Message to Michael
Encyclopedia
"Message to Michael" is a 1966 Top Ten hit by Dionne Warwick
, written by Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
. The song's lyrics are addressed to a bluebird by a woman in Kentucky whose sweetheart is vainly pursuing musical stardom in New Orleans; the woman asks the bluebird to take a message to Michael, asking him to return to her.
in the 1962 session in New York City which produced Butler's hit "Make It Easy on Yourself
". However, Butler's "Message to Martha" was not released until December 1963 when it appeared as a track on Butler's Need to Belong album. Marlene Dietrich
recorded a German version of the song in 1964, singing to the instrumental track of the Butler original (with augmentations); Dietrich's version was entitled Kleine Treue Nachtigall ('faithful little nightingale'). In 1964 Bacharach had Lou Johnson
record the song as "Kentucky Bluebird": this version reached Billboards "Bubbling Under the Hot 100"
chart at #104 that fall. Johnson's single was also released in the UK where it was swiftly covered by Adam Faith
as "Message to Martha", which reached #12 UK in November 1964, becoming Faith's last Top 20 hit. Featured on the Adam Faith album released in the US in March 1965 in the wake of Faith's US Top 40 hit "It's Alright", "Message to Martha" was performed by Faith on the Shindig!
broadcast of 23 June 1965 but the track was not given a US single release. In Australia Faith's "Message to Martha" - as "Kentucky Bluebird" - was issued on a single with "It's Alright" in February 1965 and the single became a double-sided hit with a #15 peak.
, with whom she was headlining at the Paris Olympia
Theatre in 1966. Jacques Denjean
prepped a backing track to which Distel was to sing the song in concert; when Distel decided against performing the song, Warwick considered availing herself of the prepped instrumental track to record the song herself. Both Burt Bacharach and Hal David, when contacted by Warwick, were opposed to her singing what they maintained (in its English version) was a man's song. David also mentioned to Warwick that the only male name that could be subbed for "Martha" was "Michael", a name David disliked. Warwick took David's comment as a suggestion, recorded "Message to Michael" in a Paris recording studio, and added her vocals to the track prepped for Distel. Warwick would say that the most difficult part of the recording session was getting the French background vocalists to pronounce 'Michael' correctly.
Scepter Records
a&r man Steve Tyrell
recalls "getting in [a Brill Building
] elevator with Burt and Hal and following them down into Times Square
, begging them to let me put ["Message to Michael"] out. The next day they called [Scepter Records owner] Florence Greenberg and said 'Look, Steve is so into this tune - tell him he can put it on the B-side but he shouldn't promote it'". When "Message to Michael" was issued on a single backed with "Here Where There Is Love" Tyrell states "I got right on a plane [for] New Orleans and I went to WTIX
[Radio]" and played "Message to Michael" for disc jockey Buzz Bennett who then "walked right into the control room and put it on the radio. Because it opened, 'Fly Away to New Orleans...' And in one week it was a smash!" In fact even prior to the single's release Warwick had performed "Message to Michael" on the NBC
Pop music TV program Hullabaloo
in an episode broadcast 9 March 1966.
" 16 months previously; also in May 1966 "Message to Michael" became a Top Ten hit, Warwick's third after "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk on By". The Billboard Hot 100
peak of "Message to Michael" was #8; Billboards R&B
chart would afford "Message to Michael" a #5 peak, which remains Dionne Warwick's alltime best R&B chart showing for a solo recording: she'd previously hit #5 R&B with her first release "Don't Make Me Over
" and after "Message to Michael" would reach #5 R&B as a soloist with both "Alfie
" and "Once You Hit the Road".
"Message to Michael" was not a major international hit for Dionne Warwick: it was released in April 1966 in the UK to chart no higher than #55. In Australia "Message to Michael" reached #44.
As Burt Bacharach and Hal David were not involved in the recording of "Message to Michael" – the team being in fact opposed to Dionne Warwick recording their song – the producers' credit on the track reads "a Blue Jac Production", Blue Jac Productions being the name Bacharach/David and Warwick had incorporated under in 1962 (officially Blue Jac Productions, rather than Warwick personally, were signed to Scepter Records; the same production credit would be employed for Warwick's 1970 single "Make It Easy on Yourself
", which was a recording from a live performance.)
In his 1968 book: What the World Needs Now and Other Love Lyrics, Hal David emphatically admitted his misgivings over Warwick recording "Message to Michael" proved ill-founded, indeed stating "Dionne's vocal was so brilliant that it was obvious we had subconsciously written the song for her even while we thought we were writing it for a man".
covered "Message to Michael" on his album Vivid.
During the 1988 US presidential election
, George H. W. Bush
cited the song's lyrics in his acceptance speech at the Republican Party National Convention saying: "Someone better take 'a message to Michael'", referring to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Michael Dukakis
.
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, written by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
. The song's lyrics are addressed to a bluebird by a woman in Kentucky whose sweetheart is vainly pursuing musical stardom in New Orleans; the woman asks the bluebird to take a message to Michael, asking him to return to her.
