The recent passing of bossa nova maestro Sergio Mendes resulted in my indulging in some binge listening to some of his greatest hits. One of them was Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love.

In January 1967 Dusty Springfield was the first artist to record the song which Bacharach wrote for the unbelievably awful Bond spoof film Casino Royale. And what a fine job she did. The beauty is in the understatement and simplicity of the arrangement. Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim would have approved. It is so very bossa.

Do not waste your time on the preposterous, bloated excesses of the movie but do watch the YT clip featuring her version. (see comment below)

That scene is somehow the 1960s in a nutshell.

On Monday morning I had a Big Bossa Nova Breakfast and listened to the wonderful Carlos Lyra on Spotify. He was a major figure in the Bossa Nova movement in Rio in the 1950s and 60s. I’d never heard of him until yesterday when I discovered that Jacqueline Kennedy’s favourite song was his Maria Ninguém. Over in France Brigitte Bardot was also a big fan and recorded a cover version. (As did Cliff (and the » Continue Reading.