BURT BACHARACH 100 ESSENTIAL SONGS. . This post: #10. Continues: tomorrow.

Caffè Lattè presents:

THE 100 MOST ESSENTIAL SONGS WRITTEN BY

BURT

BACHARACH

Burt Bacharach was born in 1928 in Kansas City. He went on to have a major impact on popular music with a catalogue that has spanned over seven decades. His songbook boasts some of the most elegant and unforgettable songs of all-time. Bacharach’s compositions have been recorded by a vast array of acts ranging from The Beatles, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Carpenters, Elton John, Elvis Costello to Neil Diamond, The Shirelles, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Roberta Flack, Luther Vandross, Gene Pitney, The Drifters and Perry Como. We mourned his loss in February 2023. Bacharach died at his home in Los Angeles, aged 94. This countdown celebrates his immense legacy…

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♭10♭

THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

Dionne & Friends (1985)

{Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder & Gladys Knight }

“That’s What Friends Are For” was initially written by Burt Bacharach with his then wife Carole Bayer Sager for a 1982 film starring Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton. Rod Stewart recorded the original version which was heard over the end credits of ‘Night Shift’.

Years later, Dionne Warwick re-united with Bacharach. There had been years of litigation after a fruitful period of her recording songs composed by her regular songwriters (Bacharach and Hal David). The reunion went smoothly and led to Warwick and Bacharach working together for a new project.

Sager remembered the 1982 song and persuaded her husband to play it for the singer. Warwick had recently worked on ‘The Woman In Red’ film soundtrack with Stevie Wonder and suggested that the song could work out well as a duet. 

Elizabeth Taylor was in the studio the day Wonder came in to cut his vocal. Her presence gave Sager the idea to use the song to raise funds for AIDS research. Taylor was active in that cause and loved the idea. Warwick and Wonder agreed. The former thought another voice would complement the recording and this led to Gladys Knight being recruited. It was then thought that one more vocal was needed. Clive Davis came up with the idea of including Elton John. As President of Arista Records, he agreed to donate the label’s proceeds to AmFar. Warwick, Wonder, Knight and John were billed on the single as Dionne And Friends.

Released in late 1985, the disc topped the American, Canadian and Australian charts. It was a Top 20 hit in Britain and Europe. As well as raising much needed funds for AIDS charities, the single helped change attitudes towards HIV/ AIDS.