Wishin' and Votin' - the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Poll Results

52. Only Love Can Break a Heart — 67 Points, 3 Votes
Lyrics: Hal David
Gene Pitney, 67 points — https://youtu.be/71ctQukD5ZA

Had it ranked at 25

Kinda surprised it wasn't a little higher. Thanks for that Gene McDaniels article btw.

Sure. When I learned about that Gene McDaniels article, also learned about another Gene Pitney tune which I don’t think will chart and didn’t vote for myself although it’s growing on me, “Fool Killer,” which can be found on Pitney Sing Bacharach

That one's on the Rhino box, really nice.

(TIE) 50. The Answer To Everything — 68 Points, 2 Votes
Lyric: Bob Hilliard
Del Shannon, b-side to "So Long Baby," 1961, 49 points — https://youtu.be/SntWlpY4hFM
Nancy Sinatra, b-side to "True Love," 1965, 19 points — https://youtu.be/pcvDg_BeQCU

(TIE) 50. On My Own — 68 Points, 2 Votes
Lyric: Carol Bayer Sager
Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald, 1986, 68 points — https://youtu.be/KsH63qJlIMM

Here endeth the ties.

According to the Rhino box notes, Pitney's manager screwed some stuff up behind the scenes re: "Fool Killer", ending the relationship between Pitney and Bacharach/David, and cutting the artist off from a couple songs written for him: "Trains And Boats And Planes" and "What The World Needs Now"

Oops.

Also: I saw Nick Lowe do "Tower of Strength" live once.

Story i read when i was going thru this was that Pitney turned down "Trains and Boats and Planes", telling Bacharach "it's not one of your best". Crazy talk if true

Pitney has such a singular voice, it's hard to imagine T&B&P and What the World Needs Now by him.

Well yeah but still, i like them both as songs better than "Only Love"

Great to see bobbies vee and vinton placing courtesy of my single votes. Hadn't heard either before the playlist so thanks wmc for running this

oh, for sure xp

first appearance of Bayer Aspirin, as my A&R friend calls her

Just want to say that for all my talk about wanting to rank BB's compositions outside of performance preferences, that idea went straight out the window when I started making my ballot. My #1 didn't go to what I think is his best song (mainly because I'll never settle on what that is).

49. Odds and Ends — 70 Points, 1 Vote
Lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1969, 70 points — https://youtu.be/U4hDJ9jIspk

(many xps)

Also guaranteed to be the only ILM poll to include Trijntje* Oosterhuis (unless there will ever be a Best Dutch Pop Songs poll, and even then I wouldn’t bet on it).

*yes, “Trijntje” is how you spell her name

I could've posted the songs without specifying a performer i think but there are at least a couple that i think of as inextricably connected to a specific artist and kind of less canonically BB because of that. But i placed them pretty high just cos they are all time classics.

"Odds and Ends"=My #4. Such a great breakup song.

Thanks breastcrawl, I've fixed that spelling upthread.

(many xps)

Also guaranteed to be the only ILM poll to include Trijntje* Oosterhuis (unless there will ever be a Best Dutch Pop Songs poll, and even then I wouldn’t bet on it).

*yes, “Trijntje” is how you spell her name

Dionne Warwick's voice is just

I'll get this out of my system now. Just the most perfect interpreter of most of these songs.

48. Bond Street — 70 Points, 3 Votes
Burt Bacharach, 1967, 58 points — https://youtu.be/dFcnWVtZqlA
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade, 1969, 12 points — https://youtu.be/FZGpiNAT92c

Dangerously close to "Yakety Sax" that one

Yeah, I’m not a fan of hers as a pop
/soul singer, but this material seems to suit her (I hadn’t listened to her doing BB before).

xps

(talking about Trijntje O. here obv - thanks for fixing her name, WmC!)

I picked up the Casino Royale DVD for cheap a few months ago, need to give it another watch -- I haven't seen it since I was a kid, and all I remember is Ursula Andress being so sexy it made me uncomfortable.

