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01
Bacharach’s personal favorite among his songs is Alfie with lyrics by Hal David.
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02
The song Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head, sung by B.J. Thomas, was used in a British TV commercial for Walkers crisps featuring Gary Lineker and Cat Deeley in roles originated by Paul Newman and Katharine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969.
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03
His daughter Nikki Bacharach, with Angie Dickinson, died by suicide on January 4, 2007 at age 40 in Ventura County, California, after suffering from Asperger’s disorder.
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04
Bacharach was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
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05
In 2012, as a guest of President Barack Obama, Bacharach and lyricist Hal David were presented with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the White House. Performers included Mike Myers, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Wonder.
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06
He was awarded the Polar Music Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 2001.
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07
Angie Dickinson was a leading Hollywood actress when she met Bacharach in 1963, when he was an unknown songwriter. They married in 1965 and separated after 13 years, partly due to his success and her fame in Police Woman.
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08
Bacharach filed a $15 million lawsuit against an Indianapolis theatre after falling on an uneven floor and breaking his shoulder.
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09
He was nominated for the 1969 Tony Award for Best Musical as part of Promises Promises.
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10
His father, Mark Bertram Bert Bacharach, was a well-known syndicated columnist whose work appeared in the Chicago American.
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11
The 1964 song Anyone Who Had a Heart, first recorded by Dionne Warwick, switches between 4/4, 5/4, and 7/8 time signatures, making it one of the first popular songs to use polyrhythms.
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12
Bacharach worked as Marlene Dietrich’s musical director from 1958 to 1961.
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13
He has received six Grammy Awards since 1967, including Song of the Year in 1986 for That’s What Friends Are For.
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14
He has a son, Christopher, with Carole Bayer Sager, who lives with Sager and her husband Robert Daly in Los Angeles.
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15
Bacharach collaborated with Peter Sellers, Peter O’Toole, Woody Allen, and Ursula Andress on What’s New Pussycat 1965 and Casino Royale 1967.
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16
Though his style is sometimes called easy listening, Bacharach expressed apprehension about that label due to the precise arrangements and challenging meters.
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17
He appeared as a celebrity performer and guest vocal coach on American Idol in 2006, during an episode dedicated to his music.
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18
He owned a successful racehorse named Soul of Matter, which won a one million dollar prize race in 1995.
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19
In the 1990s and 2000s, Bacharach had cameo roles in all three Austin Powers movies.
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20
His song They Long to Be Close to You was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain in 1963 but popularized by The Carpenters in 1970.
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21
Bacharach’s music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, jazz harmony, syncopated rhythms, irregular phrasing, frequent modulation, and odd meters. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his output.
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22
His selection of instruments included flugelhorns, bossa nova sidesticks, breezy flutes, tack piano, molto fortissimo strings, and cooing female voices, leading to what became known as the Bacharach Sound.
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23
His first notable showbiz gig was as singer Vic Damone’s accompanist after his Army discharge in 1952.
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24
He first studied music with Henry Cowell and Darius Milhaud.
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25
Seventy-three of his songs reached the US Top 40 charts.
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26
He won six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, and one Emmy Award.
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27
He graduated in 1946 from Forest Hills High School in Forest Hills, Queens, New York.
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28
He is mentioned in Status Quo’s song Diggin’ Burt Bachrach.
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29
His name combines his mother’s maiden name Freeman with his father’s middle name Bertram.
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30
He served in the United States Army and was stationed in Occupied Germany.
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31
He was drafted in 1950 and served with Vic Damone.
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32
His father Mark Bertram Bert Bacharach married Irma Freeman on October 24, 1925.
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33
From 1932 to 1938 his family lived at 83-29 Talbot Street in Kew Gardens, Queens; in 1938 they moved to 150 Burns Street in Forest Hills, Queens.
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34
Bacharach was born at 1:10 AM CDT.
