Burt Bacharach: The Best of Burt Bacharach

Shall we indulge in some cynicism? Oh, go on, let's.

From the CD booklet: "There's been plenty of talk recently about the resurgence of 'Easy Listening' music and the renewed appreciation of 60's tunes, but when it comes to Burt Bacharach, the absolute master craftsman of the era, the truth is his songs have never gone out of fashion."

Translation: you know how you always thought this stuff was for cardigan-and-toupé guys; well, it doesn't have to be — don't think we haven't noticed that the ersatz Mike Flowers Pops have been making a few bob off louche lounge music [this CD was released in 1995, when the MFPs were riding high in the charts], and we (A&M Records) fancy a slice of that action, so we're knocking out this compilation to get a share of Mr Flowers' cake. And if ersatz is hip now, we can do ersatz.

Look, no musician credits! No recording dates. It does appear that BB produced or co-produced these recordings, but, if it weren't for that, the suspicion would linger that these were new recordings, dashed off by session musicians instructed to sound like Mike Flowers Pops — hell, why not hire members of Mike Flowers Pops to do it; they'll be keen to make the most of their 15 minutes. Happily no such expense was required, not by A&M, anyway, as they already owned these recordings.

I was saying how there can be albums where you don't know the song titles, but, as each song begins, you get a rush of excitement-cum-familiarity — oh yeah, I love this one. With The Best of Burt Bacharach, the converse applies: you see those familiar song titles and await each with high expectations, only to be deflated by the anaemic recordings.

I got this for a fiver from Fopp, but I'd have been better off getting The Very Best of Burt Bacharach. The latter has the performances of the songs by the original artists that made them famous. Last week, David Hepworth wrote about the idiosyncratic elements that lift some recordings to a different level, "To hear Carol Kaye and Al Casey talk about how they arrived at the backing sound of These Boots Are Made For Walking is to realise how much of a hit record's emotional stickiness arises from the uniqueness of a particular performance." The recordings on The Best of Burt Bacharach were not hits, and they're not sticky.

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