If you see me walkin' down the street ...

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Q.� My dad says Burt Bacharach is the greatest pop composer, is he right < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A.� He’s got a good case, Bacharach has enjoyed a career spanning over forty years, and he has co-written some of the most popular songs ever recorded.

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Q.� He must be getting on a bit by now then

A.� He’s a healthy�74, but in his heyday, Burt was something of a heart-throb, as well as a master tunesmith, and he’s been married three times, his second wife was seventies TV star Angie Dickinson.

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Q.� When did his career get going

A.� Burt Bacharach was born in Kansas, but his family moved to New York where his father worked as a syndicated columnist. The move had a profound effect on Bacharach, who was able to visit the smoky jazz clubs and watch his heroes – Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker among others, in action. Bacharach began working as a musician and music arranger for a number of musicians, including singer Paula Stewart, who became his first wife.

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Bacharach's first major pop hit was a song called The Story Of My Life, a hit for Marty Robbins in 1957. This hit marked the first fruitful union with lyricist Hal David, and the two were to become synonymous with smooth tempo, musically complex and lyrically intriguing songs which led to a string of hit singles. The pair wrote for a number of diverse artists, including Cilla Black, now famous as a TV presenter, but in the sixties, a pop star with Anyone Who Had A Heart, a song as full of orchestral drama and pathos as possible, and another massive hit.

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Q.� What is his greatest song

A.� As always, opinions differ, but Walk On By has to be in the running, not only as the greatest Bacharach-David composition, but possibly one of the finest pop songs ever written. Sung by long-time collaborator Dionne Warwick, the song uses the standard Bacharach-David mix of lush orchestral harmonies, economical message lyrics, and a heartfelt delivery about putting a public face on private heartache. If there is such a thing as a perfect pop record, this song has to be considered as a contender.

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Q.� It's a 'standard' now - but was it always going to be a hit

A.� Not at all, in fact it was originally picked as a B-side to a song called Any Old Time Of Day, and it wasn't until influential New York DJ Murray The K played the flip and introduced the world to such a wonderful song, that the record company realised their error, and quickly re-released it as an A-side.

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Q.� So what other hits has Bacharach had

A.� The list is long, and impressive. I Say A Little Prayer is the jewel in the crown of a long and illustrious career for Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin, again utilising the complex rhythms and orchestration to deliver a pin-sharp vocal with lyrics that reach the heart and soul of the listener.

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Herb Albert sang This Guy's In Love With You on a TV Special in 1968, and again, a standard was born, but it's the song Close To You that encapsulates the magic of Burt Bacharach's music

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Q.� Isn't that a Carpenters song

A.� It has become virtually the signature tune for The Carpenters, themselves no slouches at writing awe-inspiring pop melodies, but this Bacharach-David composition is the song for which they are best known, and they were happy to include a number of other compositions by the writing partnership in their own albums and stage shows.

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As well as writing hit songs, Bacharach and David worked on a number of film scores, including What's New Pussycat , Alfie, and Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid.

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Q.� And they all produced hits

A.� They did, for Tom Jones, Cilla Black and BJ Thomas, who sang Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, an early example of a song included in a film for no particular reason other than to plant the visual in the audience's mind, and persuade them to buy the record. These days, music is included in films under the most tenuous of reasons, but this was a novel approach in its day.

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Q.� Did Bacharach's career continue to prosper

A.� It did go through a fallow period when Dionne Warwick, Hal David and Angie Dickinson all parted company with Bacharach, although anthologies and TV specials kept his work in front of audiences, even though his own vocals were a long way from matching his skills as a writer.

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In 1981 Bacharach hit gold again when he scored the Dudley Moore film Arthur, and co-wrote Arthur's Theme with Christopher Cross, Peter Allan and Carol Bayer Sager, who became the third Mrs Bacharach a year later, though this marriage was also not to last.

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Q.� It sounds like Burt Bacharach is pretty firmly rooted in the MOR category.

A.� Don't you believe it. Oasis's Noel Gallagher is a massive fan, and always willing to credit Bacharach as a major influence on his own writing. There is a picture of Bacharach on the band's Definitely Maybe album sleeve, and Gallagher joined Bacharach at his Albert Hall concert.

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Burt Bacharach appears to be taking things easier now, touring occasionally, and doubtless reflecting on a career that has seen the creation of some of the biggest selling and best known pop songs in the western world.

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If you have a question about music,�find an answer here

Andy Hughes

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