Since I started doing this blog, I've set aside a day a month as Burt Bacharach Day. Why? Because I like his harmonies, melodies, piano and arrangements - and I think he's wrongly shoehorned into the bloodless, tepid "easy listening" category by many (some of whom don't know better). And I've only forgotten to set aside the 20th of a given month for Burt two or three times!
Now, if I could continue this week's noir theme, the best course would be to find a clip of the great Mel Tormé singing Burt Bacharach and Hal David's truly Spillane-ish art song The Desperate Hours, a promotional piece for William Wyler's 1955 noir of the same name. Alas, I can't seem to find a single clip along these lines among the numerous uploads by Burt, Mel, Wyler and noir fans, so I'll go with another clip, this one of the Australian instrumental ensemble Sex On Toast (white, whole wheat or pumpernickel, I wonder?) performing Burt's ballad "Nikki".
More clips of this top-notch group performing can be found on their YouTube channel.
1 comment:
I love this tune so much and they do it so well. Thanks for all of your Burt Bacharach Days!!!!!
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