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He's the man of the hour, the sultan of swank.
At 70, Burt Bacharach is the man your mother always said he was. And more.
He's got the tribute albums (no fewer than three, with everyone from Shonen Knife to Ben Folds Five to jazz artists taking a crack at his music), a box set, scenes in Austin Powers and its sequel, a Grammy (his first in years) for a song that found the easy listening icon teaming up with New Wave veteran Elvis Costello.
Those who haven't heard his music sampled to steamy effect by Mono have probably seen it sung to hilarious comic effect by Rupert Everett and friends in a scene that almost made My Best Friend's Wedding worth your while.
He's enjoying the moment.
But Bacharach, who credits Oasis with fueling the comeback, is quick to note that it's not necessarily a case of being rediscovered.
"These kids weren't even alive when a lot of these things were out: he says. "So they're not rediscovering it. They're discovering it for the first time."
And what they're discovering — those who went the extra mile and bought his three-disc box set. The Look of Love — is some of the greatest, most sophisticated pop of the rock 'n' roll era — from "Baby It's You" and "Make It Easy On Yourself" to the string of hits he wrote for Dionne Warwick to his powerful new collaboration with Costello.
Painted From Memory, Bacharach's team-up with Costello, isn't as odd as it probably seems to those who haven't followed either artists' careers.
A must-own version of Costello pouring his soul into Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" appeared at the height of punk on a compilation of Stiff Records artists. Later. Costello recorded a cover of "Baby It's You" with fellow Stiff alumnus Nick Lowe.
He and Bacharach met about eight years ago.
Their first collaboration resulted in "God Give Me Strength," a Grammy-nominated torch song from the little-seen 1996 movie, Grace of My Heart.
Accustomed to working with lyricists, not composers (most notably longtime collaborator Hal David), Bacharach found Costello to be "very musical."
"Most of the people I've written with just come from a lyrical point of view," he says "But Elvis goes both ways. So we'd sit in a room, and we'd both be working with keyboards. His lyrics, I think, are just utterly brilliant, you know. The man is just extraordinary."
The two did a handful of concerts together last fall.
They recently filmed a scene for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, performing a newly recorded version of the Warwick hit, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."
"It's a nice record," Bacharach says. "We're in the movie playing. like, a street band on Carnaby Street. And Mike Myers is dancing. So it's great that it happened a second time. you know? This picture will be huge"
He wasn't involved in assembling the box set. And that's just as well, as far as he's concerned.
"I think they did an incredible job, putting that box set together like that," he says. "But you know, it deals with past material, and better somebody else deals with that than me. I try to stay so much in the moment and in the future."
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