Tick Tock Goes the Clock

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Martin Johnson
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Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:41 am

Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Martin Johnson »

Reportedly Hal David's favorite song written for 'Promises, Promises', 'Tick Tock Goes the Clock' was dropped before the Broadway opening and was not heard in any revival of PP until a London Fringe production in 1996, a show I witnessed and loved, not least because of the inclusion of the song, a big production number as it turned out. Here's a demo of the song recorded in the summer of 1968, several months before the Boston try-outs when it was dropped from the score. It features Rose Marie Jun and Leslie Miller on vocals with Burt Bacharach on the piano and singing the brass parts, rather tunelessly as it turns out!

Last edited by Martin Johnson on Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Blair N. Cummings
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Blair N. Cummings »

I`ve always loved this! A fiendishly difficult song with mind-mashing metric changes, this should never have been cut from the score. "You`ve Got It All Wrong" should have been a keeper as well.
On the other hand, "What Am I Doing Here?" was a dud, brilliantly replaced by "Knowing When to Leave."
The out-take I`ve never heard is "Wouldn`t That Be a Stroke of Luck?", apparently unrecorded or lost.
Sara D
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Sara D »

I'd never heard the song until I saw the London fringe production and I instantly fell in love with it. The recording on the 'Lost in Boston' CD, sadly not on YouTube, is closer in spirit to how the song was performed in the show, with a big instrumental section in the middle, but this demo is utterly charming and it must have been soul destroying for Burt and Hal for the song to be thrown out of the show. Is it any wonder Bacharach steered away from writing Broadway musicals for decades after?
pljms
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Location: London

Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by pljms »

If BB wasn't proud of the song he should have been, but as we all know with him if a song isn't a hit and especially if it gets kicked out of a musical before the show opens he's going to quickly lose faith in the song and forget all about it. Forty-seven years later he'd probably be bemused by our interest in the song, assuming he remembers it of course!
Paul
DFELD
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by DFELD »

After years of searching, just found these two links to the 1968 Boston (pre-Broadway) production of this fantastic song.
Sung by Lisa Mayer, Judy Malloy, Debbie Pavelka.

http://beesongspk.info/sc/file/196240858.mp3

http://tubidys.me/dl/196240858/Tick%20T ... 0Clock.mp3

Listen & enjoy !!!
Blair N. Cummings
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:14 pm

Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Blair N. Cummings »

This is just great! Thank you!
(Note that I have removed the potentially offensive adjective).
Last edited by Blair N. Cummings on Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Martin Johnson
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Martin Johnson »

Thanks for posting the two links, DFELD. However, I have to inform you that the track was recorded for the 1994 album 'Lost in Boston', which featured new recordings by numerous performers of songs dropped from thirteen different hit Broadway shows. Sara referred to this track in an earlier post in this thread.
blueonblue
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by blueonblue »

DFELD wrote:After years of searching, just found these two links to the 1968 Boston (pre-Broadway) production of this fantastic song.
Sung by Lisa Mayer, Judy Malloy, Debbie Pavelka.

http://beesongspk.info/sc/file/196240858.mp3

http://tubidys.me/dl/196240858/Tick%20T ... 0Clock.mp3

Listen & enjoy !!!
I've never heard this version before........simply superb !

Many thanks for posting.

"blue"
Sara D
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Sara D »

Yes, fantastic to have this track on here. As Martin says, the recording was produced in 1994 by Bruce Kimmel and arranged by Alex Rybeck for the first Lost in Boston album involving the same company of performers, a CD I've owned since its release. This recording apparently influenced the producers in their decision to include the song in the 1996 London fringe production of Promises, Promises, a decision that would have delighted Hal David who was there at the opening night.
David_Noble
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by David_Noble »

Although the song was dropped from the show, a bit of it survived in the Overture.
pljms
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Location: London

Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by pljms »

Yes, great to have both existing recordings of this terrific number on this thread. I also have the Lost in Boston CD recorded in 1994 which features Lisa Mayer, Judy Malloy, Debbie Pavelka's exciting and wonderfully orchestrated version posted by DFELD. My guess is that these three ladies would have been toddlers in 1968 - they might not have even been born! Even if I wasn't aware of the recording's 90's source, I'd like to kid myself that it would have struck me pretty quickly on first hearing that this is so obviously NOT a 60s recording as it's just too clean and polished. In the 1968 Boston try-outs the number was sung by Promises, Promises cast members Donna McKechnie, Adrienne Angel and Barbara Lang (who apparently departed the show when her one important number was dropped). I doubt whether a recording by this trio was ever made because of the song's axeing from the show pre-Broadway.
Paul
Blair N. Cummings
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Blair N. Cummings »

