receive credits on the record label as mixers. Schatz is identified as producer, arranger and engineer. However, the woman singing her heart out didn’t receive a credit. Though the song has been posted on YouTube.com, people leaving comments ask “who is this lady?” If anyone knows, leave a comment below this post.

“Memory” peaked at #2 in Montreal, and #6 in Boston.

In 1984, Cats earned Webber and Rice a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. Menage recorded a few more singles. After that Schatz and Matthew moved on to other recording projects.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Wikipedia notes that “In 1999 Warren (Schatz) went to work at TVT, TommyBoy and Urban Box Office as head of manufacturing and distribution. Moving into video in 2007, he started creating video content and marketing support for “Big Data” companies Opera Solutions, MIT and Connotate. He is currently Executive VP at Penalty Entertainment, the classic Hip-Hop label relaunched by his friend Neil Levine.”

In 1999 Eric Matthew co-wrote “Turn Around” which was a number-one dance hit in the UK for Phats & Small. The single also peaked at #2 on the pop charts in Belgium, and the UK, and the Top Ten in France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Both Schatz and Matthew remain connected with the music industry.

June 11, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Adam Rathe, “Andrew Lloyd Webber on Writing in Taxis, Failure, and the Reason He Doesn’t Have a Cell Phone,” Town and Country Magazine, February 21, 2018.
“Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice to reunite for new show Sherlock Holmes And The Twelve Days Of Christmas,” West End Theatre, March 28, 2024.
Marshall Phillips, “Plain and Fancy: Warren Schatz…,” January 3, 2024.
“Eric Matthew,” Wikipedia.org.
Nick Clark, “Sir Trevor Nunn interview: ‘I want to stage every Shakespeare play before I retire’,” The Independent, February 2, 2014.

CKGM 980-AM Montreal Top Ten | October 26, 1983