Living Together, Polling Together — it's the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Ballot Poll

Cool, some of the songs on that Italian comp were on spotify, added to the playlist.

Excellent! Nice thread title. *starts playlist*

The Hammond Brothers, "Thirty Miles of Railroad Track" (Bacharach-Hilliard) - Abner, 1962
https://youtu.be/otsJwO83m7s

Big Ups to WmC, you're doing everything I would have done with this poll and then some.

I would have called this thread "ILXORS Can Be VOTERS* Too" tho.

*or POLLERS. Indecision like that stifled my stewardship.

Cool, thanks for letting me pick it back up.

I just found the wildest "Wives and Lovers" yet, by Japanese "death jazz" sextet Soil & "Pimp" Sessions.
https://youtu.be/iqwmOxlnT80
also added to the big list

1st ballot received! The songs came with artists, which leads me to a clarification about this poll. You can include artists with your song choices, but it's not necessary, because votes for, say, Aretha's and Dionne's versions of "I Say a Little Prayer" will be combined, and the results will just be for the songs irrespective of their performers. This is a Burt poll, after all.

What would be a good side poll or two? Favorite performer of BB songs would be a race for 2nd place, I assume...

One less well-known song I'd like to call to your attention is Dream Sweet Dreamer, a Dionne Warwick b-side : https://youtu.be/j8npRt-7L18
The followup single, "The April Fools" is grand: https://youtu.be/UuNMlfYvmuc
Elvis Presley's version of "Any Day Now" was my #1 pick in the Elvis poll last summer: https://youtu.be/xg0D_E1WLn8

Nice. Elvis is a major blind spot for me, didn't know about this version.

and the results will just be for the songs irrespective of their performers. This is a Burt poll, after all.

is there a way you can roll out the results with the (different, according to votes) performers listed with the tracks ?

for me at least — and this was partially informed by yr op — the performances were a p big part of the ranking. so i was envisioning a roll out where there was a possibility of al green doing “say a little prayer” but also dionne would place in a separate slot for the same song. is that not the case ?

because like. if the songs get combined anyway, what is even the point of us all sharing different renditions of the same tune ?

i feel very strongly that burt’s songs work or don’t work so well based on who is performing. naked eyes and lou johnson are totally different entities to me, even tho the “song” is the same.

either way, let me know. it’s your poll after all and in the end i’m just happy to talk and rank burt

Agree with both points: your poll, your call, but; versions supersede songs.

Fun fact: "How About?", a BB-written b-side to "How Can You Not Believe Me" by Della Reese (Jubilee Records, late 50s) isn't on Spotify OR Youtube.

― The Mod Who Banned Liberty Valance (WmC)

the deep cuts on this thread brought me to the ace records comp "always something there", which contains this _and_ "dream sweet dreamer". i'm going to have to check out the whole thing

If you haven't heard it before, check out "This Empty Place," Dionne's non-hit follow-up to "Don't Make Me Over." That will be in my top 5.

So I'm looking forward to learning about all those songs I didn't know were written by BB. Like There's Always Something To Remind Me. No idea BB wrote it. Guess I would have known if I'd seen Black Mirror.

Side poll suggestion: top BB-penned songs from 1980 or later.

I feel I should have heard "The Things I Will Not Miss" before today. Originally from the soundtrack of Lost Horizon apparently, but it's mostly the Ross/Gaye rendition blowing my little mind just now.

all those songs I didn't know were written by BB

I think this is the first time I became aware that BB wrote "The Story of My Life."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzk0bdlDr3Y

Not the original, not very Bacharach-like, but one the great whistling songs ever.

i love "The Story of My Life", i think there are Bacharchy elements in the melody, will probably give it a vote

OK, I've given it some thought and as long as everyone includes the artist/version with each song on their ballot, there's no reason I can't generate 2 sets of results -- one for specific recordings/performances, and then a combined one for the compositions. I'm more interested in the songs, but I can see budo jeru's and clemenza's viewpoint too.

