Various Artists - Motown Salutes Bacharach (2002) Universal/Motown - Soul/MOR (MP3)

Motown always had an eye on the lucrative cabaret market and most of their top acts recorded a few lushly scored standards amongst the more teen dance oriented fare. For this collection of previously available material, Universal has swept through the Motown back catalogue and come up with 18 Burt Bacharach compositions. The album kicks off with Gladys Knight's version of The Look Of Love, first recorded by Dionne Warwick, as with so many Bacharach songs, but best known by Dusty Springfield from the film Casino Royale. It ends with Stephanie Mills' 1975 funky revival of This Empty Place, my personal fave on the album. Most of the selections are readily available, but a few are not in print elsewhere, such as the Marvelettes' great rendition of Message To Michael. In most other cases, the songs are the stars, rather than the artists, and one can only marvel again at the talents of the songwriters whether you dig " middle of the road" type of music or not. Stevie Wonder's instrumental versions of Alfie and A House Is Not A Home are rather schmaltzy, but the least effective recording on this album is Do You Know The Way To San José, culled from a live TV special. It takes the combined forces of the Supremes and the Temptations to provide a snatch of the song which fizzles out after barely one minute.
This is Motown in a tuxedo, not at its best but a fascinating stroll down its side roads.

Moxy

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