I can`t believe that anyone involved deemed "Turkey-Lurkey Time" superior to this. Yet, the intricacies would have been major potential stumbling blocks every night. This song is just plain difficult to pull off and I`d bet it was yanked for that reason. Its replacement was a forgettable novelty number but a hell of a lot easier to get through.
Martin Johnson
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Martin Johnson »

The three times I saw the London Fringe production in 1996, Blair, the three actresses involved got through the song without any hitches. They also had a complex dance routine during the song's instrumental break to contend with. This song is BB at his most musically adventurous and this is why we love it. Because it was dropped from the show and has never been a hit, the chances are that BB has forgotten all about it.
Alex.Rybeck
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Alex.Rybeck »

Alex Rybeck here. Wanted to comment on (and clarify) a few things!
When Bruce Kimmel mentioned his concept to do a series of albums of songs cut from Broadway shows (the "Lost in Boston" albums that he produced for Varese Sarabande), it led to a discussion of PROMISES, PROMISES because Bruce and I are huge, lifelong fans of Burt's music. I happened to have a rare songbook of Bacharach songs (published in London in the early 70s) that contained 6 cut songs from P/P. We both agreed that the two most worthy of recording were TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK and WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
At the time we were unaware of any existing recordings of these tunes.
(The demos of Burt w Marie Jun & Co. hadn't been released yet; a recordin by Eydie Gormé of WHAT AM I DOING HERE? was sent to me around the time my recording with Liz Callaway came out).
Re TICK TOCK:
The version I had in that songbook was exactly as it's sung on the Burt demo: three choruses back to back.
There is no instrumental section.
But knowing that this song was the original Act One Finale, and knowing that its replacement (TURKEY LURKEY TIME) was a huge production number, Burt asked me to compose a big "dance finish" that would conjure images of Donna McKechnie and company going wild.
So everything on that recording after those 3 back-to-back choruses is my invention, cobbled from the song and the show's Overture. (That's one of the things I wanted to clarify, since a person commented above that TICK TOCK is in the Overture. Nope! I simply borrowed that wonderful passage from the Overture in order to build this imaginary dance routine and link it intrinsically to the score).
The big chorale ending is my invention. The fade is a nod to the Bacharach style.
To this day I have no idea how the song was actually arranged and performed in Boston.
Meanwhile, I am very curious to discover (from the comments above) that there was a London Fringe production that incorporated the song - and REALLY curious about the reference to the "instrumental" in that production.
Since my arrangement isn't published, I am guessing someone transcribed my dance music from the Varese recording.
If so, it's both flattering and disturbing; would have been nice (not to mention ethical) for someone to have asked permission and compensated me! IF in fact it was my arrangement that was used.
Wonder if a recording of that production is floating around?
If so, would be very curious to hear it!
Lastly - re the comment about YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG: this wasn't a song cut out in Boston.
The song was written decades after the original production for a staged concert version (The Encores! Series at City Center), starring Kerry O'Malley as Fran and Jenifer Lewis as Sheldrake's secretary, Miss Olsen.
Alex.Rybeck
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Re: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Post by Alex.Rybeck »

PS:
Just remembered one other factoid:
Re my comment that I have no idea how the song was done in Boston, that's not completely true: I approached orchestrator Jonathan Tunick when I first began working on the arrangement for Varese.
What he gave me was the same routine in that songbook; three choruses, back to back.
I don't think there was even a key change,let alone any kind of instrumental dance break.
(Other than those 4 jagged bars between choruses that Burt sings on the demo).
The Tunick sketch provided surprisingly little to draw on.
He had merely indicated the percussion instruments needed (!), and there were some vocal harmonies provided.
It's been a while since I looked at his sketch (basically some notations on the piano-vocal rehearsal copy), but I'm pretty sure that's all there was. I wrote most of the string lines and horn lines on the Varsèse recording; I think Larry Moore wrote the drum part and may have contributed a few other touches.
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