On the Flip Side is an hour long television musical with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and a book by Robert Emmett. [1] The story concerns rock 'n' roll star Carlos O'Conner, whose career is on the skids after early success at age 20. He tries to make a comeback, but his style is out of date. He prays for a miracle, and gets one, when Angie and the Celestials, four angels, join his act. [2]
On the Flip Side was made for the anthology series ABC Stage 67 , and it was originally broadcast on ABC television on December 7, 1966. [2] It was the first musical written by Bacharach and David, who later co-created the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises . [3] The production was directed by Joe Layton and starred Ricky Nelson as O'Conner and Joanie Summers as Angie, with Tyrone Cooper, Steven Perry, and Jeff Siggins as the Celestials, Will Mackenzie as Jerome, Donna Jean Young as Juanita, Murray Roman as Hairy Eddie Popkin and James Coco as Zuckerman. [4] [5] Peter Matz served as the arranger and conducted the orchestra. [6]
On the Flip Side – Original Cast Album | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 1966 | |||
Genre | Cast recording | |||
Length | 26:12 | |||
Label | Decca | |||
Producer | Charles "Bud" Dant | |||
Rick Nelson chronology | ||||
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Joanie Sommers chronology | ||||
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An original cast album of On the Flip Side was released in December 1966 with Ricky Nelson and Joanie Sommers. [7] It was released on the Decca Records label, and was selected as a "Special Merit Pick" in Billboard magazine whose review gave particular praise to the arrangements by Peter Matz, Nelson's performance on the song "They Don't Give Medals", and Sommers' vocals on the song "Try to See It My Way". [8]
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" | Ricky Nelson | 2:19 |
2. | "Fender Mender" | Joanie Sommers, & The Celestials | 2:27 |
3. | "They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes)" | Ricky Nelson | 2:02 |
4. | "Try to See It My Way" | Joanie Sommers | 2:29 |
5. | "Juanita's Place Montage" | Peter Matz Orchestra | 4:50 |
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Take a Broken Heart" | Ricky Nelson | 2:39 |
2. | "They're Gonna Love It" | Donna Jean Young | 2:06 |
3. | "Try to See It My Way" | Ricky Nelson & Joanie Sommers | 2:28 |
4. | "Juanita's Place" | The Celestials | 2:12 |
5. | "They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes)" | Peter Matz Orchestra | 2:49 |
Marie Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress, and television host.
Burt Freeman Bacharach was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music.
Harold Lane David was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick.
Angie Dickinson is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, for which she received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.
Sherman Edwards was an American composer, jazz pianist, and songwriter, best known for his songs from the 1969 Broadway musical 1776 and the 1972 film adaptation.
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" [sic] is an instrumental by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It was composed and produced by Brian Wilson, and performed by uncredited session musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew. The track is the first of two instrumentals that appear on the album, the other being its title track.
"Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David to promote the 1966 film Alfie. The song was a major hit for Cilla Black (UK) and Dionne Warwick (US).
ABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly American television shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries and original musicals.
Joanie Sommers is an American singer and actress with a career concentrating on jazz, standards and popular material and show-business credits. Once billed as "The Voice of the Sixties", and associated with top-notch arrangers, songwriters and producers, Sommers' popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song, "Johnny Get Angry".
"The Look of Love" is a popular song composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and originally popularized by English pop singer Dusty Springfield. The song is notable for its sensuality and its relaxed bossa nova rhythm. The song was featured in an extended slow-motion interlude to the 1967 spoof James Bond film Casino Royale. In 2008, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It also received a Best Song nomination at the 1968 Academy Awards. The song partially inspired the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls is the title of Dionne Warwick's ninth album for the Scepter label. It was recorded during the summer and fall of 1967 and was released early the next year in March 1968. It was recorded at A&R and Bell Sound Studios in New York City and was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
"Message to Michael" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, that has been a hit for several different artists under several different titles. The song was first recorded as "Message to Martha" by Jerry Butler in 1962. In 1964, singer Lou Johnson had a minor US hit with the song, with the title "Kentucky Bluebird". British singer Adam Faith also recorded the song as "A Message to Martha " in 1965, and had a substantial hit with it in the UK, reaching No. 12. Exactly the same recording was issued in Australia as "Message to Martha", where it was a No. 15 hit for Faith. In the United States, Dionne Warwick's version, titled "Message to Michael", was a top ten hit there in 1966.
"Broken Hearted Melody" is a popular song written by Hal David and Sherman Edwards. It was recorded by Sarah Vaughan and it became a hit for Vaughan, reaching No. 7 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1958.
"What's New Pussycat?" is the theme song for the eponymous movie, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and sung by Welsh singer Tom Jones. The original single included a 13-second instrumental introduction, ending in the sound of shattering glass, but later issues omitted this introduction.
"One Less Bell to Answer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally written in 1967 for Keely Smith, the song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the group's 1970 debut album for Bell Records, Portrait. Lead vocals on the single were sung by Marilyn McCoo.
The Windows of the World is the title of the eighth studio album by Dionne Warwick, released on August 31, 1967 by Scepter Records. The LP features the title cut was in the Top 40.
Peter Matz was an American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand. Matz won three Emmys and a Grammy Award and is best known for his work on Streisand's early albums as well as for his work as the orchestral conductor and musical director for The Carol Burnett Show.
"My Little Red Book" (occasionally subtitled "(All I Do Is Talk About You)") is a song composed by American songwriter Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David. The duo was enlisted by Charles K. Feldman to compose the music to Woody Allen's film What's New Pussycat? following a chance meeting between Feldman and Bacharach's fiancée Angie Dickinson in London. "My Little Red Book" was composed in three weeks together with several other songs intended for the movie. Musically, the song was initially composed in the key of C major, largely based on a reiterating piano riff performed. David's lyrics tells the tale of a distraught lover, who after getting dumped by his girlfriend browses through his "little red book" and taking out several girls to dance in a vain effort to get over her.
Promises, Promises is the title of a 1968 album by Dionne Warwick, and her eleventh studio album. Like many of her previous albums, it was produced by the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The album includes three songs from the musical Promises, Promises, for which Bacharach and David wrote the music and lyrics, and which would premiere a month after the album was released: the title song, "Whoever You Are " and "Wanting Things". The album also includes two other Bacharach/David compositions, "This Girl's in Love with You" and "Who Is Gonna Love Me".
"Trains and Boats and Planes" is a song written by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Hit versions were recorded by Bacharach in 1965, by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas in the same year, and by Dionne Warwick in 1966.