EC & BB appearance on CNN Showbiz Today
CNN transcript, 1998-10-05


Showbiz Today

'Desmond Pfeiffer' Draws More Protests; Robin Williams' 'Dream'
Year; Bacharach and Costello's Shared 'Memory'

Aired October 5, 1998 - 3:00 a.m. ET 

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM
AND MAY BE UPDATED. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BURT BACHARACH, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I do Burt Bacharach. 

ELVIS COSTELLO, SINGER/SONGWRITER: And I'm Elvis Costello. 

BACHARACH: And we're very happy to be here on SHOWBIZ TODAY, and we're
here on behalf of our new album... 

COSTELLO: "Painted From Memory." 

BACHARACH: Great. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 


[Part removed]


SYDNEY: Robin Williams fulfills a dream as "What Dreams May Come" does well at
the box office. And, he's a '60s songwriting legend, he's a '70s proto-punk legend, so
what brought Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello together? 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 


[Part removed]


SYDNEY: Beware -- that David Duchovny autograph you bought may be a fake, but
the musical chemistry between Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello is the real thing. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

MORET: A Supreme Court ruling is not music to the ears of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The high court refused to block a lawsuit from songwriter Ray Repp (ph), who claims
Lloyd Webber stole one of his tunes for the hit musical, "Phantom of the Opera." The
composer had argued the suit should be dismissed because Repp had not shown
evidence Lloyd Webber had ever heard his song. 

SYDNEY: One of them asked the musical question, "Do You Know the Way to San
Jose?" The other one declared, "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea." They are Burt
Bacharach and Elvis Costello, two songwriters from different eras and different
continents. 

They've come together to compose a new album, and Mark Scheerer says the result is
called "Painted From Memory." 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 

MARK SCHEERER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The song is "God Give Me
Strength," and that sounds like what some might have said upon learning that pop
composer extraordinaire Burt Bacharach and one-time angry young post-punk rocker
Elvis Costello were teaming up. They wrote this song for the 1997 film, "Grace of My
Heart," and then decided to do a whole album. It's called "Painted From Memory." Is it
"What the World Needs Now," or a reminder that "Accidents Will Happen"? 

BURT BACHARACH: And we were saying like we're going to sit down and try to
write a song like -- remember, Elvis, in 1973, that one song that I did with Dionne? No,
nothing like that. 

ELVIS COSTELLO: I think if anything resonates, it's just using the orchestra. I mean,
the -- I'm the singer. We've written the music together. I've written the lyrics. So Burt's
instrument on the record is not just the piano, but the whole orchestra. You know, he
plays the music through the orchestra. 

SCHEERER: For Bacharach, it's another curl in the wave of Burt- mania -- young bands
like the Ben Folds Five and Oasis singing his praises, his music turning up in "My
Best Friend's Wedding" and "Austin Powers." Call his stuff "elevator music"? He
doesn't care. 

BACHARACH: There was a cartoon once that I saw. It was sent to me. Three guys
waiting for elevators. One elevator was listed "Mancini," the other was "Manilow"
and the other was "Bacharach." So I thought, you know, that's very flattering. 

SCHEERER: For Costello, the snarling, staggering presence in 1978's "Pump It Up,"
"Painted From Memory" continues his career curve toward crooner, but he'll tell you
that's nothing new. 

COSTELLO: I've always thought of myself as a ballad singer who sing rock 'n' roll, not
the other way around. 

SCHEERER: What's so funny about peace, love and understanding or a Burt-and-Elvis
collaboration? Anyone who had a heart will tell you what "Painted From Memory" is
all about. 

Mark Scheerer, CNN Entertainment News, New York. 

(END VIDEOTAPE) 


[Part removed]