Meeting Burt
Alison Anders approached me after the Burt Bacharach Loser’s Lounge in December 1995. She came to the show to see her friend J Mascis sing. She was in NYC editing her film “Grace Of My Heart”..
“You’re not going to believe this, but I got Burt Bacharach to write a song with Elvis Costello for my film. My music supervisor hooked it up”, she told me after the show. They were coming to New York to record it, and she said she’d let me know if it was OK to stop by. I filed this away, figuring it would be incredibly unlikely, but awesome if it should happen.
A few months later, she called me. Back then I had a day job, PubWorks. PubWorks was an editing house for school textbooks and kind of the official day job for Loser’s Lounge performers. Julian Maile worked the night shift after me. Sometimes we would leave CDs for each other. For some reason, I stayed home that day and picked up the phone when she called (I was a habitual call screener back then). “They’re just mixing the song today, so it’s pretty chill, so I think you can stop by”. The studio was Right Track Studio on 48th street, which was “music row” (RIP Manny’s and Sam Ash). I knew David Terhune worked in midtown, so I called him and invited him to join me. I grabbed a program from the show and a cassette (back then, sometimes my friend Garry Rindfuss would record the show on his Pro Walkman).
Read more: Meeting BurtWhen I arrived, neither of them were there, but it was so cool to be in this legendary New York studio. Burt walked in, looking very casual in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants. Alison introduced us, and I handed him the program and cassette. He was very gracious, saying thanks, and that he wished he had known about it (like, would he have shown up??). Of course, after knowing more about his perfectionism, I sort of regretted giving him the cassette. David and I were content to be a “fly on the wall”, sitting on the couch in the rear of the control room. Burt seemed to love to tell stories. He talked about working with Tom Jones, saying that he had to tell Tom to tone it down once in a while. “With Tom, it’s full on all the time. It’s like a smile, if you smile all the time, it doesn’t mean as much.Tone it down once in a while!” Tom apparently didn’t like “What’s New Pussycat”, but Burt was confident that it would be a hit. Elvis came in a bit later. He was a little more “dressed up”, wearing a black shirt with white polka dots. I think this photo is from that day.
Somehow, Count Basie came up. Elvis told the story of singing with him a few times, and how the musicians were wondering who this young punk rocker was. Burt said that Count Basie had the best drummer. He used to sneak in to jazz clubs when he was underage.
We could have listened to them tell stories for hours, but it came time to pull up the track to listen to it. We learned that the song was called “God Give Me Strength.” I gather now that they probably had done most of the mix the day before and were coming back to finalize it, or make minor tweaks. Because on first listen, it immediately sounded incredible! An honest-to-God “goosebumps” moment. The only thing they were questioning was a second flugelhorn part, which was harmonizing with the main flugelhorn at the top of the song. At least that’s how I remember it. Maybe we’ll hear that version in this new box set that’s coming out.
David and I excused ourselves, thanked Alison, and complemented Burt and Elvis on their amazing new song.
We were doing our best to act “cool”, but as soon as we got in the elevator, we jumped up and down like two kids at Christmas.
It’s fair to say the Loser’s Lounge exists because of Burt Bacharach. In the early 90s, Kris Woolsey, Ed Rogers and I were making trips to the Princeton Record Exchange and rediscovering Bacharach, Mancini, Jimmy Webb and the like (courtesy of the 99 cent bin). We thought it would be fun to celebrate this music.Though at first it was going to be a night celebrating a mix of those artists, it seemed to make more sense to focus strictly on Bacharach. You have to remember, this was 1993. Grunge, Sonic Youth and the Pixies were the hot bands back then. We weren’t sure if anyone beyond our small circle of friends would be interested.
I had already done a series of “piano and vocal” Loser’s Lounge shows with Nick Danger (and guests) at the Pink Pony, a small cafe on Ludlow Street. Just an upright piano and Nick singing into the room (no PA or mic’s). After seeing the recently opened Fez nightclub I decided it would be perfect for a more expanded version of the show. The Fez reminded eme of casino lounges that I used to play. Ellen Cavolina gave us a Monday night at Fez, and much to my surprise, the room was packed. The first show was pretty loose, with musicians reading xeroxed pages from my Burt Bacharach songbook (David Terhune and Kustard Kings would become the house band a few shows later). But it was super fun, and the success of the show inspired me to do another (Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood). And another. And another. And here we are, almost thirty years later.
Thank you Alison for that life changing experience, and thank you Burt for the wonderful music, which will continue to inspire for years and years.
Total Burt Bacharach shows: 23
Years Performed: 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2017
Over 58 different Burt Bacharach songs performed by over 100 different singers.
Songs Performed The Most (all 23 shows): This Guy’s In Love With You, The Look Of Love, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, My Little Red Book, Walk On By.
Close Runner Up (22 shows): One Less Bell To Answer
Songs Performed Least (one time only): Heartlight, Me Japanese Boy, Mexican Divorce, The Blob, Promises Promises
Here’s the Loser’s Lounge recording of “After The Fox”, recorded with Dominique Durand of Ivy and Mike Viola
McGinty's Folly 