Hi Mom! And welcome everybody to the Hpathy Quiz!!!!
Hello Shana! (And everyone!)
So, don’t look now, Mom, but, next month is my birthday again.
What?????? You just had a birthday, not 5 minutes ago! This has to stop!
Mom, technically my birthday was last year. And besides, I’m just giving you a heads-up for all the shopping you have to do.
Aaaaah!!!!!!
And now for my announcements! Unfortunately, The Death Report keeps getting longer and longer!
I’m almost afraid to ask! Who was it this time?
We lost Burt Bacharach.
Oh no! Say it isn’t so!
Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick
Sadly, last month, Burt Bacharach passed away at 94, reportedly of natural causes. Turns out his writing partner, Hal David, pre-deceased him in 2012 at 91 and sadly from what I’ve read, he suffered a stroke.
Egads! Poor Hal David! (But I doubt that anyone here actually cares!)
Mom! For your information, Hal David was Burt Bacharach’s lyricist!
Standing, Hal David; seated, Burt Bacharach
I know, Shana. Without Hal David we would never have:
Do You Know The Way To San Jose
I Say A Little Prayer
What the World Needs Now is Love
Walk On By
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
theme from “Alfie”
The Look of Love
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
Baby, It’s You
Make It Easy On Yourself
Don’t Make Me Over
Promises Promises
One Less Bell To Answer
Only Love Can Break a Heart
That’s What Friends Are For
Mom, excuse me, but, you’ll never get to the bottom so don’t even try! But, are you sure that Hal David was the lyricist on ALL of those songs? Burt Bacharach occasionally worked with other songwriters; for instance, I don’t think Hal was the lyricist on “Baby It’s You” or “That’s What Friends Are For”…. but, I dare say Hal David was the writer on most of them. I don’t think we could ever, in a million years, convey the sheer volume of songs written and composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, because the list, indeed, is interminable and spans decades! But what is most near and dear to everyone’s heart is the string of hits they wrote for Dionne Warwick, starting with “Don’t Make Me Over”.
I think that prior to writing for Dionne Warwick, Burt partnered with Bob Hilliard to create a number of songs including “Please Stay” by the Drifters and funnily enough, apparently Dionne’s sister Dee Dee Warwick sings background with Doris Troy on that record.
On what record?
“Please Stay” by the Drifters!
Clockwise from the top: Dock Green, Rudy Lewis, Tommy Evans, Charlie Thomas
Mom, aren’t you paying attention at all???? Burt and Bob Hilliard had also written “Mexican Divorce” (B-side of “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”, also by The Drifters). It’s a great song that never gets played. There’s also, apparently, a whole Charlie Thomas vs. Rudy Lewis debate over who sang lead on “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”, with Charlie Thomas taking credit for it, but, not gonna get into that now. (My mother will if you let her….)
I’m not sure what brand of insanity has caused people to insist that Charlie Thomas was the lead voice on anything! Rudy Lewis was the lead singer! The idea that they would give a back-ground singer the lead on an A-side, and put the lead singer on the B-side of a record, is preposterous! Plus which, Charlie Thomas can’t sing!
Mom, no one knows what you’re talking about! I realize that this is one of your many pet peeves (Charlie Thomas getting credit for singing lead on 2 Drifters songs when, according to you, he can’t sing at all) but believe me, no one cares!!!! And P.S., Charlie Thomas just died, so, you might want to be a little nicer to him! He was the last surviving member of The Drifters.
Charlie Thomas of The Drifters
Now, I believe we were talking about Burt Bacharach! Another early hit with Bob Hilliard was “Any Day Now” by Chuck Jackson…
Well, now we’re getting somewhere!
Don’t get too excited Mom, because Chuck Jackson just died too.
What???!!!!! Are you kidding me???!!! This is insane!
They died a week apart! Here we see below Burt Bacharach introducing Chuck Jackson and we even get to see Burt playing that iconic introduction to “Any Day Now” on the organ:
Unbelievable, just unbelievable, the way time and time again, the directors on these shows never make any effort to adjust the lighting so that black performers can be seen! I’d have fired the director on the spot!
Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing my mother and her long list of grievances! By the way, remember how we saw Chuck Jackson at one of Jerry Blavat’s Kimmel Center shows a couple of years ago? So sad that they are both now a thing of the past, after Jerry’s passing…
Jerry’s passing???? Jerry Blavat?
Didn’t I mention that? He just died too!
Jerry and daughter, Deserie
Yes, Philadelphia’s own Jerry Blavat, who kept our music alive on the radio for 60 years! Dionne Warwick gave the eulogy at his funeral
Jerry and Dionne Warwick
which, by the way, drew thousands and was held at the Bascillica of Saints Peter and Paul.
Mom, if you could possibly pay attention for just 2 seconds, I could explain all this to you. Jerry died right before another one of his shows was scheduled for the Kimmel Center, which we would probably have gone to. Jerry not only kept our music alive but there are songs that we pretty much know only because of him, like this one by The Charts:
Here’s how the Philadelphia Inquirer announced Jerry’s death:
“Jerry Blavat, the fast-talking Philadelphia DJ and impresario known as The Geator with the Heater, has died at 82. His tireless promotion of pioneering Black artists of the 1950s and 1960s shaped the pop music culture of the city where he maintained an iconic presence for seven decades.”
And, if you’ll remember, we saw Chuck Jackson at the Kimmel Center 7 years ago, we wrote about it here:
It would have made Chuck Jackson 78 at the time.
Well, back to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as you can probably tell, the songs Burt and Hal have written could fill a book. Turns out Burt’s the writer of “(They Long to Be) Close To You” by The Carpenters. It was Homer and Marge’s song on “The Simpsons”.
OMG. Shana, you’re not going to start talking about The Simpsons, are you?
Are you sure no one wants to hear about how Homer and Marge met?
No! I mean, Yes! I mean NO! We have to move on!
Did you know Burt Bacharach was married to Carole Bayer Sager at one point?
Yes, I knew that.
Maybe you remember “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross?
I always thought it was called, “When You Get Caught Between The Moon and New York City”.
No, Mom! It’s “Arthur’s Theme”, it was a great song and Christopher Cross had a great voice. In fact on “King of the Hill”….
Oh geez, more cartoons …
…there’s an episode where Bobby Hill is singing “Arthur’s Theme” to try to put a crying baby to sleep.
Anyway, that was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager.
But I can’t fail to mention Burt Bacharach’s memorable “That’s What Friends Are For”, Dionne Warwick’s AIDS Charity single with Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. It raised over $3 million and won a Grammy.
pictured above, top row: Gladys Knight, Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick. seated: Elton John, Stevie Wonder.
I knew Elton John would somehow find his way into this article, I just wasn’t sure how long it would take!
Another thing that people may or may not know is Bacharach and David wrote “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” by Gene Pitney.
And James Taylor…
Aaaah!!!!! How is it that James Taylor winds up in every issue of the Hpathy Ezine????
…covered that song on his 1985 “That’s Why I’m Here” album.
I’d say, “What song?” if I cared!
Oh and speaking of Gene Pitney, apparently Bacharach and David are also responsible for “Only Love Can Break A Heart”.
I wish we could play all of them! Gene Pitney had such a great voice. There’s no doubt about it, Bacharach and David were everywhere! Let’s not forget “Baby It’s You” by the Shirelles, one of my all-time favorites. Here’s a very old live performance of this song, and probably the only one. We’re lucky to have it even with all its imperfections—which are many!
And remember last month I tried to explain who Doris Day and Rock Hudson were? Burt and Hal wrote the theme song to “Send Me No Flowers”.
“Send Me No Flowers” is our favorite movie, it’s about Judy and George Kimball; Rock Hudson plays George Kimball, the hypochondriac husband who thinks he’s going to die because of chest pains which are actually gas pains.
In the beginning of the movie the gossipy milkman….
