(By Fred Bronson, London, Billboard magazine, 02 September
2012)
Within a year, the new team made
chart history in the United Kingdom when they were the first songwriters to
have two consecutive No. 1s. "The Story of My Life" by Michael
Holliday was succeeded by "Magic Moments" by Perry Como for a
combined 10 weeks in pole position. In America, the original version of
"The Story of My Life" by Marty Robbins put the names David and
Bacharach on the chart, and Como's "Magic Moments" was a hit B-side,
the flip of "Catch a Falling Star."
David and Bacharach didn't write
with each other exclusively. David teamed with others to compose hits like
Sarah Vaughan's "Broken-Hearted Melody," Don Gibson's "Sea of
Heartbreak" and Joanie Sommers' "Johnny Get Angry," while
Bacharach worked with Bob Hilliard on Gene McDaniels' "Tower of
Strength," Chuck Jackson's "Any Day Now" and the Drifters'
"Please Stay." Bacharach and Hilliard also wrote "Mexican
Divorce" for the Drifters, and it was during the recording session that
Bacharach met backing singer Dionne Warwick. By the end of 1962, Warwick was
signed to Scepter and had her first hit single - "Don't Make Me
Over," written by Bacharach and David.
It was the beginning of a long
and successful collaboration. The team of Bacharach, David and Warwick crafted
a unique sound that provided a soundtrack to the 1960s with songs like
"Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Walk on By," "I Say a
Little Prayer" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose."
Warwick wasn't the only vocalist
hitting the charts with David and Bacharach songs. If they had a favorite male
singer, it was Gene Pitney, who recorded their "Only Love Can Break a
Heart," "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," "True Love
Never Runs Smooth," "Donna Means Heartbreak" and
"Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa."
David and Bacharach also
provided hits for Bobby Vee ("Be True to Yourself"), Jerry Butler
("Make It Easy on Yourself") and Jack Jones ("Wives and
Lovers"). In 1964, Bacharach
scored his first motion picture, the wild comedy "What's New
Pussycat?" and the soundtrack yielded a No. 3 hit for Tom Jones with the
title song. Warwick sang "Here I Am" in the film and Manfred Mann was
chosen to cut "My Little Red Book," which was covered by the rock
group Love.
More cinematic work followed,
including "Alfie," with a title song recorded by Warwick as well as
Cher and Cilla Black and "Casino Royale," a James Bond send-up that
included two hit singles, "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield
(who had covered "Wishin' and Hopin' in 1964) and the title instrumental
by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.
It was Alpert who would give
Bacharach and David their first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. When CBS asked Alpert
to star in a television special in 1968, the musician came up with the idea of
singing to his wife. But first, he needed the right song. Over 50 were
submitted, and Alpert selected Bacharach and David's "This Guy's in Love
With You." The day after the special aired, the network was flooded with
calls from viewers asking where they could buy the song. The single was
released the next day. In June, "This Guy's in Love With You"
captured the top spot on the Hot 100 and remained there for four weeks.
Bacharach and David were back in
first place for another four weeks when they scored the first No. 1 of the
1970s with another soundtrack song, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My
Head" from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." B.J. Thomas did
the vocal honors for the Academy Award-winning tune.
Six months later, David and
Baharach were back on top for the third time with a song that had been around
since 1963. It had been recorded by Warwick as well as actor Richard
Chamberlain, but it wasn't a smash until a brother-sister duo recorded it for
Alpert's A&M Records. "(They Long to Be) Close to You" by the
Carpenters was No. 1 for four weeks.
Warwick moved on to other
songwriters in the 1970s and eventually Bacharach and David worked with others,
too. In 1984, David was back in the top five of the Hot 100 with the Julio
Iglesias and Willie Nelson duet, "To All the Girls I've Loved
Before," written with Albert Hammond. In the 1990s, David continued to
chart, thanks to Diana King's version of "I Say a Little Prayer" from
the film "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the Notorious B.I.G.'s
"Warning," which included a sample of Isaac Hayes' update of
"Walk on By."
