The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Has anyone caught that new commercial that has been playing all the time lately for some type of Sapphire credit card (I believe it's a Chase card)?

The beginning notes of Paper Mache are played a few times. The first time I heard it, I was waiting to hear... "twenty houses in a row"

You bet I did! ....... Finally comes to light more than 40 years after Dionne recorded it! ......... Those opening notes leave you wanting to hear more ..... Perhaps there's an opportunity to re-release the original recording that never received the recognition it deserved!

I thought I was hearing things the first time I heard the commercial! I too was waiting for "twenty houses in a row"...this was one of the most unusual tunes Burt and Hal ever wrote for Dionne and Hal's softly cynical lyric is not what you expect when you hear that intro. Burt was convinced that it would be a big hit...and it should have been. I remember that it got a tremendous amount air-play the summer of 1970 and it made it as high as # 43 on the hot 100 and #6 on the AC chart...disk jockeys loved Dionne...I have always loved the tune...come to think of it, Bacharach and David wrote some truly unusual tunes for Warwick...Odds and Ends, Walking Backwards Down the Road, Who Gets the Guy, The Green Grass Starts to Grow during that time...I can remember everyone always anticipating what the next tune would be that Bacharach and David would write for Dionne...they were that ubiquitous. Those three got attention not only from the public but Dionne was a favorite of folks from Janis Joplin to Carlos Santana to Cass Elliott to Aretha Franklin. Warwick was as big as Aretha but even garnered a broader appeal than her. No matter who did Bacharach David...the question always was "wonder what that would sound like with Dionne singing it" or "wonder if Dionne sang that first". Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets was also one of my favorites from that period.

Priceless !!!!!!!!!!!!!


"blue"

Thanks, Blueonblue! A wonderful song!

Bacharach's music, as we see in this video, also had much influence in Brazilian music, especially Bossa Nova, including this song "Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets", as in other of his own. Burt Bacharach has always declared his admiration for the Brazilian popular music, especially Djavan, Ivan Lins, Sergio Mendes, Milton Nascimento, etc.
Burt Bacharach still exerts much influence on Brazilian composers, fortunately.

Sincerely,
Djalma Jr

Many thanks for that wonderful posting of 'Happiness Remembers ...' Fantastic to see them working together like this .. presumably in the Brill Buildings? The song is FABULOUS!! The way Dionne constructs that crescendo. The Latin influence always works so brilliantly for them.

Gillanddon,

This was recorded at Phil Ramone's A & R Studios on 7th Avenue right off Broadway and around the corner from the Brill Building and the offices of Scepter...Scepter moved to 254 W. 54th St in 1966...the building was later the home of Studio 54 and also CBS Studios in NYC.

I absolutely love those quirky songs Dionne Burt and Hal did. Green Grass, Loneliness Remembers, Paper Maché, etc. Other than the Beatles, was there another mainstream act that was putting out such creative and unique material at this time? Another one of my quirky favorites is "Walk Little Dolly". I love the vocal interplay of Dionne and Cissy's backgrounds on the "la la la las" and then Dionne singing out at the end. How would you even categorize that song? Baroque soul?