Burt Bacharach Tribute (2/10/23

In a year that, so far, has been marked by far too many big name deaths in the world of music, none has been bigger than songwriter Burt Bacharach, who died on Tuesday at the age of 94.

I defer, as always, to Variety Magazine for the comprehensive obituary, and I urge you to read it to discover just exactly how much Burt contributed to the soundtrack of our lives over the past 70+ years. https://variety.com/.../burt-bacharach-dead-american.../

Since I started my "Great Songs of the '70s" blog in October of 2019, I've highlighted ALL of Burt's '70s hits, including "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Dionne Warwick, and "Close to You" by The Carpenters.

Today, however, I'm going to reprint my entry from 6/22/20, which highlighted the very first #1 song of the '70s," "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by B.J. Thomas.

(I realize I highlighted B.J. just the other day, but this is a special circumstance, featuring a special Bacharach song.)

Rest in Peace, Burt Bacharach. Your body of work was massive, and will certainly live on...

From 6/22/20:

Today, we're highlighting the very FIRST #1 song of the '70s!

“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” was written by the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the bicycle sequence in 1969's “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid,” the now-legendary western starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Ray Stevens was the first choice to record it, but for some reason, he turned it down. Bob Dylan also declined. The late B.J. Thomas was next on the list, and in this case, the “third choice was the charm.”

Released toward the end of 1969, the song became 1970's first #1 song on Billboard's Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, where it stayed for the entire month of January! It also reached #1 in Canada, Norway and South Africa.

And the accolades kept coming:

*It won the Oscar for “Best Original Song.”

*Billboard ranked it at #95 on their “All Time Top 100” and at #15 on their list of the “Greatest Movie Songs of All Time.”

*The American Film Institute ranked it #23 on their“100 Years/100 songs” list, commemorating the best movie songs of all time.

*In 2014, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head:” a GREAT SONG to start a GREAT DECADE of music! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sySlY1XKlhM

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