成人快手

by Bob Stanley

The British appreciation of 's songwriting goes right back to 1958 when he scored back-to-back number one hits with Perry Como's Magic Moments and Michael Holliday's The Story Of My Life. Como had reached number four with Magic Moments back home, while Marty Robbins' original version of Story Of My Life had stalled at number fifteen.

It's surprising to discover how, in the early days of his career, Burt's songs were often shown much more love in Britain than they were in the States. He had UK number ones with Tower Of Strength (Frankie Vaughan, 1961), Anyone Who Had a Heart (Cilla Black, 1964), Always Something There To Remind Me (Sandie Shaw, 1964) and Make It Easy On Yourself (The Walker Brothers, 1965); at home the originals by Gene McDaniels (no.5), Dionne Warwick (no.8), Lou Johnson (no.49) and Jerry Butler (no.20) did considerably less business. Bacharach arranged and produced all of these, as well as Tommy Hunt's beautifully underplayed version of I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself which failed to even reach the Hot Hundred. Dusty Springfield was a big Bacharach fan from the off, and her impeccable cover reached no.3 here at the very peak of Beatlemania. Bacharach told the NME that he thought Dusty's version was "great. We originally recorded it with Tommy Hunt in the States eighteen months ago – and when Tommy's record company, Scepter, heard Dusty's they re-released it on a single! But I prefer Dusty singing the song."

Pye International released a terrific compilation called The Sound Of Bacharach in 1965, which included lesser known gems like Maxine Brown's delicate I Cry Alone, and a rare uptempo stormer by Chuck Jackson, The Breaking Point. In America "the sound of Bacharach" was still in the process of being discovered, and he wouldn't score a number one there until 1968 with Herb Alpert's This Guy's In Love With You. No wonder, then, that Burt came over to London to record his first proper solo album, Hit Maker!, in early 1965. Musicians on the sessions included pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones while the Breakaways, a trio of former Vernons Girls, provided vocal assistance. A single from the album, Trains And Boats And Planes, had a lyric penned by Hal David that showed his friendly concern for Bacharach, who had just married actress Angie Dickinson but was rarely home, caught up in his jet-set lifestyle. The single reached no.4 here but, true to form, failed to chart in America. I've always thought the label credit - which went to "Burt Bacharach and Chorus" - was rather harsh on the Breakaways who, after all, did sing the whole thing!

In 1966, Burt paid tribute to his favourite foreign city on London Life, recorded by Anita Harris: "Some people say the climate is frightful. But I believe the damper it is, it's more delightful. In this cold umbrella weather, boys and girls all keep warm together. This London life is the life for me." Of course when the weather was "frightful" Burt was more likely to be found elsewhere - his songs Made In Paris and South American Getaway are proof of that.