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

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Don’t really know that one and didn’t make an impression on me just now.

Here’s another April Fool’s performance I dig:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=756327181053549&id=188873394595276&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Fhugh.aylward.9%2Fvideos%2F756327181053549%2F&refid=52

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 19:59 (five years ago) link

Hadn't heard "That's Not The Answer" before. It's nice; like the vibe pattern hook and the jangly guitar break (I guess Burt had heard the Byrds by then).

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:09 (five years ago) link

OK, my big work thing has come in, so here comes probably the last one for today and I may not deliver any more until Thursday.

WmC, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:29 (five years ago) link

39. Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) — 100 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Carol Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, Peter Allen
Christopher Cross, 1981 single, 100 points — https://youtu.be/qqGWOxu_H4I

WmC, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link

Mandatory:

[Removed Illegal Image]

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:33 (five years ago) link

Dionne Warwick's voice is just


Yup

lefal junglist platton (wtev), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:41 (five years ago) link

Totally dropped the ball on voting in this but glad that means I'll get a clearer idea of other voters' faves. Would've taken too long to decide anyway.

Fetchboy, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:42 (five years ago) link

*(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🕸


Too low obviously. It's been a guilty pleasure for a long time but I only found out it was a BB song through this poll

lefal junglist platton (wtev), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:44 (five years ago) link

I wish I could share some eyewitness quotes on the creation of "Arthur's Theme"...

Como was my mother's favorite singer.

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:46 (five years ago) link

I've given "That's Not the Answer" three listens in the last hour and I'm baffled that it's this high.

listen, i had this ranked pretty high and i think there's something about the simplicity and the directness that was refreshing in the context of a lot of burt songs with their unusual meters, convoluted melodies, and complex chord changes. it just kinda reached out and grabbed me.

that and the arrangement is so delicate and breezy and the background vocals are downright angelic.

budo jeru, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 22:03 (five years ago) link

I totally goofed missing the Shirelles' "It's Love That Really Counts"--I once had that high on a Top 100 list.

clemenza, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 23:31 (five years ago) link

Aaah, "Everybody's Out of Town" and "Things I Will Not Miss" placed with several votes each, but without comment, just after I went to bed. Hadn't heard either before this exercise and they feel like they might be classed as 'minor' works, but I was incapable of extracting either from my ballot.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 23:32 (five years ago) link

Found myself creating a Spotify list of the highest ranked versions while catching up. :)

https://open.spotify.com/user/empeecee/playlist/18x6FTdwYDmEwtEAgs2Tpd

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 00:20 (five years ago) link

are u there with another poll?

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 14:48 (five years ago) link

I'm taking a breakfast break from work, so here comes another result or two.

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 14:51 (five years ago) link

38. Knowing When To Leave — 107 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1970 b-side to "Make It Easy On Yourself", 68 points — https://youtu.be/3Kzw70otb1w
Jill O'Hara, 1968 Promises, Promises Broadway cast LP, 39 points — https://youtu.be/uKRmQhotpCQ

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 14:56 (five years ago) link

listen, i had this ranked pretty high and i think there's something about the simplicity and the directness that was refreshing in the context of a lot of burt songs with their unusual meters, convoluted melodies, and complex chord changes. it just kinda reached out and grabbed me.

that and the arrangement is so delicate and breezy and the background vocals are downright angelic.

― budo jeru, Tuesday, May 14, 2019 5:03 PM (yesterday)

Thanks for your take on this -- my comment came across too much as "this song is unworthy" instead of "I need someone else's insight."

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:00 (five years ago) link

37. The Story of My Life — 126 Points, 4 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Marty Robbins, 1957 single, 80 points — https://youtu.be/BrHZCmVQnNA
Michael Holliday, 1958 single, 46 points — https://youtu.be/Gzk0bdlDr3Y

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:07 (five years ago) link

ok, back to work, might be back today, might be tomorrow

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:09 (five years ago) link

I voted for the Broadway version of "Knowing When to Leave." #20 of 20-song ballot) In fact, I once spun it on WFMU.

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:10 (five years ago) link

(that was shortly before it appeared on the Rhino box; I also played the cast version of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again")

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:13 (five years ago) link

"Story of My Life" was the one that I really had no clue was Bacharach/David, for obvious reasons i think. I've always loved it anyway. Could've voted for either of those versions but my inner cowboy won out.

Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:13 (five years ago) link

are u there with another poll?

Lol

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:19 (five years ago) link

"Story of My Life" was the one that I really had no clue was Bacharach/David, for obvious reasons i think. I've always loved it anyway. Could've voted for either of those versions but my inner cowboy won out.

Put this one at #18

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:20 (five years ago) link

it was my number 13, which was too high but i voted in the moment. i say i had "no clue" but i must've known and forgotten, i've got a fairly comprehensive BB CD compilation somewhere still in the house.

re: "Knowing When To Leave", i wish they'd written more musicals

Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:25 (five years ago) link

Yeah, it was a littler high on my ballot too, but it’s kind of impossible to get the ranking just so.

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:33 (five years ago) link

um, like Lost Horizon? xp

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:33 (five years ago) link

Littler

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:34 (five years ago) link

lol Morbs this is why musicals should start life on the stage

Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:35 (five years ago) link

well Promises was a decent-sized hit, and it was an adap of The Apartment

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:43 (five years ago) link

This I did not know

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:43 (five years ago) link

there are quite a few Bacharach/David songs that have this interstitial quality to them - they feel like they start mid-story and they don't really resolve anything at the end, especially melodically - and that's a good trick for musical theatre where as many of the songs need to be building blocks as they do show-stoppers

Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:49 (five years ago) link

oh yeah Redd, "Knowing When to Leave" is for the MacLaine character, Lemmon's finishes with "Promises, Promises"

never wanted to see a staging of it, cuz Neil Simon rewriting Wilder-Diamond, ugh

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link

I haven't seen it staged either (despite having chances to--it became popular again for local companies after the Chenoweth-starring revised* revival), but I used to have that one big book of Simon plays that had PromisesX2 in it. IIRC, the book is somewhat reasonably faithful to original script, but yeah, Simon put in some new gags and the Pop Culture references were brought up to 1968.

*They found a way to work in "I Say A Little Prayer", which Burt said was written apart from the show, but somehow was still of a piece with it.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 16:11 (five years ago) link

I find the horn break in "Turkey Lurkey Time" very funny, typical arrangement of the BB era

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link

promise us anything

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:12 (five years ago) link

Even a wedding ring

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:14 (five years ago) link

OK, I'm caught up on my shit and waiting for other people to catch up on their shit, so let's have some more results.

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:38 (five years ago) link

36. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — 126 Points, 6 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Gene Pitney, 1962 single, 126 points — https://youtu.be/IU8bBlPtBK4

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:42 (five years ago) link

Awesome. My #13

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:47 (five years ago) link

Burt's memoir, a very thin document, has a page and a bit on writing and recording this -- taking a long time to write it, odd structure, his habit of troubleshooting a song by going into a bathroom stall and just thinking about it instead of going to the piano. "In order to fix whatever was wrong, I always had to hear the song and the arrangement in my head."

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:50 (five years ago) link

Wow. Think I may have to read that.

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:51 (five years ago) link

Feel like we should have a thread about such memoirs.

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:52 (five years ago) link

There is a lot of text from other people — his wife and ex-wives, Hal David, Cilla, Dietrich — presented in oral-history style. On one hand, it's nice that Burt lets other people have their say, but it reveals the material from Burt himself as pretty thin. It has the feel of a book knocked out in a week of interviews with Robert Greenfield, the coauthor. It's still very much worth the read.

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 22:00 (five years ago) link

Wonder how it stacks up next to the Donald Fagen book.

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 22:05 (five years ago) link

My autocorrect does not like Fagen.

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 22:05 (five years ago) link

35. In the Land of Make Believe — 142 Points, 5 Votes
Lyric: Hal David
Dusty Springfield, from Dusty in Memphis, 1969, 108 Points — https://youtu.be/tYwa0QL0Vps
The Drifters, 1964 b-side of "Vaya Con Dios," 34 points — https://youtu.be/lUDm6N6M9HU

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 23:07 (five years ago) link

Not on my radar. Will give a listen

Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 23:14 (five years ago) link

It's a punch in the heart, and still I had to cut it from my ballot.

WmC, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 23:27 (five years ago) link


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