TEARDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON HIS HEADSTONE
One more bell to toll with the death of esteemed composer and Austin Powers star Burt Bacharach, aged 94. Typically working in tandem with Hal David, he was known for creating some of the classiest, most prestigious slices of pop around, such as the theme song to The Blob.
By the time he so eloquently warned us of the creature that creeps, and leaps, and glides, and slides across the floor, Bacharach was already a rising star. Fresh off working as Marlene Dietrich’s musical director, the Bacharach-David partnership was writing hits for late 50s pop stars like Perry Como and Marty Robbins. The 60s would prove his most prosperous decade, which he began with mostly writing alongside Bob Hilliard hits like “Tower of Strength” for Gene McDaniels, “Any Day Now (My Beautiful Bird)” for Chuck Jackson, and “Please Stay” for the Drifters. The recording session on that last song crossed his path with a little-known session vocalist named Dionne Warwick.
The Bacharach-David partnership benefited the likes of Jerry Butler and Gene Pitney in the early 60s, but it was Warwick with whom the duo would become most synonymous. Bacharach sensed Warwick had the chops to navigate through the bebop-inspired, often-complex mazes of his melodies, and she would be the prime vessel for a steady stream of classics including “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (also a hit for Cilla Black), “Walk On By”, “I Say a Little Prayer” (also a hit for Aretha Franklin), and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”. Now established as one of the leading songwriters of his day, Bacharach branched into film – not just by marrying Angie Dickinson, but also contributing Tom Jones’s “What’s New Pussycat?”, whoa-oa-oa, Cilla redux “Alfie”, the Dusty Springfield-interpreted “The Look of Love” for Casino Royale, and the Oscar-winning B. J. Thomas song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The 70s marked a dry spell for Bacharach, as though covers kept him on the charts (“One Less Bell to Answer” through The 5th Dimension, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” through the Carpenters), the partnerships with David and Warwick collapsed, as did his marriage to Dickinson. His partnership to Carole Bayer Sager (both in marriage and in songwriting) ushered in an 80s resurgence, crafting his second Oscar winner “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” for Christopher Cross and reuniting with Warwick for “That’s What Friends Are For”, yet another 80s charity single.
Bacharach’s time as a charting juggernaut ended for keeps afterwards, and his marriage to Bayer Sager too ended in divorce. He remained in the public eye for the rest of his years, collaborating with figures like Elvis Costello, influencing subsequent generations of songwriters, and continuing to light up in concert even as he grew frailer. 23 teams foresaw his tower of strength collapsing, and weren’t going to walk on by as what their teams need now, are points, sweet points: Among them are Bucket Kickers 79, Lard Bazaar, Mortem Omnibus, and the typical music theme teams.
Burt Bacharach
12 May 1928 – 8 February 2023, aged 94
23 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀 5 POINTS)