Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits
Recently ordained as a Cardinal of Cool, Burt Bacharach created a sound that defined the cocktail crazy '60s. Relying on sentimental lyrics and powerful hooks, Bacharach wrote songs that provided hit after hit for the likes of Dionne Warwick, film scores (Alfie,Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), and radio-ready show tunes like "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" fromPromises, Promises. The Carpenters had a colossal smash with his "Close to You," as did B.J. Thomas with "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head." In fact it was the genius of Bacharach and his collaborator Hal David that seemed to give Warwick and others their stardom. A piano man of the highest order, he understood the power of a bridge, and they still serve as some of the most memorable aspects of his compositions. His grasp of arrangements was also unmatched and the instrumental solos in his work--the melancholy trumpet of "What the World Needs Now" and "Close To You"--were instant classics.Greatest Hitsvalidates all of the renewed interest in Bacharach during the mid- 1990s, as ultra-hip outfits like Pizzicato Five routinely payed homage to him in their own work. --Steve Gdula