He wrote the songs that made the whole world sing ...
Just not that one.
But seriously, has there EVER been a more descriptive phrase to describe the man who helped to provide the soundtrack to the lives of millions of music fans for generations. (And to think that it all started with "The Blob!!!")
Taking a young singer by the name of Dionne Warwick under his wing, he provided a career's worth of hits to her resume'.
But while she may have been his greatest muse, she certainly wasn't the only one to score big when Burt was tickling the ivories.
Whether it was writing for the pop charts ... or the soundtrack of a film ... or for the Broadway Stage, Bacharach (with a variety of co-writers, but most notably Hal David) always delivered the goods.
You'll find all kinds of lists floating around, picking his best ... personal favorites ... and the like ...
But Fred Bronson documented this a LONG time ago in his book "Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits."
Compiling from actual chart information (back in the day when such information wasn't tainted by varying methods of compiling statistics), Fred put together a list of Burt Bacharach's Top 50 Songs.
The biggest?
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," sung by B.J. Thomas and included in the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
Coming in at #2 was "(They Long To Be) Close To You" by The Carpenters
Dionne's first appearance on the list is for her 1986 hit "That's What Friends Are For," which included HER friends Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. This one comes in at #3.
Rounding out The Top Ten are:
# 4 - This Guys In Love With You by Herb Alpert
# 5 - Arthur's Theme - Christopher Cross (another movie tune)
# 6 - On My Own - Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald
# 7 - One Less Bell To Answer - The Fifth Dimension
# 8 - Magic Moments - Perry Como (amazingly, a B-Side to Perry's big hit "Catch A Falling Star")
# 9 - Only Love Can Break A Heart - Gene Pitney
#10 - What's New, Pussycat? - Tom Jones
Also included in The Top 50 are the songs "The Look Of Love," a hit for both Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 as well as Dusty Springfield; "I Say Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin (and used in a pivotal scene in the film "My Best Friend's Wedding"); "Baby, It's You," recorded by The Shirelles, Smith and The Beatles (to name but a few); "Wishin' And Hopin'," another hit for Dusty (and also used in the film "My Best Friend's Wedding"), "What The World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon, "Any Day Now" (recorded by Chuck Jackson, Ronnie Milsap and Elvis!), "Always Something There To Remind Me" (recorded by just about everybody) and, from the Dionne Warwick catalog, "Walk On By," "Don't Make Me Over," "Alfie," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "Do You Know The Way To San Jose," "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "Message To Michael," 'Trains And Boats And Planes," "Promises Promises," "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and many, many more.
Burt Bacharach died yesterday (February 9th) at the age of 94 ...
But his music will outlive all of us ... and I'm sure we'll be hearing a WHOLE lot of it over the next week or two.
Thank you, Burt, for touching our lives ... and filling them with joy and music.
kk
