[marden]

Many of you guys may not know exactly who the tux wearing old guy in the Geico commercials who seems to almost crack up when singing about not getting hit in the rear.

That is Burt Bacharach.

So?

See how many of these songs of his that you know.

Hits

"The Story of My Life" (Marty Robbins, (US c&w no. 1, pop no. 15, 1957 - his first hit)
"Magic Moments" (Perry Como, US no. 4 / UK no. 1, 1957/1958 - his first big pop hit)
"The Blob" (The Five Blobs, 1958 with Mack David—brother of Hal David—from the movie The Blob)
"Heavenly" (Johnny Mathis 1959)
"Faithfully" (Johnny Mathis 1959)
"Baby It's You" (The Shirelles, 1961, then The Beatles, 1963, then Smith, 1969)
"Any Day Now" (Chuck Jackson, 1962, then Ronnie Milsap, 1982)
"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" (Gene Pitney, 1962)
"Only Love Can Break a Heart" (Gene Pitney, (1962)
"Don't Make Me Over" (Dionne Warwick, 1962)
"Make it Easy On Yourself" (Jerry Butler, 1962, then a UK no. 1 for the Walker Brothers, 1965)
"Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" (Gene Pitney, 1963)
"Blue on Blue" (Bobby Vinton, 1963)
"Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Dionne Warwick, 1963 and Luther Vandross in 1986)
"Wives and Lovers" (Jack Jones, 1963). Grammy nominee Record of the Year and Song of the Year
"Wishin' and Hoping" (Dionne Warwick, 1963, then Dusty Springfield, 1964, Stephanie McIntosh, 2006)
"Walk On By" Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Isaac Hayes, 1970 and The Stranglers in 1978)
"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" (Dusty Springfield, (UK no. 3 hit, 1964, then The White Stripes, 2003)
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (Dionne Warwick, (Sandie Shaw, UK no. 1, 1964, then Naked Eyes, 1982)
"A House Is Not a Home" (Brook Benton, 1963, Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Luther Vandross, (1981)
"What the World Needs Now Is Love" (Dionne Warwick, 1965 then Jackie DeShannon)
"What's New Pussycat?" (Tom Jones, 1965, from the film What's New, Pussycat?)
This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1965.
"Alfie" (Cilla Black, 1966, then Cher, 1966, then Dionne Warwick, 1967, originally from the movie of the same name)
This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1966, and won Bacharach a Grammy for instrumental arrangement in 1967.
"My Little Red Book" (Love, 1966)
"I Say A Little Prayer (For You)" (Dionne Warwick, 1967, then Aretha Franklin, 1968)
"The Look of Love" (Dusty Springfield, 1967, from the soundtrack of the movie Casino Royale, Dionne Warwick, then Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66, 1968)
This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1967.
"One Less Bell to Answer" (Keely Smith, 1967, then The 5th Dimension, 1970)
"This Guy's In Love With You" (Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, US no. 1, 1968)
This song was covered by Oasis' Noel Gallagher in tribute to Bacharach on his 70th Birthday
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" (Dionne Warwick, 1968)
"Promises, Promises" (Jill O'Hara, 1968, and Dionne Warwick, 1968)
The Broadway soundtrack won Bacharach a Grammy in 1969.
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (B.J. Thomas, US no. 1, 1969, Johnny Mathis 1969 in Great Britain, from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
This song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1969. Bacharach also won the Academy Award and Grammy for Original Score for the movie. Grammy nominee Song of the Year
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (Dionne Warwick (1969) then Bobbie Gentry (UK no. 1, 1969), originally from the musical Promises, Promises). Grammy nominee Song of the Year [competed against himself in this category]
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" (The Carpenters (US no. 1, 1970) then Johnny Mathis and Dionne Warwick in 1969 Grammy nominee Record of the Year
"Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" (Christopher Cross, 1981, from the movie Arthur)
This song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1981. Grammy nominee Record of the Year and Song of the Year
"That's What Friends Are For" (1982)
This song was originally written for the movie Night Shift and performed on the soundtrack by Rod Stewart. In 1986, a version by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Elton John became an enormous hit, raising millions for AIDS charities. The song also won the Grammy for Song of the Year. Grammy nominee Record of the Year
"On My Own" (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, 1986)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach

And that's not all of his accomplishments.

He was born in 1928. (You do the math.) And so he may look like just some old guy, but he was the shizzzzit at one time.

Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach is, quite simply, one of the most accomplished composers of the 20th Century. In the '60s and '70s, Bacharach was a dominant figure in popular music, writing a remarkable 52 Top 40 hits. In terms of musical sophistication, Bacharach's compositions differed from much of the pop music of the era. Bacharach's songs typically boasted memorable melodies, unconventional and shifting time signatures, and unique chord changes. His songs combined elements of jazz, Brazilian music, torch songs and rock into a unique sound that was both contemporary and popular. Lyricist Hal David, Bacharach's primary collaborator, infused Bacharach's music with Tin Pan Alley-derived craft and melodrama. David's bittersweet, unsentimental lyrics were often in striking contrast to Bacharach's soaring melodies. While Bacharach's name became synonymous with elevator music in the late '70s (due in great part to its sheer familiarity), a closer listening suggests that his meticulously crafted, technically sophisticated compositions are anything but easy listening.

http://www.bacharachonline.com/bacharach_bio.html

Just wanted you to know.

