Hal David, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist who in the 1960s and '70s gave pop music vernacular the questions "What's It All About?," "What's New, Pussycat?," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and "What Do You Get When You Fall in Love?," died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 91.

The cause was a stroke, according to his wife, Eunice, who said he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Mr. David, whose lyrics could be anguished pleas, wistful yearnings, sexy mash notes or wry musings, and sometimes all four in the same song, was best known for the long strand of hits he and the composer Burt Bacharach wrote for Dionne Warwick.

He was something of a late bloomer: he did not have his first Top 10 hit -- "Magic Moments," recorded by Perry Como -- until 1958, when Mr. David was in his late 30s. He achieved his greatest successes well after he turned 40, at a time when many of the other successful songwriters were half his age and many young performers were writing their own songs.

Mr. David's words also found fertile ground on Broadway, in the hit musical "Promises, Promises"; in the movies, in the Oscar-winning song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; and at weddings via the classic first-dance song "(They Long to Be) Close to You." -[NY Times]

Continue reading "R.I.P. Hal David"

by BrooklynVegan Mike

The 7th annual Pop Montreal five-day music festival (the CMJ/SXSW of Montreal) begins October 1st and this will be their most unique year yet. Nick Cave, Hot Chip, Method Man and Redman, The Dodos, The Black Kids, Apostle of Hustle, Julie Doiron,A Place To Bury Strangers, Miracle Fortress, Land of Talk, Laura Marling, The Dears, and Ratatat are some of the big names among the lineup of artists who will overrun all or most of Montreal's clubs for the festival. Pop Montreal always comes through with some classic choices too, and this year is no different with Burt Bacharach, Silver Apples, and Wire playing during the festival. There is also a unique collaborative performance between Owen Pallett, Stef Schneider (Bell Ochestre and The Luyas) Mike Dubue, HILOTRONS and SoCalled, entitled Porn Pop!, which finds the group doing a live score of the gay porno film Cruisin' 57 at one of the last remaining true porno theaters in North America, Cinema L'Amour.

The last few years have seen the festival branch out to other avenues including Film Pop, symposiums on the state of music (with Lydia Lunch and Sister Nancy are a couple of this year's speakers) and Puces Pop, an arts and crafts bazaar. That expansion is going further this year with the announcement of Kids Pop, a series of demonstrations and workshops aimed toward younger Pop Montrealers that will run the entirety of the festival.

Like our CMJ coverage last year, over the next few weeks we'll be highlighting some bands playing the fest that we think might be worth checking out. Also, during the festival, we'll have write ups of the previous days action.

The full Pop Montreal lineup and schedule can be found HERE. A video commercial below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal - Oct 1-5, 2008 - Burt Bacharach, Nick Cave, and a Socalled Final Fantasy live porn score included"