Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T17:51:37.634Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hits and misses: crafting a pop single for the top-40 market in the 1960s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2010

Robert Toft
Robert Toft
Affiliation:
Robert Toft, Faculty of Music, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaN6A 3K7 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The art of crafting successful pop singles can be a hit and miss affair, and this essay addresses the notion of hits and misses through a consideration of ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’ by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In September 1963, Bacharach produced the first version of the song with Richard Chamberlain, but the recording was, and still is, considered an artistic failure, as was the version Bacharach produced with Dionne Warwick a year later. It was not until Richard and Karen Carpenter recorded the song in 1970, without input from Bacharach, that the full potential of ‘Close to You’ was realised. But what made the two Bacharach versions miss the mark, while the Carpenters, to use Bacharach's words, ‘nailed it’? If one identifies the elements of a recording's sonic surface that contribute to its success, the deficiencies of Bacharach's misses become as readily apparent as the strategies The Carpenters employed to score a hit. Specifically, this essay considers how groove, instrumentation, melodic style, tempo, manner of performance (both vocal and instrumental), and the disposition of the song's sections (verses and bridge) generate an expressive flow that either enhances (The Carpenters) or diminishes (Bacharach) the emotional impact of the story told in the lyrics.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , May 2010 , pp. 267 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

‘Bacharach & David’. 1978. Unpaginated introduction to the songbook Bacharach & David (Hollywood, Almo Publications)Google Scholar
Blum, S. 1992. ‘Analysis of musical style’, In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction (pp. 165–218), ed. Myers, H. (New York, W.W. Norton)Google Scholar
Brocken, M. 2003. Bacharach: Maestro! The Life of a Pop Genius (New Malden, Chrome Dreams)Google Scholar
Carpenter, R. ‘Carpenters fans ask … Richard answers’. http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/fans_ask_8.htm (accessed 12 September 2008)Google Scholar
Coleman, R. 1994. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, An Authorized Biography (New York, HarperCollins)Google Scholar
Cumming, A. 2001. ‘There's always something there to remind me: the Burt Bacharach story’, liner notes to The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection. WTVD 88384 (Canada, Warner Music Canada)Google Scholar
Cunningham, M. 1998. Good Vibrations: A History of Record Production (London, Sanctuary Publishing)Google Scholar
David, H. ‘Words from Hal David’. http://www.haldavid.com/words.htm (accessed 20 August 2008)Google Scholar
DeMain, B. 1997. ‘What's it all about Bacharach?’, Switch, June. Reprinted in www.rocksbackpages.com (accessed 28 September 2008)Google Scholar
Diehl, D. 1970. ‘Hal David … poet in tempo’, Los Angeles Times, 31 December, p. C15Google Scholar
DiMartino, D. 1998. ‘Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach: painted from memory’, Mojo, October. Reprinted in www.rocksbackpages.com (accessed 30 September 2008)Google Scholar
Dominic, S. 2003. Burt Bacharach Song by Song (New York, Schirmer Trade Books)Google Scholar
Gracyk, T. 1996. Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock (Durham, Duke University Press)Google Scholar
Hebert, B. 1970. ‘Bacharach – he's had winners in music, but few in racing’, Los Angeles Times, 6 July, p. D8Google Scholar
Hilburn, R. 1970. ‘Bacharach weighs his future’, Los Angeles Times, 5 July, p. N37Google Scholar
Krims, A. 2000. Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
O'Brien, L. 2002. She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul (New York, Continuum)Google Scholar
Olsen, E., Verna, P., and Wolff, C. 1999. ‘Richard Carpenter’, In The Encyclopedia of Record Producers (pp. 114–15) (New York, Watson-Guptill Publications)Google Scholar
Platts, R. 1997. ‘Anyone who had a heart: the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’, Discoveries, December, pp. 48–54Google Scholar
Platts, R. 2003. Burt Bacharach and Hal David: What the World Needs Now (Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing)Google Scholar
Ross, L. 1968. ‘Hits’, The New Yorker, 14 September, pp. 44–47Google Scholar
Rudman, K. 1964a. ‘David & Bachrach [sic] profile: part 1’, Billboard, 8 August, p. 14Google Scholar
Rudman, K. 1964b. ‘David & Bachrach [sic] profile: part 2’, Billboard, 15 August, p. 18Google Scholar
Saal, H. 1966. ‘Gospel girl’, Newsweek, 10 October, pp. 101–02Google Scholar
Saal, H. 1970. ‘Burt Bacharach the music man 1970’, Newsweek, 22 June, pp. 50–54Google Scholar
Shayne, B. 1968. ‘Broadway score promises new spot for Bacharach’, Los Angeles Times, 1 September, p. C7Google Scholar
Sutherland, S. 1986. ‘Bacharach and Sager set sights on producing’, Billboard, 16 August, pp. 24–25Google Scholar
Webb, J. 1998. Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting (New York, Hyperion)Google Scholar
Whitesell, L. 2008. The Music of Joni Mitchell (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Wilson, J.S. 1968. ‘Loyalty is a girl named Dionne’, New York Times, 12 May, p. D17Google Scholar
Zak, A. 2001. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records (Berkeley, University of California Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zak, A. 2007. ‘Editorial’, Journal of the Art of Record Production, 1/ii, par. 3. http://www.artofrecordproduction.com (accessed 12 August 2008)Google Scholar
Zollo, P. 2003. Songwriters on Songwriting (Cambridge, Da Capo Press)Google Scholar
The Carpenters, ‘Close to You’. A&M, 1183. 1970; rereleased on Carpenters: The Singles, A&M, CD-3601, n.d.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, Richard, ‘They Long to Be Close to You’. MGM, K13170. 1963Google Scholar
Warwick, Dionne, ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’. Make Way for Dionne Warwick. Scepter, 523. 1964; rereleased on Sequel Records, NEM, CD 761. 1995Google Scholar
The Carpenters, ‘Close to You’. A&M, 1183. 1970; rereleased on Carpenters: The Singles, A&M, CD-3601, n.d.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, Richard, ‘They Long to Be Close to You’. MGM, K13170. 1963Google Scholar
Warwick, Dionne, ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’. Make Way for Dionne Warwick. Scepter, 523. 1964; rereleased on Sequel Records, NEM, CD 761. 1995Google Scholar