The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

I've been out of town since the concert last week - just returned and I'm still in a "state of shock" over the "opening act" Dionne was saddled with! Either she is a very "good sport" or Dionne found herself caught totally "off guard". I'll fill you in on the...

You got that right! Any musician would kill just to have Burt's arranging and orchestration talents, never mind his composition genius.... never mind his piano playing!

The man is a true genius, no doubt about it!

I love it, too!

How many of you remember him? I thought he had one of the great pop voices of all time. He had a "Levi Stubbs" kind of voice and then when you saw him, he looked like a 15 year old kid -- it was hysterical! I always wondered what happened to him.

"Always first with the latest Rick Astley news, rickastley.co.uk can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that Rick has agreed a recording contract with the World’s second largest record label, SONY BMG.

Following on from the huge success of his sell-out UK tour in 2004, Rick will be releasing an album of “classic songsâ€￾ in September 2005. This will kick off his 4 album deal with the newly merged SONY BMG, and to promote his new album, Rick will again be touring the UK during September and will once again be promoted by the outstanding Simon Moran of SJM Concerts.

But fans will not have to wait until September to hear from Rick!
We have already announced details of Rick’s live performance at The Henley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday 9th July, but we can now reveal that Rick will join the famous BBC Concert Orchestra in February (date to be confirmed) on the BBC Radio 2 programme “Friday night is music nightâ€￾. More details to follow…

Also in February, you can catch Rick talking to the BBC Radio 2 DJ, Ken Bruce on his weekday morning show. Rick will be selecting 5 of his favourite tracks and talking about why he has specifically selected each track. One track will be played each weekday on the “Tracks of my yearsâ€￾ section of the show.

If you wish to discuss any of the news, why not visit the Official Rick Astley Forum

Happy 2005!

New articles have been added to the Tour reviews section, the news-clippings section and the interviews section.

We are pleased to announce that Rick will perform at the 2005 Henley Music and Arts Festival which takes place between Wednesday 6th and Sunday 10th of July 2005.

Rick will appear on the floating stage on Saturday evening between 8:45pm and 10:00pm

RICK ASTLEY sings SINATRA, BACHARACH & ASTLEY
Rick Astley hit the music world in 1987, revealing an extraordinarily powerful, mature and soulful voice at the age of 21, his debut single Never Gonna Give You Up shot to the top of the charts. Rare for a British artist, Astley's initial flourish also saw him cracking the States and earning a Grammy nomination. Now he is back in a new guise, performing the music of Frank Sinatra and Burt Bacharach, songs crying out to be sung by Astley's golden voice, and backed by a top big band specially expanded for Henley. The man still has it all...

From: http://www.rickastley.co.uk/news.htm

1. Walk Little Dolly 2. Forever My Love 3. Seconds 3. Dream Sweet Dreamer 4. I'm A Better Man 5. Long Ago, Tomorrow 6. Hasbrook Heights 7. The Balance of Nature 8. Come Touch The Sun 9. Stronger Than Before 10. I Cry Alone 11. The Last One To Be Loved 12. In The Land of Make Believe 13. Me Japanese ...

I have a question. Why is "A Better Man" so under heard and apparently under rated? I count that song among my all time fav BB/HD numbers. Though not a fan of Englebert's, his rendition in about 1970 is great. At least I think. Any thoughts? I have this exact thing many times here at this...

Yes, congratulations to the both of you, Mark.

"The April Fools" is one of my all-time favorite Burt/Hal/Dionne songs!

Burt started writing hit songs in 1957 but had to wait for 10 years to get his first number one, I believe...it was "This guy's in Love with You"-Herb Alpert I may be wrong on this, but I don't believe you're correct with this. I believe that Burt and Hal had a #1 song with Marty Robbins'...

In this first link, it says that Burt sued that theatre (where he fell and broke his shoulder) for $15,000,000. Does anyone know what happened with that suit? I wonder what Burt and theatre settled on? In this first link, you'll also please note that the author acknowledges that people aren't sure w...

I happen to be a Seal fan myself. Seal did a video for "Walk On By", which I happened to see. He sang the song very well and he obviously knows great songs and songwriters!

I looked like crazy on the internet for this, but I couldn't find anything specific. However, in 1962, Jerry Landis (Paul Simon) recorded a song entilted "Lisa". Burt and Hal wrote a song called Lisa. Check out this page which supplies a great chronology of Paul Simon (including all his ot...

I, too, am anxiously awaiting Burt's new songs that he's doing with Dr. Dre. Or with anyone else!

I, too, am saddened to hear of Jerry Orbach's death. I was shocked, too, because I never read that he was even sick.

He did die young, and I heard that Broadway theatres will darken their lights tonight in his memory.

I loved that song from the first time I heard it -- and that was when I went to see the Broadway play "Promises, Promises" for which it was written. Jerry Orbach was the star of that show and won a Tony Award for his performance. Sadly, he died today from prostate cancer. I always felt tha...