The one version of a song per ballot rule still applies, though. If you're performances-minded and "I Say a Little Prayer" just became an impossible choice, well, that's the fun of it.

i'm far happier voting for the songs than trying to pick apart whether i prefer say Dionne and Isaac Hayes (tho the answer is pretty much all Dionne versions are my canon)

Isn't the logical compromise to do what budo jerk suggested, i.e.

is there a way you can roll out the results with the (different, according to votes) performers listed with the tracks ?

*jeru! dya

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

Esoteric sub-category: most Bacharach-like non-BB songs.

Neil Young's "Till the Morning Comes"; David Bowie's "Kooks"; Anne Murray's "Talk It Over in the Morning"; Ginette Reno's "Beautiful Second Hand Man."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=3vX7ZWzocec

xps - That would make an easier rollout for me but I see the appeal of 2 sets of results, especially if they have major differences and surprise finishers. I have a couple of weeks to think about it.

Post-1980 tracks isn't a bad idea.

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

― dorsalstop

i think i'll wind up going with ground zero!

Richard Chamberlain, "Blue Guitar," 1963

https://youtu.be/ccY1Fg_3oxc

The b-side was the first recording of "Close To You."

https://youtu.be/tft09VpllvU

Am I crazy or did Bacharach write one of Starship's '80s hits? I was thinking it was 'Built This City' but I see that was Bernie Taupin (which is equally weird).

NM, just went to the actual Wikipedia page.

Had no idea he wrote 'Heartlight'. Beautiful. Just belted that gem out at karaoke the other night.

Anita Harris, "London Life" — Pye, 1965
https://youtu.be/p-olFlO7gsk

I'm going to be posting links to non-spotify rarities and obscurities like this one regularly, hope everyone's cool with that. Not an endorsement, not campaigning, just more Burt.

Are we purposely focusing on lesser known covers? If not, I'm going to throw out the obvious ones:

Walk On By - Dionne Warwick
What The World Needs Now Is Love - Jackie DeShannon
What's New Pussycat? - Tom Jones
Alfie - Cilla Black
Baby It's You - The Shirelles
The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield
This Guy's In Love With You - Herb Alpert
Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) - Christopher Cross
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - B.J. Thomas
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson

2 sets of results -- one for specific recordings/performances, and then a combined one for the compositions. I'm more interested in the songs, but I can see budo jeru's and clemenza's viewpoint too.

The one version of a song per ballot rule still applies, though. If you're performances-minded and "I Say a Little Prayer" just became an impossible choice, well, that's the fun of it.

― The Mod Who Banned Liberty Valance (WmC), Wednesday, April 17, 2019 6:18 AM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is great, thanks so much !

re: “endorsing” (xp) and obvious vs. obscure renditions — my opinion is that everyone itt should talk about / post links to songs they like ! i don’t assume anybody knows what are the obvious choices (and even a handful of darin’s tracks are new to me). on the other hand i’m delighted by obscurities that i might not come across via the wikipedia page or spotify.

this is a thread about burt, so the more renditions of burt songs the merrier, is what i’m basically saying

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

― dorsalstop

i think i'll wind up going with ground zero!

― Jaki Liebowitz (rushomancy), Wednesday, April 17, 2019 8:20 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

al green for me

Ah, I get it now. Thank you! This is going to be fun...

i’m also going to assume that not everybody uses spotify / has time to make it through the whole playlist, so i hope it’s okay with WmC that i post youtube links here to songs that might already be on the playlist ?

Totally cool with that!

I'm posting obscurities in the early days mostly because when I started the spotify playlist I tried for a while to go chronologically and kept running into roadblocks, and I have a sticky note with a bunch of those roadblocks on it. Doris Day's "Send Me No Flowers" and suchlike. I'll move to better-known stuff eventually with my linkage.

The string break in Chuck Jackson's "Breaking Point" is almost glorious enough to overshadow Chuck's unhinged desperate vocal performance. Almost.
https://youtu.be/ojrbvy6bbhI

Richard X feat. Deborah Evans-Stickland (of the Flying Lizards) - Walk On By
https://youtu.be/EFSkDUlQz1M

Burt & the Backbeats - "Move It on the Backbeat" aka "Move Me on the Backbeat" - Bigtop, 1961 (The Backbeats were Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick)

https://youtu.be/kaGEe7u9J3E

The flip was Jobim's "A Felicidade," no youtube available that I can find.

