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

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.

1971 version?

Under Burt’s name?

Maybe I can ask a Burt expert or two in little bit

yes, from the s/t album from '71.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieujhUD_A5k