Biography
John Forster channels the comedic insight and clever wordplay that defined Tom Lehrer and Shel Silverstein during the 1960s across his own catalog of compositions. Beyond issuing the three comic, folk-leaning solo projects Entering Marion, Helium and The Official Bootleg Album, he has also served as producer and primary songwriter on multiple award-winning children’s recordings by Tom Chapin, Rosenschantz and the Olsen Twins, while placing additional material on Broadway stages as well as in off-Broadway musicals and revues.
Forster first began composing during his undergraduate years at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he completed a music degree. There he established the long-running campus revue The Proposition and supplied several original musicals to the Hasty Pudding Theater.
His enduring partnership with Tom Chapin commenced in 1988 when he produced and wrote the bulk of the Family Circle award-winning album Family Tree. Subsequent Chapin projects that benefited from Forster’s production and songwriting include Moonboat (1989), Mother Earth (1990), Billy the Squid (1992), Zag Zig (1994) and In My Home Town (1998). Although he did not produce Around the World and Back Again, Forster contributed several songs to that 1996 release. His work with the Olsen Twins started with Brother For Sale in 1992 and continued through I Am the Cute One (1993) and Give Us a Mystery (1994). Forster likewise produced and wrote material for Rosenschantz’s Family Vacation (1989) and Uh-Oh (1990) as well as Bill Schantz’s solo album Animal Tales (1991).
His lyrics appeared in the 1986 Broadway production Into the Light; his songs were also featured in the off-Broadway presentations Upstairs at O’Neals and Pretzels and in the Goodspeed Opera Company staging of The Dream Team. In addition, Forster supplied songs for five Theaterworks U.S.A. musicals—T Teddy Roosevelt, First Lady, Right in Your Own Backyard, Freaky Friday and How to Eat Like a Child.
As a recording artist he issued Entering Marion, honored with a mention from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors in 1994, followed by Helium in 1997. The Official Bootleg Album, issued on his own Limousine label in 1998, collected previously unreleased satirical numbers.
Forster first began composing during his undergraduate years at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he completed a music degree. There he established the long-running campus revue The Proposition and supplied several original musicals to the Hasty Pudding Theater.
His enduring partnership with Tom Chapin commenced in 1988 when he produced and wrote the bulk of the Family Circle award-winning album Family Tree. Subsequent Chapin projects that benefited from Forster’s production and songwriting include Moonboat (1989), Mother Earth (1990), Billy the Squid (1992), Zag Zig (1994) and In My Home Town (1998). Although he did not produce Around the World and Back Again, Forster contributed several songs to that 1996 release. His work with the Olsen Twins started with Brother For Sale in 1992 and continued through I Am the Cute One (1993) and Give Us a Mystery (1994). Forster likewise produced and wrote material for Rosenschantz’s Family Vacation (1989) and Uh-Oh (1990) as well as Bill Schantz’s solo album Animal Tales (1991).
His lyrics appeared in the 1986 Broadway production Into the Light; his songs were also featured in the off-Broadway presentations Upstairs at O’Neals and Pretzels and in the Goodspeed Opera Company staging of The Dream Team. In addition, Forster supplied songs for five Theaterworks U.S.A. musicals—T Teddy Roosevelt, First Lady, Right in Your Own Backyard, Freaky Friday and How to Eat Like a Child.
As a recording artist he issued Entering Marion, honored with a mention from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors in 1994, followed by Helium in 1997. The Official Bootleg Album, issued on his own Limousine label in 1998, collected previously unreleased satirical numbers.
Albums
