The first pop song I remember hearing a lot was called Close To You. I was a kid taking my first swim lessons at a pool where the juke box seemed to be stuck on this song, and it was a HUGE hit. It was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Around the same time, I was attending elementary school and we had a music teacher who decided to make our classes “hip” by teaching us a then-current pop song called Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. That was also written by the same duo of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Those two wrote a slew of huge hits back then, and experienced something of a resurgence in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with the Austin Powers films, which featured some of their music and even included cameos of Burt Bacharach himself.
Hal David passed away September 1, 2012, at the age of 91. He might not have been a household name, but he was certainly well known, and his work is loved by a great many people spanning multiple generations. I’m a fan and was sad to hear of his passing.
Here’s some video of the songs I mentioned above; first, Close To You, sung by The Carpenters:
Next, B.J. Thomas singing Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head:
Finally, here’s a scene from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, featuring Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello performing I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, as “Austin Powers” (Mike Myers) and “Felicity Shagwell” (Heather Graham) cut up, a great scene from the movie:
Great songs. We’ll miss you, Hal David.