"Whatever You Believe" is a song by the British singer-songwriter Mike Batt, which was originally recorded and released as a collaboration charity single featuring Batt with

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

and

Steve Harley Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice; 27 February 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes. Ea ...

of Cockney Rebel. Released in 1988, the single tied-in with that year's

ITV Telethon The ITV Telethons were three charity telethons organised and televised in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. They took place in 1988, 1990 and 1992. Each lasted for 27 hours and all were hosted by Michael Aspel. The final telethon in July 1 ...

. The song was written and produced by Batt.

Background

Batt had written the song as the "Heineken/LBC Big Song". The song was performed during a live TV broadcast at Battersea Park in London on 3 May 1988, as part of the Thames/LWT charity fundraising effort for the ITV Telethon. Arranged and conducted by Batt, the song's performance saw him accompanied by Anderson and Harley on lead vocals, and backed by the

Central Band of the Royal Air Force The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is an RAF regular band and is part of Royal Air Force Music Services. The motto of the band is ''Aere Invicti'' (Latin for "Invincible with the Brass"). History The Central Band of the RAF was formed in ...

and the London-based

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

. Furthermore, over 2,000 members of the general public contributed to the performance as a choir. Each person paid a donation to receive a copy of the song's sheet music to take part. The Central Band of the Royal Air Force appeared courtesy of Wing Commander Eric Banks. After this performance, Anderson, Harley and Batt would also record a studio version of the song. Later released as a single in November 1988, it failed to make a chart appearance in the UK.

Release

"Whatever You Believe" was released by Epic Records on 7" and 12" vinyl in the UK only. For the 7" vinyl release, the studio version of "Whatever You Believe" was the A-side and the ITV Telethon live version the B-side. The 12" vinyl release included a third track; the traditional "Deep is My Yearning (Morning Has Broken)", performed by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. It was arranged and conducted by Eric Banks, and produced by Batt.

Critical reception

Paul Massey of ''

Aberdeen Evening Express The ''Evening Express'' is a daily local newspaper serving the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History It was first published in November 1879. It was a tabloid during the 1930s to the 1950s until it resumed as a broadsheet in November 1958, six da ...

'' wrote, "Jon, Steve and the man who gave us The Wombles get together for a tear-jerking ITV Telethon ballad. At least it's for a good cause." Mick Mercer of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' commented, "I was begged to review this, what with it being a charity single, so I am. Being fairly charitable myself at this time of year I would suggest it is nauseatingly pappy, unattractive crap."

Track listing

;7" Single #"Whatever You Believe (Studio Version)" - 5:10 #"Whatever You Believe (Live Version)" - 6:03 ;12" Single #"Whatever You Believe (Studio Version)" - 5:10 #"Whatever You Believe (Live Version)" - 6:03 #"Deep is My Yearning (Morning Has Broken)" - 2:46

Personnel

- vocals *

- vocals * Mike Batt - producer (all tracks), arranger, conductor on "Whatever You Believe" * The Central Band of the Royal Air Force - featured performers * The Royal Choral Society - featured performers ;Additional personnel * Dick Lewsey - engineer on studio version of "Whatever You Believe" * Gavin Greenaway - sound supervisor on live version of "Whatever You Believe" * Steve Murrell - engineer on live version of "Whatever You Believe" * Tom Hunter (LBC) - event co-ordinator *

Michael Heyland Michael Heyland is an actor and retired director, and an arts and events consultant in England. He was Director of Productions of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1969 to 1978. Later, he was an arts and events consultant for many organization ...

(Cancer Research) - event co-ordinator * Eric Banks - arranger, conductor on "Deep is My Yearning" * Neil Ashton - photography * Tomcat - artwork

Other versions

* In 1991, Batt featured the song in his West End musical '' The Hunting of the Snark''. * In 1992, Irish singer

Finbar Wright Edward Finbar Wright (born 26 September 1957), known popularly as Finbar Wright, is a popular music singer, songwriter, and poet from County Cork, Ireland. Wright is a classically trained tenor who emerged during the 1990s in Ireland and has be ...

recorded his own version of "Whatever You Believe" for his solo album of the same name. Batt produced, arranged and conducted the album, which reached No. 1 in Ireland. The title track has become a Christmas classic in the country. * In 2014, Bob Blakeley released his own version of the song on his album ''Performance''. Having signed to Batt's record label, Dramatico Entertainment, Blakeley's cover was also produced by Batt.

References

{{Steve Harley 1988 singles Epic Records singles Songs written by Mike Batt Steve Harley songs 1988 songs Charity singles