Paying tribute to the ace pop songwriter Burt Bacharach, who died last week at 94, is an effort in curation, with thousands of possibilities to choose from. Yes, we could play Dionne Warwick for three straight hours and be satisfied. But while she sang many of the songs presented today (and possibly a majority) it was fun to find alternate interpretations.
Capital Radio is nominally a rock show so we started with rock interpretations, from Love, The White Stripes, Fountains of Wayne, The Pretenders and The Beatles. Then some ’60s sides ,known and lesser known. One song, “Walk on By,” required two different interpretations at different ends of the show — from The Stranglers and Isaac Hayes.
Still, the works of vocal champs Gene Pitney and Warwick claimed their own segment before some deeply soulful 70s interpretations from Ronald Isley to Luther Vandross. Closed the salute with Bacharach’s terrific late career works with Elvis Costello, including one track, from Burt’s last session, released only Friday.
Lest we forget Valentine’s Day, there was that too — from Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie to Snail Mail and a new one from the Shang Hi Los.
Here’s a link to the entire show; the setlist follows.