During the course of their long and remarkable collaboration, the songwriting team of
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David worked with any number of singers and record labels, but for sheer volume and commercial success, nothing tops their efforts for the affiliated "Wand," Scepter, and Musicor imprints -- home to artists including
Gene Pitney "("Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa"),
B.J. Thomas "("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"),
the Shirelles ("Baby, It's You"), and the incomparable
Dionne Warwick, arguably the greatest interpreter of the Bacharach/David canon. This trio of labels generated smash after smash with a consistency that even larger record companies could envy.
Sound of Bacharach compiles 27 Bacharach/David-penned singles from Wand/Scepter/Musicor's heyday, bypassing
Warwick altogether, but still including the aforementioned hits from
Pitney,
Thomas,
the Shirelles, and others. The end result is a mish-mash of greatest hits and relative rarities guaranteed to leave listeners satisfied and not wanting for anything. Half of the material here is available on better, more comprehensive
Bacharach retrospectives, and the other half, by acts like
Tommy Hunt ("Don't Make Me Over"), and
Big Maybelle ("I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself") will appeal most to hardcore fans looking to hear any and every rendition of the classic songs in question. It's recommended to the latter camp only.