I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick (and others) (1970) 11/19/21

Today's "Great Song" is MORE than just Great...it's iconic!

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" was written by the legendary songwriting duo of Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the Broadway musical, "Promises, Promises," an adaptation of the film "The Apartment," written by Neil Simon.

That's quite a team!

Shortly before the show opened on Broadway, producer David Merrick asked Hal & Burt to write a new song for the second act--something "people would whistle on their way home from the theatre."

Right about then, Burt was hospitalized with pneumonia, which inspired the lyric:

'What do you get when you kiss a girl? /

You get enough germs to catch pneumonia /

After you do, she'll never phone you..."

When Burt was released, the rest of the song was written and finished just in time for opening night.

And, as sung by Jerry Orbach and Jill O'Hara, it was definitely a highlight in the show!

The song instantly became popular, and artists lined up to cover it--with increasingly successful results!

The first was Johnny Mathis, who took his 1969 version to #35 on the Easy Listening Chart. Next was Burt himself, who reached #18 on the same chart--also in '69. Then came Bobbie Gentry, who hit #1 in the UK and Ireland with her version in late '69, And finally, Dionne Warwick released HER version in December of 1969, and soon after the new decade began, it reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts in the US and Canada. "I'll Never fall in Love Again" garnered a 1970 "Song of the Year" Grammy nomination for Hal and Burt, and in 1971, Dionne scored the Grammy for "Best Contemporary Vocalist-Female!" The song remains a classic today: A "Great--and Iconic--Song of 1969-70! Dionne:

Johnny:

Burt:

Bobbie:

Jill & Jerry:

BONUS! Kristen Chenoweth & Sean Hayes: