Sunday Songs: Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick and Mr. Bacharach



There's something decadent about the song, "What's New, Pussycat?" It was a top ten hit in 1965 for Tom Jones and the most successful element of the anarchic film comedy of the same name. The sound is evocative of the Weimar Republic and might have been sung at the cabaret by Joel Grey or somebody like him. Jones' popularity had a lot to do with his sensual delivery and what many might have imagined to inhabit his tight fitting trousers. Nothing wrong with that. What seems to get lost in the translation is Mr. Jones' powerfully talented voice. He has sung every kind of pop music and sing all quite memorably well.



Also included here is a beautiful ballad from the same movie, "Here I Am" by Dionne Warwick, as well as "Are You There (With Another Girl)" which one of those Bacharach songs that only seems simple. It's musicality is unique and complex. "Um pah-pah, pity the girl" is a brilliant vocal refrain imbedded in the production. It almost sounds like a far away radio.


From last.fm: "Brian Wilson when asked what God would sound like stated "Dionne Warwick" and according to Serene Dominic in Burt Bacharach" Song by Song Brian Wilson cited 'Are You There (With Another Girl)' as being a direct influence on his masterwork Pet Sounds, particularly the instrumental 'Let's Go Away for Awhile,' where traces of Bacharach/David's 'Are You There (With Another Girl)' are hiding in the shadows."




Speaking of Mr. Bacharach, Tony Roberts and Lauren Kennedy have joined the cast of Bacharach to the Future. Go here for tickets.

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