NEW YORK (AP) — Music played softly, almost imperceptibly, in the background of a hotel lounge where Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello talked about their songwriting collaboration, “Painted From Memory.”
Bacharach noticed, however, that it was the instrumental version of “The Look of Love,” his song popularized by Dusty Springfield. He mischievously asked, during their 1998 interview with The Associated Press, if Costello had arranged to play it. Nope. It wasn’t the first time he’d been interrupted by Bacharach’s work.
“It happens all the time,” Costello said.
That will surely happen again, too. The composer, who died at age 94 Wednesday in Los Angeles, left behind an indelible songbook that will long outlive him.
At its heart were the collaborations with songwriting partner Hal David and singer Dionne Warwick, 19 of them Top 40 hits.