3 versions of "The Look of Love" Dusty Springfield:

The superior "Dusty whispering in your ear" U.K. vocal mix: https://youtu.be/e8o-XuTH68w

The inferior "drenched in reverb" U.S. vocal mix: https://youtu.be/bDnrzFWlZUg

The completely different "Casino Royale" soundtrack version: https://youtu.be/MPkp-pCJYCc

Nice! (that reverb version is more funny than nice)

"Me Japanese Boy I Love You" — released just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The incorrect grammar makes me squirm, but a beautiful tune.

Bobby Goldsboro, 1964 — https://youtu.be/xMOWttB17OU

Pizzicato Five, 1994 — https://youtu.be/lx57hRa6VHI

The full single isn't on youtube, but here's Richard Chamberlain singing part of "Rome Will Never Leave You" on a Dr. Kildare episode. https://youtu.be/Q0t_zDIUSvQ

I have The Fear that this poll will get 8 or 9 ballots.

for tunes i will probly just list the 30 i saw him rip thru at Coney Island about 15 years ago

(excepting "That's What Friends Are For")

Cool, glad you plan on voting -- don't forget to include artists with those tunes. I guess for ballots that don't include artists I will default the artist name to BB.

I yesterday watched Lost Horizon, to see a few songs in their original context. BB's claims that it almost ended his career was also a major selling point. LOL. It was... quite an experience.

Good morning! Don't forget to vote!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7pgAAW9pEU

Morbs, did he do a lot of between song patter and reminiscing when you saw him?

Yup

Last day to vote!

Come on ILM

And there are
Only
Twenty four hours to POLL, sir

Ballot #15 received and added to the spreadsheet.

I just want to say that one of these years real soon, Burt's going to die and somebody's going to say "hey we should do a ballot poll in tribute" and I'm going to be real tempted to ban that fucker if stet doesn't catch me and unmod me first.

Pretend he's dead now and vote in the memorial poll!

might do a short ballot tonight

Just sent my top 20

One song has points from seven different artists, still not enough to push it into the top 10.

"Long Day, Short Night" is the greatest song the (English) Beat never recorded.

Wm there really isn't a mu in yr email, is there?

No, it's a u.

sent

failed to perversely include Ella Fitzgerald's "Wives and Lovers"

No "Beware of the Blob," no credibility

One song has points from seven different artists, still not enough to push it into the top 10.

Going to hazard a guess that it’s ‘This Girl/Guys in Love With You’.

No "Beware of the Blob," no credibility

thought about it, left it out for accounting reasons

OK, no ballots came in overnight so this dish is DONE with 17 voters. Thank you to everyone who sent in a ballot! I could start the results right now if previous polls hadn't raised the graphics game so high.

A sense a bit of perfectionism in you, not unlike Mark Hudson.

Ah, got the wording slightly wrong, should be a *bit* of the perfectionismt

for my part, I don't ever look at the graphics in poll rollouts, with images off.

OK, I don't see any reason to delay the results, but I'm still waiting on a big work dump that is 2 weeks late at this point. If it comes in today, I'll have to pause the rollout and give 100% attention to that.

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

Good to have NV and Dr M in the polling

https://i.imgur.com/0BQjtxe.jpg

2. I Say a Little Prayer — 1027 Points, 17 Votes, 2 first-place votes
Lyric: Hal David
Aretha Franklin, 1968 single, 708 points — https://youtu.be/KtBbyglq37E
Dionne Warwick, 1967 single, 244 points — https://youtu.be/kafVkPxjLYg
Gene, from To See the Lights (1996), 88 points — https://youtu.be/G7CxOtEqOmQ
Al Green, from Truth N' Time (1978), 77 points — https://youtu.be/ZeQQGjoFdI0

lol whoops

WTF is Paul Hampton?

Oh wait this is first thread