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

wendell stuart and the downbeaters - always something there to remind me
the shirelles - baby it's you
al green - i say a little prayer
dionne warwick - that's not the answer
love - my little red book
dionne warwick - do you know the way to san jose
aretha franklin - april fools
dusty springfield - in the land of make believe
isaac hayes - walk on by
dorothy ashby - the look of love
dusty springfield - i just don't know what do to with myself
dionne warwick - are you there
walter jackson - they don't give medals
the drifters - please stay
dionne warwick - don't make me over
dionne warwick - anyone who had a heart
aretha franklin - this girl's in love with you
chuck jackson - i wake up crying
roy ayers - raindrops keep falling on my head
alton ellis - rain from the skies
james brown - message to michael
the free design - the windows of the world
the boots - another tear falls
gene pitney - the man who shot liberty valance
the rangoons - moon guitar

1. Promises, Promises - Erik Friedlander
2. This Guy’s in Love with You - Herb Alpert
3. I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick
4. Alfie - Cilla Black
5. My Little Red Book - Manfred Mann
6. You’ll Never Get to Heaven if You Break My Heart - The Stylistics
7. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart - Marc Ribot
8. Walk on By - Dionne Warwick
9. She’s Gone Away - Mike Patton
10. The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield
11. Trains and Boats and Planes - Fred Frith
12. God Give Me Strength - Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
13. Wives and Lovers - Dave Douglas
14. Casino Royale - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
15. Don’t Make Me Over - Dionne Warwick
16. They Long To Be Close To You - The Carpenters
17. I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself - Isaac Hayes
18. Please Stay - The Drifters
19. Everybody’s Out of Town - B.J. Thomas
20. Baby It’s You - Smith
21. Any Day Now - Chuck Jackson
22. Are You There with another girl - Dionne Warwick
23. Anyone Who Had a Heart - Dionne Warwick
24. Made in Paris - Trini Lopez
25. Wishin’ and Hopin’ - Dusty Springfield
26. What the World Needs Now Is Love - Jackie DeShannon
27. Something Big - Jim O’Rourke
28. The Story of My Life - Marty Robbins
29. The Windows of the World - Dionne Warwick
30. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again - Jill O’Hara & Jerry Orbach

Discovered yesterday that the youtube of my #1 has been taken down, bummed.

1. Mexican Divorce- The Drifters
2. I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
3. The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield
4. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself - Dusty Springfield
5. My Little Red Book - Love
6. Don’t Make Me Over - Dionne Warwick
7. Any Day Now - Elvis Presley
8. Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler
9. Baby, It’s You - The Beatles
10. Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa -Dusty Springfield
11. Anyone Who Had a Heart - Dionne Warwick
12. Walk On By - Dionne Warwick
13. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Gene Pitney
14. One Less Bell To Answer - The 5th Dimension
15. Do You Know the Way to San Jose - Dionne Warwick
16. I’ll Never Fall In Love Again - Dionne Warwick
17. What the World Needs Now Is Love - Jackie DeShannon
18. The Story of My Life - Marty Robbins
19. Are You There (With Another Girl) - Dionne Warwick
20. Wishin’ and Hopin’ - Dusty Springfield
21. Always Something There To Remind Me - Naked Eyes
22. Promises, Promises - Dionne Warwick
23. This Guy’s In Love With You - Herb Alpert
24. (They Long To Be) Close to You - The Carpenters
25. Only Love Can Break a Heart - Gene Pitney
26. What’s New Pussycat? - Tom Jones
27. April Fools - Aretha Franklin
28. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head - B.J. Thomas
29. Casino Royale - Herb Alpert
30. Nikki - Burt Bacharach

I really labored quite a bit over this ballot, it was like solving a puzzle.

Honestly I’m not a big POLL or ranked list guy (just in case you didn’t know and you cared), but I found this poll a really useful and fun way to navigate through and get some sort of handle on his sprawling catalog.

that is basically how i went about this. i basically took it for granted that we were all here to celebrate burt bacharach's work and that therefore we all had some degree of appreciation and respect for the music. a more "honest" ballot from me would have been 85% dionne and burt instrumentals. but i just thought it would be more interesting to find as many cool alternate versions i could and then rank them more or less haphazardly with a handful of exceptions at the top.

, basically

I really labored quite a bit over this ballot, it was like solving a puzzle.

― Louder Than Bach's Bottom (James Redd and the Blecchs),

All my favorite polls have been just like that. Also, I just noticed we both had "My Little Red Book" at #5 but in different versions.

