
One of the things that set Bacharach apart is his appeal as
a singer’s songwriter. Setting aside for
the moment his long and very lucrative association with Dionne Warwick, he has
written signature hits for such superstars as Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones,
Dusty Springfield, Roger Williams, B.J. Thomas, Gladys Knight, Cher, and Aretha
Franklin, and for such notable musicians as Herb Alpert and Sergio Mendez.
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Dionne Warwick |
While the words of many of his almost 75 top 10 hits are what
stick in our mind Bacharach would be the first to say he was not a
lyricist. The majority of the songs he
is remembered for were co-written with Hal David, and of the remainder, many by
third wife Carole Bayer Sager. In the
NPR interview he jokes about those collaborations, saying that many of the
songs were contentious as to what lyrics fit his melodies. His prime example was when he and Carole were writing That’s What Friends are for, which went on to raise literally
millions for AIDS research. For some
reason Burt felt the song should begin with “And I…”. Eventually in his words she gave in “just to
get out of the room”. Whether the
beginning achieves the conversational element he was trying to achieve, there
is no doubt the song struck a chord with millions of fans.

It is ironic that Warwick, who charted almost 40
Bacharach-David singles during the 20 years from the mid-sixties, finally declared
bankruptcy this March, citing as reasons an inability to settle a seven million
dollar federal tax liability and three million in business tax liability to the
state of California. As another
songwriter who uses syncopation, Bob Dylan has said, “Some will rob you with a
gun, others with a fountain pen.”

My next post will be a reprise of a post I wrote about 18
months ago on HeLa. The revisit is
prompted by action against the companies that have used replicated cells for
financial gain without compensation to the family. A decision by German courts caused this issue
to be revisited. I think you will find
it interesting.
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