![]() ![]() But Shaw was now firmly established as a star, with further number 1s and a Eurovision win to come. (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me climbed the charts slowly but surely, eventually knocking Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Womanfrom its perch for three weeks, but then the Big O climbed to number 1 once more. Her voice is unusual in the verses, almost French-like, yet very natural during the brilliant choruses, and a nice counterpoint to the raucousness of Lulu or Cilla Black’s foghorn wailing. You could argue that the production is far too light-hearted to put across any of the supposed misery this entails – In fact, you could argue that Shaw sounds perfectly happy to be reminded of her love – but far better to just enjoy the song for what it is – a prime piece of 60s pop. Of course, it’s a bloody good song too – vintage Bacharach and David, in which Shaw is unable to get her ex off her mind. Shaw premiered the single on Ready, Steady, Go!, and her stunning looks, along with her unique barefooted performance, helped her chances no end. Knowing she was on to a good thing, she quickly returned home, the single was recorded with Tony Hatch, no stranger to number 1s from female singers, and (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me was rush-released in September. Taylor went to America to look for a song to save Shaw, and heard Johnson’s version. Cheesy, but memorable, unlike Shaw’s debut single, As Long as You’re Happy Baby, which got her nowhere. She secured Goodrich, then only 17, a recording contract with Pye Records in 1964, and came up with the name Sandie Shaw. The young poster-to-be was spotted by Adam Faith, also on the bill, who had two number 1s under his belt – What Do You Want? (1959) and Poor Me (1960).Īfterwards Faith introduced her to his manager, Eve Taylor. She came second in a talent show and got to perform at a charity concert in London. Goodrich went to work at the local Ford Dagenham factory after leaving school, with some part-time modelling on the side. She was raised in Dagenham, Essex and at the age of six would entertain her aunt with her rendition of Guy Mitchell’s She Wears Red Feathers. ![]() ![]() Sandie Shaw was born Sandra Ann Goodrich on 26 February 1947. Sandie Shaw made the song her own, and the song helped make her one of the UK’s most famous female stars of the swinging 60s. Dionne Warwick had recorded a demo version in 1963, but it was soul singer Lou Johnson who first charted with it in the US during the summer of 1964. ![]() But here’s our 10, which we recommended being merely a gateway to his legendary catalog.Sandie Shaw’s first and best chart-topper was yet another classic from Burt Bacharach and Hal David. People magazine even dubbed him one of the Sexiest Men Alive in 1999.īacharach never lost his formidable touch check out Blue Umbrella, his 2020 EP with Nashville songwriter-producer Daniel Tashian, to show how vital he remained.Īs for the best? There’s a lot of it. Bacharach’s many other accolades include six Grammy Awards (plus Lifetime Achievement and trustees awards), three Academy Awards, a Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and a Polar Music Prize in Sweden. The Recording Academy dubbed him “music’s greatest living composer” in 2008, and four years later, he and David were the first songwriting duo to receive a Gershwin Prize for popular song from the Library of Congress. His body of work could be considered the Great American Songbook 2.0, and those tunes were sung by some of the best: Dionne Warwick, Jackie DeShannon, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin, even Herb Alpert in a rare vocal performance. And when paired with great lyricists - especially Hal David and, later, Carole Bayer Sager and Elvis Costello - Bacharach created timeless works that were strong enough to sustain multiple “definitive” versions. He could lay out a melody like other people turn on a sink. Born in Kansas City, Mo, and educated at music at conservatories in Montreal, New York and California, he was a master composer and arranger, not to mention a pretty fair pianist. The enormity of Bacharach’s talent and contributions cannot be overstated. When considering a list of Burt Bacharach’s best songs - as we do whenever there’s a death like this - the temptation is to say, well, everything. ![]()
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