Burt Bacharach has been called “The King of Easy Listening” having amassed 73 Top 40 hits in the U.S. and 52 in the United Kingdom. His songs also appeared in eight productions on Broadway as well as in 772 film and television soundtracks, and on this week’s Dress Circle (9/22 7:00 p.m.) we’re going to look some of them.
Of course, we’ll hear from his hit Broadway musical “Promises, Promises” with songs from the original production, the 2010 revival, and the 1969 London casts featuring performances from Jerry Orbach, Jilly O’Hara, Kristen Chenoweth, and Betty Buckley.
Our film songs come from Bacharach’s original score for “Lost Horizon” and songs from “Casino Royale,” “Alfie,” and “The Sad Sack.”
We’ve also programmed two songs from the score of the 1966 television musical starring Joanie Summers and Rick Nelson that was titled “On the Flip Side.”
One of our favorite songs, however, is the “theme” song for 1958’s “The Blob” performed by Bernie Nee & The Five Blobs (who just happen to be Bernie Nee!).
If you’re too young to have lived through the hits of Bacharach, we’re offering a chance for you to tune in for some wonderfully evocative sounds. If you did experience the Bacharach “sound” first-hand, we hope you’ll join us for the thrill of reliving some of his hits and a few you may not know.