Sampling also brought David back
to the Hot 100 in the 21st century. In 2003, Ashanti's "Rain on Me"
included a sample of Hayes' take on "The Look of Love." A year later,
"Slow Jamz" by Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx included a
sample of Luther Vandross' version of Dionne Warwick's "A House Is Not a
Home."
Hal David leaves behind a chart
legacy that will last way beyond his lifetime, as his timeless lyrics continue
to be covered and sampled. It's our good fortune that he happened to be at
Famous Music the same day as Burt Bacharach and that a "Mexican
Divorce" led to a platinum catalog of Dionne Warwick hits. And it's our
great loss that now, there is one less bell to answer.
THE HAL DAVID TOP 50
Below is a list of Hal David's
top 50 Hot 100 hits as a songwriter, based on chart performance. The ranking is
based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are
ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the
greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable
representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were
weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
01 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My
Head, B.J. Thomas (1970)
02 (They Long to Be) Close to
You, Carpenters (1970)
03 This Guy's in Love With You,
Herb Alpert (1968)
04 One Less Bell to Answer, The
5th Dimension (1970)
05 My Heart Is an Open Book,
Carl Dobkins, Jr. (1959)
06 Slow Jamz, Twista featuring
Kanye West & Jamie Foxx (2004)
07 To All the Girls I've Loved
Before, Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson (1984)
08 I Say a Little Prayer, Dionne
Warwick (1967)
09 Blue on Blue, Bobby Vinton
(1963)
10 The Look of Love, Sergio
Mendes & Brasil '66 (1968)
11 What's New Pussycat?, Tom
Jones (1965)
12 Only Love Can Break a Heart,
Gene Pitney (1962)
13 Wishin and Hopin', Dusty
Springfield (1964)
14 Walk on By, Dionne Warwick
(1964)
15 (The Man Who Shot) Liberty
Valance, Gene Pitney (1962)
16 Warning, The Notorious B.I.G.
(1995)
17 Broken-Hearted Melody, Sarah
Vaughn (1959)
18 What the World Needs Now Is
Love, Jackie DeShannon (1965)
19 This Girl's in Love With You,
Dionne Warwick (1969)
20 I'll Never Fall in Love
Again, Dionne Warwick (1970)
21 Always Something There to
Remind Me, Naked Eyes (1983)
22 Anyone Who Had a Heart,
Dionne Warwick (1964)
23 Johnny Get Angry, Joanie
Sommers (1962)
24 Do You Know the Way to San
Jose, Dionne Warwick (1968)
25 Message to Michael, Dionne
Warwick (1966)
26 Rain on Me, Ashanti (2003)
27 What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham,
Martin and John, Tom Clay (1971)
28 I Say a Little Prayer, Aretha
Franklin (1968)
29 Don't Make Me Over, Sybil
(1989)
30 Wives and Lovers, Jack Jones
(1964)
31 Alfie, Dionne Warwick (1967)
32 Don't Make Me Over, Dionne
Warwick (1963)
33 Sea of Heartbreak, Don Gibson
(1961)
34 Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa,
Gene Pitney (1963)
35 Promises, Promises, Dionne
Warwick (1968)
36 True Love Never Runs Smooth,
Gene Pitney (1963)
37 You'll Never Get to Heaven,
The Stylistics (1973)
38 Make It Easy on Yourself, The
Walker Bros. (1965)
39 The Look of Love, Dusty
Springfield (1967)
40 Make It Easy on Yourself,
Jerry Butler (1962)
41 Reach Out for Me, Dionne
Warwick (1964)
42 Everybody's Out of Town, B.J.
Thomas (1970)
43 Walk on By, Isaac Hayes
(1969)
44 Casino Royale, Herb Alpert
& Tijuana Brass (1967)
45 I Say a Little Prayer, Diana
King (1997)
46 I Just Don't Know What to Do
With Myself, Dionne Warwick (1966)
47 Trains and Boats and Planes,
Dionne Warwick (1966)
48 Outside My Window, The
Fleetwoods (1960)
49 Who Is Gonna Love Me?, Dionne
Warwick (1968)
50 Always Something There to
Remind Me, R.B. Greaves (1970)
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