Shana, we don’t have time to get into the scintillating plot exposition of “Send Me No Flowers”, all we can do is hope that people will rent or buy it!
Oh by the way, turns out the director of this movie, Norman Jewison, is still alive at 96.
Famously, Burt Bacharach also appeared in one of my favorite TV shows, “The Nanny”.
The sitcom is about Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield …
Shana, we don’t have time! We have to start the Quiz, we’re late again as always!!!!! And we’re going to have to save the rest of our deaths for next month!
Well geez, Mom, how else are the people from India and Pakistan going to know what we’re talking about?
The people from India and Pakistan left hours ago! If we’re lucky, Linda Santini might still be here but don’t count on it!
Who’s in The Quiz this month?
I suppose I have to come up with a fictitious name….
How about a salute to Chinese cuisine with “Lady Lo Mein” and her baby son, “Won Ton”?
Oy vey! I’m too tired to object, it’s past my bedtime! OK, so I now present to you, the one and only….
Lady Lo Mein!!!!!
_________
March 8, 2023
Hello!
Hello!!!!
Baby Won Ton still isn’t pooping right … still since my mastitis stint. I took him to a muscle tester lady and it seems he has “bacteria 4” stuck in him.
I never liked Bacteria 4….
I just must not have the right remedy or the right potency because this is just ridiculous.
He doesn’t even seem bothered by it – I am because I know not pooping is an issue and plus when he does, it’s super gross and not normal.
What I have noticed…
Been going on well over a month now.
Poop is green, slimy, thick when he does go.
Farts a lot and it STINKS
Gets a snotty nose at like 5am. All day long he’s fine and then in those wee hours, it’s stringy clear mucus that needs to be sucked out.
He is sleeping at night very well. Naps are ehh because, well, he has two older brothers that wake him up. He will sleep best on me during the day.
His head was warm a bit ago and I gave him Pulsatilla 200 and Lycopodium 30 and his head seems less warm. Seemed hottest on the sides of his head.
Very drooly (teething?)
He nurses every 3 hours normally. At night he will have a longer stint.
I don’t think his stomach feels hard.
He’s super smiley and happy!
I can’t think of anything else! His last poop was last Thursday!! 😩
I’ve never prayed for poop so much before in my life! 😂
OK, so I’m suggesting _____________ 1M, one dose in water.
March 9th
I gave it 10 minutes ago.
You might have to wait a day before you notice anything.
March 10th
24 hours later.
Just gave him another dose. I plussed it 3 times according to muscle-testing. He got unhappy and let out a huge cry so something seemed off.
After the remedy?
No, before.
And after the remedy, did he calm down?
Yes.
March 11th, morning
He just pooped!!!!!! Not as sticky and not green anymore, more like yellow.
Going from green to yellow is an improvement.
March 12th
He slept huge today. He hasn’t had a good daytime nap like that in awhile!!
We do expect the right remedy to put a baby to sleep.
March 13th, morning
He just pooped again! This time it was definitely more normal. And a lot… it went up his back and resulted in another bath — lol. Definitely smells more normal too.
Bad odors are a sign of bacteria; so, hasta la vista, Bacteria 4!
Hopefully we’re back on track now!! 😍😍
Elaine – what will I do when you are no longer with us?!
Huh?
I might have to take classes! 🙂
The only place I’m going is Whole Foods! (where I should have gone yesterday….) Don’t you worry, Lady Lo Mein, Elaine Lewis is going nowhere!
__________________________________
OK, everybody, what was the remedy? Write to me at [email protected]
and let me know, the answer will be in the April ezine. [editor’s note: the answer is now available, click below]
And now, going out, I can’t resist playing one more Bacharach and David song, this time by Jerry Butler, one of my favorites!
Jerry Butler
“Make It Easy On Yourself”:
Breaking up, is so, very heard to do……
Bye, see you again next time!
_____________________________________________
Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom
Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
Collinsonia
Thanks for voting, Rohini. I will enter your remedy choice into our vote totals. Be sure and check “Revisiting: Praying For Poop” in the April ezine for the answer.