The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Dear blueonblue, thank you for that clip. That Paddy McAloon is quite a talent, how about a change of pace, a toe-tapping, barn burner, "Cowboy Dreams":



(Sorry, but I could go on and on with Prefab Sprout clips!)

Thank you again grooverider.

The Sorcerer and his Apprentice.....




"blue"

Talking of J. Webb, it was terrific to hear Thelma Houston's 'Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon' on BBC Radio 2's 'Sounds of the 60s' this morning. An extraordinary performance of an extraordinary song and an instant 'standard' without ever becoming a chart hit:

Yes, it was the best thing played on the show, Martin. I remember for about a year after Thelma Houston's recording in '69 it seemed that just about every guest singer on a BBC TV show sang it, and here's Dusty Springfield performing the song in 1970 on Englebert Humperdinck's show:

Finally!

Bye
Bob

Why "Finally!"?
Was this mess cut from the movie before (or after) its release?
To me it just looks like proof that:
A. Olivia Hussey couldn`t dance any better than she could sing
B. Someone tried to sneak some soft-core homo-erotica into the thing.
Since I don`t care about either, I understand if the editor`s ax fell on this sequence.

I don't think anything could have stopped Burt from composing music except this movie. An unstoppable force finally met an immovable object!

The Divine Comedy .....


"blue"

Dionne Warwick on French TV circa '67. I've not heard this for a while so it sounded very fresh on this morning's 'Sounds of the 60s':

I wonder how many viewings of this it will take me to realize that we can't turn the clock back so that Dionne, Burt and Hal can start their careers all over again? (Well, at least we have old videotapes to remind us of what we once had.)

I`ve always been ambivalent regarding jazz interpretations of Burt; but I`ve never been ambivalent about Carmen McRae. I don`t particularly like vocal music in either classical or jazz, but (along with Ella`s "Songbook" recordings, of course), she made some of the really enduring albums - particularly later in life. She is, fortunately, well-represented by concert videos on YouTube so if she`s new to you, check them out.
Meanwhile, here`s a spare "Close to You":

Blair N. Cummings wrote:I`ve always been ambivalent regarding jazz interpretations of Burt; but I`ve never been ambivalent about Carmen McRae. I don`t particularly like vocal music in either classical or jazz, but (along with Ella`s "Songbook" recordings, of course), she made some of the really enduring albums - particularly later in life. She is, fortunately, well-represented by concert videos on YouTube so if she`s new to you, check them out.
Meanwhile, here`s a spare "Close to You":

This is definitely a certain style of singing. And people like it and I can appreciate it, honestly I can. But, for me, after listening to this for a minute, I just want to open the window and jump out.

I suppose most of us have had well-meaning friends knowing of our love of Bacharach’s music play us tracks that they consider Burt-like which to our ears sound only vaguely like him at best or nothing like him at all. A couple of days ago I was in a friend’s car and she put on this CD track saying, “This will be right up your street, you being a Bacharach fanatic.” Maybe it was because it was a beautiful sunny day on the English south coast and we were in an open-top car that made it sound so irresistible:

I love Koop. What's even more amazing is that their music consists entirely of samples. It boggles the mind.

Yes Mark, all samples bar the vocals! Until last week I'd never heard of Koop and now I look forward to discovering more of their music.