The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Webb has just commented on the album on his Twitter page. The line, "These rock star composers are the Gershwins of our time", might raise the odd eyebrow or two!

https://mobile.twitter.com/realjimmyweb ... gr%5Etweet

Doris Day was a uniquely talented lady, a great singer and a terrific actress with a tremendous flair for comedy. Every time I hear 'Send Me No Flowers' I wonder how such an attractive song could completely fail to be a hit and, even more puzzlingly, why it remains little known to this day. It's a ...

Lyrically it sounds like a woman's song to a man which suggests it was written for the Painted From Memory musical. The credits reveal that musically it's a co-composition and my guess is that Elvis Costello was responsible for the bridge and Bacharach the rest of the song.

I saw Yuja Wang at the BBC Proms last year and she seemed to revel in having the audience literally a few feet away. She can play the lighter repertoire very convincingly but seems to come in to her own with the more percussive and technically demanding pieces, Prokofiev being an obvious favourite c...

I've seen and heard enough of her on YouTube and on TV to know that she's worth a visit to the 'frozen north'.

I remember back in the early 70s my dad had an album by Les Reed featuring him as arranger, conductor and pianist in instrumental versions of his hit songs. Alongside the hits were a few upbeat and insanely catchy tunes that got used as themes on radio and TV. Listening to this again now after more ...

Re the piano covers album, I've seen the track list and it seems that all his songwriting heroes are represented except Bacharach. So we have The Long And Winding Road, God Only Knows, Old Friends, A Case Of You, All In Love Is Fair, Moonlight Mile (Jagger & Richards), Accidentally Like A Martyr...

With his adopted name I suppose it's obvious that Elvis Costello must be a fan of "The King of Rock and Roll". However, with Bacharach's involvement I can't imagine for one moment that their song will bear much resemblance to this rockabilly classic on the same subject of "playing hou...

I had the Filth And Dreams album but somehow lost it in a house move a few years ago and to get it again it looks like I'll have to pay the earth. Just about the only song from the album to establish any kind of foothold in their live shows is 'Who's Been Sleeping' which has a very Bacharachesque c...

Not many pop idols end up being considered an avant-garde composer and to go from 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' to this must have been some journey through the long dark night of the soul:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3XhBhAdbu3I

I was back on my old stomping ground in Tokyo last week and as always when I stay there I heard Swing Out Sister played on the local radio stations. It was particularly gratifying to hear the Jobim influenced 'Closer Than The Sun' from 'Filth And Dreams' because this remains the only album of theirs...

The 12 minutes of the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special from 1971 that helped turn Andre Previn into a household name in the UK. How good is he in this sketch? Now our American colleagues on the forum can see what passed for humour, or should that be humor, in the UK circa 1971: https://m.youtube...

Having mentioned Morecambe and Wise, could someone please find Burt's appearance on their show... "Mr Backache". Bacharach never actually made an appearance on the Morecambe and Wise show and the reference to "Burt Backache" in one of their shows was in a sketch with Shirley Bas...

When you consider how successful and multifaceted Andre Previn's career was it's a shame that here in the UK he's probably best remembered for his appearance in a sketch on a Morecambe and Wise TV Christmas special from 1971, during which he was referred to as "Andrew Preview", a moniker t...

Another demo from 1966. Listening to 'Enough Of You' it just makes me wish that she'd recorded a fully realised studio version for her first album:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=szGLGRpm_gw