Bacharach UK Sony project

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Andrew
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Location: Liverpool UK

Bacharach UK Sony project

Post by Andrew »

:?:
Anyone have any further info on the rumoured Sony UK project?

Thanks,
Andrew.
mark
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Post by mark »

I don't have any new information, but I remember talking to Rob Shrock, Burt's keyboardist and musical director, back in May. Rob said he was excited about the prospect of working with Burt on a new, original record with the band. Burt has been writing all along, Rob said, but simply hasn't had the time or opportunity to focus on recording new material.

More often than not, it seems to me, Burt writes with some notion of commercial appeal in mind. In interviews at least, he tends to equate the quality of a composition with its success on the charts.

With this project, I think Burt is finally conceding that his style of songwriting is not likely to top the charts again. Free of the imperative to produce hits, Burt is liberated to stretch himself and write songs inspired solely by his muse. I think that's the idea behind this project--to let Burt make an art record, so to speak.

It will be interesting to see how much it differs from Painted From Memory and whether it's closer in spirit to PFM or Woman and Futures.
warbachavid
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Post by warbachavid »

No matter what he says, no record company is going to release a record that does'nt have "hit" appeal,especially a major record company like that.
Burt knows this, that's why he always talks about chart success, it's the nature of the business. Should be interesting to hear it.
An Enormous BB Fan
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Post by An Enormous BB Fan »

..."With this project, I think Burt is finally conceding that his style of songwriting is not likely to top the charts again."

I think Burt is wrong to think this. I mean, how could the greatest and most gifted songwriter of all time think that his "style" is not likely to produce hits? While Burt has a style, it's not as easily defined as, say, Gershwin, Porter or Rodgers. And here's the proof that Burt is wrong: If his style isn't likely to produce hits, then why are some of his older songs, when re-recorded, becoming hits? Doesn't that prove that Burt's "style" will never get old? I'll tell you this: I KNOW Burt can write hit songs even now.

Didn't Will Young recently have a very big hit in England with a new Burt Bacharach song?
mark
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Post by mark »

warbachdavid,

I'm not saying a "progressive" Bacharach record would have no commercial appeal at all, but I think record labels can cut certain performers more slack than others. There are certainly lots of jazz artists who sell fewer records than OutKast, yet they're still considered successful and they still make money for the label. Likewise, if somebody high enough at Sony is a Bacharach fan, he or she can make a record happen regardless. They might not be able to get away with losing money on a series of CDs, but they can certainly get away with losing money on one record.

An Enormous BB Fan,

It was just my guess about Burt conceding that his style of songwriting is not likely to top the charts. Burt may be of an entirely different opinion.

This reflects my own bias. I've never equated popular success with quality, and in fact I think most contemporary pop music is awful (an exception is "HeyYa," which might be the best pop song I've heard in 10 years).

I agree that Burt is up there with Geshwin and Porter and Rodgers in terms of composing songs that have become standards, but re-recordings of standards capitalize on the cultural meanings of the originals. It's much harder to break a new composition that people aren't already predisposed to like. It would be fantastic to see a new Burt song top the charts, but I'm also interested in seeing the result of Burt being given free reign to write with absolutely no regard to being commercial. Maybe this is the way he always writes, but his comment in the Onion interview leads me to believe that this would be a new thing for him, and new things are cool.
Andrew
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Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:36 am
Location: Liverpool UK

New project

Post by Andrew »

Whatever Burt comes out with - I'm sure it will suprise and delight us all!
Personally, I do hope he doesn't attempt to write just for chart success, as it's often his lesser known pieces that I find inspiring.

Just for the record, Will Young didn't have a hit at all with the track Burt wrote for him. It was an album track and never released as a single. :)
Guest

Re: New project

Post by Guest »

Andrew wrote:
Just for the record, Will Young didn't have a hit at all with the track Burt wrote for him. It was an album track and never released as a single. :)
Thanks Mark.

Andrew, that's interesting. I was in a cafe and they were playing music (from the radio) and that BB Will Young song came on. That's why I figured it was a single and a hit.
An Enormous BB Fan
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Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:14 pm

Re: New project

Post by An Enormous BB Fan »

Anonymous wrote:
Andrew wrote:
Just for the record, Will Young didn't have a hit at all with the track Burt wrote for him. It was an album track and never released as a single. :)
Thanks Mark.

Andrew, that's interesting. I was in a cafe and they were playing music (from the radio) and that BB Will Young song came on. That's why I figured it was a single and a hit.
Oops, I posted the above... forgot to log in first.
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