47. Everybody's Out of Town — 71 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
B.J. Thomas, 1970 single, 71 points — https://youtu.be/l19tP_lYI1I

Dangerously close to "Yakety Sax" that one

46. To Wait For Love — 83 Points, 2 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Tony Orlando, 1964 single, 55 points — https://youtu.be/FsGUVa-Ro58
Patti Page, 1964, 28 points — https://youtu.be/Tm05J4OjYew

discogs being extremely unforthcoming with info about the Patti Page release; that date is per the youtube

45. The Things I Will Not Miss — 88 Points, 3 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, 1973 (bonus track on Diana & Marvin reissue), 88 points — https://youtu.be/lvu1ERcj8X8

Casino Royale is a godawful movie

don't think i've ever sat thru it in one sitting but i did have the Geoff Love Orchestra album of Bond themes as a kid and CR was one of my favourites

(TIE) 43. Magic Moments — 90 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Perry Como, RCA-Victor 78RPM 10-inch fucking shellac, 1957, 90 points — https://youtu.be/xcImlxojThY

(TIE) 43. I Wake Up Crying — 90 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Chuck Jackson, 1964 single, 64 points — https://youtu.be/xVANgCaQREo
Cliff Richard with Norrie Paramour and His Orchestra, 1962, 26 points — https://youtu.be/UrYPs05a_2s

ok, NOW that's the end of the ties

I thought about giving "Magic Moments" a few points and demured in the end. There are bits of the melody that are really pleasing but it's too much goo in the end. Wd've gone with it in a different mood i guess.

I can not get over the length of this guy's career. Hits going back to 10" 78s, jeez.

i've been surprised at how quickly he found his voice, some of his biggest tunes were written 4 or 5 years earlier than i'd've guessed

I thought about giving "Magic Moments" a few points and demured in the end. There are bits of the melody that are really pleasing but it's too much goo in the end. Wd've gone with it in a different mood i guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tabHi6EdA_Q
A little Lev-it-y for the nonce

The biggest revelation for me was learning the amount of overlap between his gig with Marlene Dietrich and his songwriting career. I had assumed there wasn't any, but he was still touring with her until '62 at least.

I was off on the timing of that as well, couldn’t quite put it together.

Also have to admit again that it is a lot easier to listen to multiple versions of the tunes without the pressure of putting together a ballot.

42. Rain From the Skies — 94 Points, 3 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Samantha Martin & the Haggard, 2011, 46 points — https://open.spotify.com/track/5DQz9eykQP8u2K0K93suva?si=jVW2SH6ESzWLyCjnRrvC_w (no youtube that I can find)
Alton Ellis, 24 points — https://open.spotify.com/track/2pXkO915qAfRPqCYVUzH19?si=0O5VncQIRqSrZrwZGIOb1A (ditto)
Delroy Wilson, 24 points — https://youtu.be/0NXVuflHh4g
Original version: Adam Wade single, Jan. 1963 — https://youtu.be/3mxtqhqbSZA

The Alton Ellis and Delroy Wilson versions are so close together -- same music track and different vocals?

41. That's Not the Answer — 100 points, 2 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1965, 100 points — https://youtu.be/T-8wXJ99lbY

I'm a big Samantha Martin fan, this must be the first time she's ever been mentioned on ILM. I voted for the Delroy Wilson version of Rain From The Skies, but cheers to whoever voted for Samantha .

Since (most of) the Tzadik catalog is now streaming, I wondered if someone might have put this back up, and sure enough, uploaded yesterday, my #1 in this poll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF-JmOUbmNY

i don't know how i missed that when we did the poll, it's awesome. i'm going to look into that record.

The Burt and Serge Gainsbourg Great Jewish Music comps are almost 100% fantastic (just a couple of minor misses).

Spotify credits say it was written by Zorn LOL.

"Here I Am" would be top-10 in a zillion other songwriters' catalogues but BB/HD is so deep it showed up on one ballot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6if2RhRr4ic

Nice one.

I heard Blossom Dearie's cover of "Trains and Boats and Planes" the other day and looked at her catalogue -- she did several Burts, none what I'd call amazing versions, just the appeal of her voice if you like her voice.

I do

deed I do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgQa_HoGm8s

Never heard of Twice As Much before, but this came on the WFMU Rock n' Soul stream last night as I was going to sleep.

Agreed, that’s good

nice one

do we have a bacharach-adjecent thread? big fan of rumer who apart from a bacharach cover album has a lot of tunes like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z7Uxo625w

I don't believe we do, could be an interesting thread.

Loving "After the Fox," particularly the vocalized hi-hat sound.