https://apnews.com/article/burt-bacharach-dead-at-94-c1526b7c1b9b4389b17a3e657676b391

I remember being pretty surprised to find that he wrote certain songs, such as "Baby, It's You."

(I sensed that the Beatles didn't write that one, but I didn't know who did.. The Beatles' cover was the only cover of that song that I ever heard.)

And I NEVER would have guessed he wrote "Always Something There to Remind Me," since I didn't hear that until 1983, when it was famously arranged, 80s-style, by Naked Eyes!

Same for "This Guy's In Love With You," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Close to You," "Arthur's Theme," and at least four songs sung by Dionne Warwick.

I came across the three-CD album "The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection."

It's in chronological order, more or less. The third CD has about seven songs that I love.

But I have to say that the first two CDs are pretty forgettable, regardless of who the singers are. Who says "it's the singer, not the song?" Not I!

One of the first songs is "The Blob," written for the classic 1958 movie.

But I think THIS song would have been more suitable, had it only existed 13 years earlier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezxvT3astFM&t=27s
(1:35 minutes)

And this is pretty funny, if not exactly complimentary:

https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/sunday-september-9-1979/
It's the 1979 debut of the classic Canadian comic strip by Lynn Johnston: "For Better or For Worse."

What's odd is that THIS says the strip came out earlier, in August of 1979!

https://www.fborfw.com/news/tag/first-strip/

It includes a Jack Jones performance of the song.

Also, the notes say "Lynn recalls that she liked this song…until the day she listened to the lyrics."

On Thu, 9 Feb 2023 10:00:28 -0800 (PST), Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> I remember being pretty surprised to find that he wrote certain songs, such as "Baby, It's You."
>
>(I sensed that the Beatles didn't write that one, but I didn't know who did. The Beatles' cover was the only cover of that song that I ever heard.)
>
>And I NEVER would have guessed he wrote "Always Something There to Remind Me," since I didn't hear that until 1983, when it was famously arranged, 80s-style, by Naked Eyes!
>
>Same for "This Guy's In Love With You," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Close to You," "Arthur's Theme," and at least four songs sung by Dionne Warwick.

I would say "This Guy's In Love With You," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on
My Head," and "Close to You" are the epitome of Bacharach. It's hard
for me to imagine *anyone else* writing them.

I agree about "Always Something There to Remind Me." The first time I
heard Warwick's rendition, I thought it sounded weird and off. I guess
that's a compliment to the 80's interpretation.

My favorite song of his is "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Another
personal favorite, which falls into the category of "I wouldn't have
guessed he wrote that," is "One Less Bell to Answer," made famous by
the Fifth Dimension.

One less bell to answer
One less egg to fry
One less man to pick up after
I should be happy
But all I do is cry (cry, cry, no more laughter)
I should be happy (oh, why did he go)

I presume David wrote these sad lyrics, but Bacharach's tune is just
as melancholy. It's definitely not their usual style, but it's well
done nevertheless.

David Carson

David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 9 Feb 2023 10:00:28 -0800 (PST), Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>. . .

>>Same for "This Guy's In Love With You," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Close to You," "Arthur's Theme," and at least four songs sung by Dionne Warwick.

I love Dionne. Singing the Alfie theme song in concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFNXnd0cPb8

>I would say "This Guy's In Love With You,"

From a Herb Alpert tv special (what's the point of Alpert singing?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ByJ1C0iR4

>"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on >My Head,"

With movie clips; I just read that B.J. Thomas was recovering from
laryngitis and that Bacharach wasn't satisfied till the 7th attempt, but
his voice is a little weak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyA2f6hGW4

>and "Close to You" are the epitome of Bacharach. It's hard
>for me to imagine *anyone else* writing them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6s3nuw1-s0

>I agree about "Always Something There to Remind Me." The first time I
>heard Warwick's rendition, I thought it sounded weird and off. I guess
>that's a compliment to the 80's interpretation.

>My favorite song of his is "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Another
>personal favorite, which falls into the category of "I wouldn't have
>guessed he wrote that," is "One Less Bell to Answer," made famous by
>the Fifth Dimension.

Marilyn McCoo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2YOL8wdBA

They were guests on an episode of It Takes a Thief for no particular
reason and instantly did a perfect rendition of the song in studio for a
recording, but I suppose with just a little bit of warmup and some sound
checks we didn't get off camera, the magic is almost instantly created.

I'm not spotting that clip, but it's on YouTube.

>One less bell to answer
>One less egg to fry
>One less man to pick up after
>I should be happy
>But all I do is cry (cry, cry, no more laughter)
>I should be happy (oh, why did he go)

>I presume David wrote these sad lyrics, but Bacharach's tune is just
>as melancholy. It's definitely not their usual style, but it's well
>done nevertheless.

On Thu, 9 Feb 2023 19:28:28 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
>>My favorite song of his is "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Another
>>personal favorite, which falls into the category of "I wouldn't have
>>guessed he wrote that," is "One Less Bell to Answer," made famous by
>>the Fifth Dimension.
>
>Marilyn McCoo!
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2YOL8wdBA
>
>They were guests on an episode of It Takes a Thief for no particular
>reason and instantly did a perfect rendition of the song in studio for a
>recording, but I suppose with just a little bit of warmup and some sound
>checks we didn't get off camera, the magic is almost instantly created.

They performed "Puppet Man" by Neil Sedaka on that episode also.