[funkboy]

Commercial in question (crappy quality):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRzKNtRAfg

[mac128k-1984]

Originally Posted by funkboy 

Commercial in question (crappy quality):
YouTube - Geico Commercial With Burt Bacharach

Are you talking about the video quality or the commercial quality. My vote is on the crappy commercial quality. I don't know what is worse, these celebrity commercials, or the gecko.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

I don't know what is worse, these celebrity commercials, or the gecko.

Celebrity commercials. All celebrity commercials. It's not even a contest. They're just embarrassing.

[ebuddy]

I thought that was an excellent commercial.

[euchomai]

I only know four of those songs by just looking at the titles. Maybe if I heard them I'd recognize more though.

[marden]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

I thought that was an excellent commercial.

I'm with you, ebuddy!

What these (probably) young (possibly cretinous) posters don't realize is that there are several Geico commercials going on at the same time.

Now why in the world would they do that, hmmm?

Because they are trying to attract different demographics.

The gecko. The celebrities. The cavemen. Tiny House. Tony Little (I just saved a TON of money on my car insurance!)

But what's the deal with the broader Geico campaign? It seems to work so many different angles at once. There's the series of spots with the surprise punch line: "I've got great news—I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance!" There's the campaign where a talking gecko serves as an annoying, generally unfunny spokes-character. There are the one-off jokes, like "Tiny House" and (another personal favorite) the group of spots where cavemen get outraged by a Geico announcer's insensitivity. "It's so easy to use Geico.com, a caveman could do it," the announcer says. Cut to cavemen watching TV. One sighs in disgust: "That is really condescending."*

Geico's scattershot approach makes more sense when you think about their customers. Car insurance has perhaps the broadest target audience of any product. Who is Geico selling to? Pretty much everyone—man or woman, gay or straight, black or white, hip or hick. If you drive a car, they want your business. Even extremely broad brands, like Coca-Cola, still have niches they're trying to dominate (it's mostly young people who drink sugary sodas, for example). But car insurance companies know no niche. We all drive. We all have insurance (I hope). And we all stay insured through every stage of our lives—no matter our mood or marital status or income.
As a result, Geico needs to air a range of spots that will appeal to many different people. Some ads are straightforward and tame (aimed at older drivers), while some are absurd (the kids seem to like this). All for a single product.

http://www.slate.com/id/2123285/#its

[besson3c]

Maybe Marden is Burt Bacharach?

[houstonmacbro]

he and dionne warwick have a lot of great songs together. i think the commercial is crappy however.

[marden]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Maybe Marden is Burt Bacharach?

I think I'll follow in the tradition of some great MacNN posters:

abe: " I'll neither confirm nor deny. "
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post2916830

mojo2: "Sorry, I can neither confirm not deny..."
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post3087405

Wiskedjak: "confirm, or deny"
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post2206925

olePigeon: "we can neither confirm, nor deny"
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post2192260

dcolton: "neither confirm nor deny"
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post2087235

Splinter: "we can nither confirm nor deny"
http://forums.macnn.com/95/political...ny#post1943076

Get it?

[marden]

Originally Posted by houstonmacbro 

he and dionne warwick have a lot of great songs together. i think the commercial is crappy however.

Adults don't much like eating Gerber Baby Food as a habit. Kids can't handle handle liver, Brussels Sprouts or oysters. Similac Baby Formula has an almost 100% defined clientele. Ensure, nearly the same.

None is crappy, (although I can understand why you'd say so). They just have different appeals.

[Dark_Lotus]

I think they should stick with the Geico caveman commercials, now those are funny.

[marden]

Originally Posted by Dark_Lotus 

I think they should stick with the Geico caveman commercials, now those are funny.

I'm sure they will. As will they probably stick with some of the others, too.

[SpaceMonkey]

Also, that guy in the Miller Lite "Man Law" commercial is Burt Reynolds. OMG, you don't know who he is????????? Let me tell you...

[Dakar²]

Apparently marden is unaware that this generation has Austin Powers for reference.

[marden]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

Apparently marden is unaware that this generation has Austin Powers for reference.

Yeah. Burt WAS in #2 wasn't he?

[- - e r i k - -]

People don't know Burt Bacharach?

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

People don't know Burt Bacharach?

My 19-year-old sister knew him as "that guy who was on American Idol."

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by marden 

Yeah. Burt WAS in #2 wasn't he?

He was in the original too.