FSOTD #27/Walk On By (1964)

It's Saturday, September 19th, and if my maternal grandmother were still alive, she would be 110 years old today.  As it was, she lived to be 93.  She was a beautiful woman in so very many ways, and I miss her, as do - I can safely say - her other grandchildren.  It's possible she actually knew today's FSOTD.  It's from the '60s and was one of those pop hits that the "older" people really liked.

"Walk On By" was, I do believe, a #1 hit for Dionne Warwick.  It's a beautiful song.  And if it isn't a Hal David-Burt Bacharach concoction, they need to file suit for style infringement. So forgive me, I started typing before I did any research; please stand by while I check my facts .  .  .  .  hmmm  .  .  .  .  ok, just another minute .  .  .  .  .  .  aaah, yes:  Music by Burt, lyrics by Hal.  The sixties was their decade.  Well, theirs and the Beatles'.

"Walk On By" is a little older than I was remembering.  Recorded in December 1963, it was released in 1964 and was a #1 R&B hit but "only" made it to #6 on Billboard's Hot 100.  Among the listed covers in the Wiki article was a long one by Isaac Hayes (1969).   While familiar with that version, I am unacquainted with these: The Stranglers (1978), D-Train (1982) and Sybil (1990).  The really impressive list is those who have performed the song, many of whom recorded and released their live versions.  A handful of those names:  The Jackson 5, The Beach Boys, George Benson, Johnny Mathis, Seal and even Kelly Clarkson.   Warwick herself did a version of "Walk On By" in German.   It was 1964, and I feel certain that this was her label (Scepter) trying to ride the crest of the Beatles success with "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand", the German version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand".  Now there's an interesting story.

So we start with Dionne Warwick, we end up at The Beatles.  Does everything lead to The Beatles?   For some people, perhaps; for FSOTD #27, absolutely, and proud of it.  And with that in mind, later today I will tidy up and post the Beatles playlist promised way back in FSOTD #8.


thanks (once again) to Wikipedia
http://www.firstsongoftheday.blogspot.com/