Hearing about the death of Burt Bacharach at the age of 94, I thought of one word: maestro. The word is variously defined as ‘a master, usually in an art’ (Merriam-Webster) or ‘a man who is very skilled at playing or conducting’ (Cambridge), but my favourite is the beautiful simplicity of the Longman definition: ‘Someone who can do something very well.’
The good (Brian Wilson: ‘He was a hero of mine and very influential on my work… he was a giant’), the bad (Billy Corgan: ‘A titan of beautiful and effortless song’) and the ugly (Mick Hucknall: ‘Farewell, genius’) of the music business spoke as one on this loss, with my favourite post coming from Noel Gallagher: ‘RIP Maestro. It was a pleasure to have known you.’ There’s a gorgeous clip of these two great songwriters on stage together at the Royal Festival Hall performing ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’, and on the album sleeve of Oasis’s 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe a photograph of Bacharach appears.
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