The Austin Powers Movies Gave Burt Bacharach A Cheeky Ongoing Tribute To His Musical Prowess
Burt Bacharach, who has passed away at 94, was one of the greatest pop songwriters of all time. Period. Point blank. Working with lyricist Hal David, they created some of the most indelible, hummable tunes of the 20th Century, songs you can't believe there was a time when they didn't exist. Some people are lucky to have one song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bacharach had six, not to mention 22 more that reached the top 10. In particular, he owned the 1960s. At a time where the idea of popular music was being completely revolutionized, his brand of deceptively simple jazzy pop still shined incredibly bright.
One person who understood the importance of Burt Bacharach to the 1960s was Mike Myers. So, when it came time to make his ode to James Bond and the decade from which he was cinematically birthed, Myers wanted to shine a spotlight on a man responsible for so much of that decade's signature music. But having Bacharach tunes on the soundtrack wasn't enough. He decided to have Burt Bacharach actually appear in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" performing one of his signature songs, "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Myers' titular character even turns to the camera to introduce him. Not only was Bacharach included in the first film, but he returned in "The Spy Who Shagged Me" to perform "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" with Elvis Costello and in the closing credits of "Goldmember" for a reprise of "What the World Needs Now Is Love."
Bacharach's connection to what inspired "Austin Powers" goes deeper than just the 1960s, though. He wrote songs for two of the principal texts Myers used to build this franchise, including a Bond movie ... but not one of the ones you're thinking of.
The Look of Love and Alfie
The first song from a James Bond movie to ever be nominated for an Academy Award didn't come from the Eon-produced series that has lasted over 60 years. That honor actually goes to the Bond parody film "Casino Royale" from 1967 starring Peter Sellers, David Niven, Woody Allen, and more. After the success of writing the score and the Oscar-nominated hit title song for "What's New Pussycat?" with Hal David, Bacharach provided the original score for "Casino Royale" and composed an original song — "The Look of Love," performed by Dusty Springfield, which also was Oscar-nominated. For as indebted to the mainline Bond series as Mike Myers and Austin Powers are, there is a lot of the opulent zaniness found in "Casino Royale" present in the "Austin Powers" trilogy, and including Bacharach is a clear a nod to what has become the forgotten Bond movie.
Another huge inspiration for Myers was another staple of swinging '60s London film, Lewis Gilbert's "Alfie." For as much of a cad Bond is, the true source of emulation for Austin Powers' desire for women comes from Michael Caine's star-making turn in the 1966 film, so much so that they cast Caine as Austin's father in "Goldmember." Between the years in which Bacharach got Oscar nominations for "What's New Pussycat?" and "The Look of Love," he and David got another one for the tremendous titular song from "Alfie."
Burt Bacharach was elemental in providing what made this era so intoxicating for Mike Myers to homage in his trilogy. His music provides the exact right amount of class and fun for this time, and nobody besides Bacharach would have deserved such a loving spotlight.