I started this thread a year ago tomorrow, Happy Burtday every day.

See you here next year, unless you are there with another URL.

haaaaa

Just noticed that the big pre-voting playlist has only 11 followers which means that six - or maybe five, I guess - balloteers were flying commando.

It had 13 or 14 around voting time iirc.

The other thing I did on my ballot in addition to what budo jeru talked about is I ended up adding back in what I had though of as corny old songs I liked as a kid that I thought maybe I had outgrown but which I now actually fond tolerable to likable to catchy. I'm talking to you "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and "Close To You"!

Did you just recently add a version of "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart" to the big playlist?

Yeah, I heard it on WFMU last week and liked it. The sax sounds a lot like John Medeski's mellotron on "San Jose."

the MMW "san jose" was def one of my favorite discoveries

I was wrong about the number of followers, the results playlist has 11 followers, but the pre-vote playlist has 17.

I think that's a recent jump! I could have sworn it was at 11 when I added the Gendel/Wilkes track.

Maybe people refollowed after thread bump?

That plus lurkers. Thanks, lurkers!

Happy Burtday.

I reread this thread the other day and it was such a joy. I'd redo the whole poll over again in a minute if I thought it'd get 30 voters.

Sorry to be a corny ILX0r, but came to post a link to our late friend Ρεμπετολογια's (Rembetologia) playlist that he presumably created to go along with this poll:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zfUsIqDVnqEgYJa2hIGU4?si=6cJ68X9FSBqO3JmXef71AA

Happy Birthday, Hal David! Apparently "The Story of My Life" was their first hit.

And Happy Birthday, Mack David! Sha-la-la-la-la, Mack. Why don't you just slip away?

1. The Blob — 1243 Points, 17 Votes, 3 first-place votes
lyric: Mack David
The Five Blobs, 1959 single, 1243 points — https://youtu.be/OG2-ccAEcWs

― WmC, Friday, May 17, 2019 3:08 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ha! If I'd voted, I would've voted for the blob as my #1

Added the Bill Evans/Eddie Gómez/Jack DeJohnette "Alfie" to the big playlist.

Cool!

Short new interview: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/qanda-with-burt-bacharach-how-the-92-year-old-composer-has-kept-working-during-the-pandemic/2020/10/08/dea735f2-07f3-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html

DJ Ira the K is playing a version of "Wives and Lovers" by Jackie Mittoo and I was going to put it on the big playlist but it's not on Spotify, :(

Sorry.

Listening to Ρεμπετολογια's playlist right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqIbOlvdU

Burt might outlive every person he ever worked with:

It is with profound sadness we confirm the passing of BJ Thomas. pic.twitter.com/l2zrmtfmKw

— BJ Thomas (@TheBJThomas) May 29, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8xvbJp1BK8

On Spotify too!

Nice, added them to the big playlist, including versions of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by the Staples Singers and Mahalia Jackson. And an album of BB covers by the New Valley Orchestra & Chorus, whoever they are.

Cool! Do you use some kind of other plugin to keep it alphabetized?

No...in the desktop app there are several ways to sort it.

Just heard this one on WFMU -- Augustus Pablo covering "A House Is Not a Home." Not on Spotify so it won't be on the big playlist, sorry to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khnZ3t0o0ZM

Trinjtje Oosterhuis was just one of the great discoveries on this thread, although I can’t think of any others right now.

Just heard this one on WFMU -- Augustus Pablo covering "A House Is Not a Home." Not on Spotify so it won't be on the big playlist, sorry to say.
📹

Is there any song that can't be successfully reggae-fied?

Tend to doubt it

PBS is running a "My Music" special on Bacharach, with a bunch of nice vintage TV clips of Dionne & Dusty & the rest hosted by a tuxedo-clad Robert Wagner, who I'm certain is positively reeking of Drakkar Noir and dead starlets.

Heard this for the first time a couple of days ago --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx_UciEAh9s

Nice.

I remember this poll rather fondly. I suspect I engaged in more hours of listening than for any other poll!

Brought to mind "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" for me--maybe a direct influence on that?

Just found out about this version. The singer still does regular brunch gigs in NYC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLdCzrixVzw

This version with you-know-who is pretty good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIeqQ105w2E

WTF is Paul Hampton?

Who sings on the 1971 version of Mexican Divorce? Absolutely love that version but haven't been able to figure it out.