Early versions
The song was first recorded as "Message to Martha" by Jerry ButlerJerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
in the 1962 session in New York City which produced Butler's hit "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
". However, Butler's "Message to Martha" was not released until December 1963 when it appeared as a track on Butler's Need to Belong album. Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
recorded a German version of the song in 1964, singing to the instrumental track of the Butler original (with augmentations); Dietrich's version was entitled Kleine Treue Nachtigall ('faithful little nightingale'). In 1964 Bacharach had Lou Johnson
Lou Johnson (singer)
Lou Johnson is an American soul singer and pianist who was active as a recording artist in the 1960s and early 1970s.-Life and career:...
record the song as "Kentucky Bluebird": this version reached Billboards "Bubbling Under the Hot 100"
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart at #104 that fall. Johnson's single was also released in the UK where it was swiftly covered by Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...
as "Message to Martha", which reached #12 UK in November 1964, becoming Faith's last Top 20 hit. Featured on the Adam Faith album released in the US in March 1965 in the wake of Faith's US Top 40 hit "It's Alright", "Message to Martha" was performed by Faith on the Shindig!
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
broadcast of 23 June 1965 but the track was not given a US single release. In Australia Faith's "Message to Martha" - as "Kentucky Bluebird" - was issued on a single with "It's Alright" in February 1965 and the single became a double-sided hit with a #15 peak.
Background
Warwick's association with the song began when she recommended it as a concert number to Sacha DistelSacha Distel
Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
, with whom she was headlining at the Paris Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
Theatre in 1966. Jacques Denjean
Jacques Denjean
Jacques Denjean is a French composer and arranger, active in the 1960s and 1970s.He worked with artists such as Dionne Warwick, Françoise Hardy, Nana Mouskouri, Johnny Hallyday, Baris Manco, Maria del Mar Bonet and Guy Béart, chiefly as an arranger....
prepped a backing track to which Distel was to sing the song in concert; when Distel decided against performing the song, Warwick considered availing herself of the prepped instrumental track to record the song herself. Both Burt Bacharach and Hal David, when contacted by Warwick, were opposed to her singing what they maintained (in its English version) was a man's song. David also mentioned to Warwick that the only male name that could be subbed for "Martha" was "Michael", a name David disliked. Warwick took David's comment as a suggestion, recorded "Message to Michael" in a Paris recording studio, and added her vocals to the track prepped for Distel. Warwick would say that the most difficult part of the recording session was getting the French background vocalists to pronounce 'Michael' correctly.
Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
a&r man Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell is an American jazz musician.-Early career:Upon moving to New York City at the age of 18, he was made head of A&R and promotion at Scepter Records...
recalls "getting in [a Brill Building
Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
] elevator with Burt and Hal and following them down into Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, begging them to let me put ["Message to Michael"] out. The next day they called [Scepter Records owner] Florence Greenberg and said 'Look, Steve is so into this tune - tell him he can put it on the B-side but he shouldn't promote it'". When "Message to Michael" was issued on a single backed with "Here Where There Is Love" Tyrell states "I got right on a plane [for] New Orleans and I went to WTIX
WIST (AM)
WIST is a combo news/sports talk station based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The locally owned & operated station is an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio and broadcasts at 690 kHz with a power level of 10,000 watts daytime and 5,000 watts nighttime.The facilities of the station, previously called...
[Radio]" and played "Message to Michael" for disc jockey Buzz Bennett who then "walked right into the control room and put it on the radio. Because it opened, 'Fly Away to New Orleans...' And in one week it was a smash!" In fact even prior to the single's release Warwick had performed "Message to Michael" on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Pop music TV program Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo (TV series)
Hullabaloo is an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABC's American Bandstand.-Overview:...
in an episode broadcast 9 March 1966.
Impact
In May 1966 "Message to Michael" became Warwick's first Top 20 hit since "Reach Out for MeReach Out for Me
"Reach Out for Me" is a 1964 single by Dionne Warwick, a song originally recorded by Lou Johnson. Her single, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is a track from the album Make Way for Dionne Warwick. It was a number twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to number one on the Cash Box...
" 16 months previously; also in May 1966 "Message to Michael" became a Top Ten hit, Warwick's third after "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk on By". The Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
peak of "Message to Michael" was #8; Billboards R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart would afford "Message to Michael" a #5 peak, which remains Dionne Warwick's alltime best R&B chart showing for a solo recording: she'd previously hit #5 R&B with her first release "Don't Make Me Over
Don't Make Me Over (song)
"Don't Make Me Over" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which marked the recording debut of Dionne Warwick in 1962.-Dionne Warwick version:...
" and after "Message to Michael" would reach #5 R&B as a soloist with both "Alfie
Alfie (song)
"Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 most successfully recorded by Cher, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick.-Background:...
" and "Once You Hit the Road".
"Message to Michael" was not a major international hit for Dionne Warwick: it was released in April 1966 in the UK to chart no higher than #55. In Australia "Message to Michael" reached #44.
As Burt Bacharach and Hal David were not involved in the recording of "Message to Michael" – the team being in fact opposed to Dionne Warwick recording their song – the producers' credit on the track reads "a Blue Jac Production", Blue Jac Productions being the name Bacharach/David and Warwick had incorporated under in 1962 (officially Blue Jac Productions, rather than Warwick personally, were signed to Scepter Records; the same production credit would be employed for Warwick's 1970 single "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
", which was a recording from a live performance.)
In his 1968 book: What the World Needs Now and Other Love Lyrics, Hal David emphatically admitted his misgivings over Warwick recording "Message to Michael" proved ill-founded, indeed stating "Dionne's vocal was so brilliant that it was obvious we had subconsciously written the song for her even while we thought we were writing it for a man".
Also
In 2000, contemporary jazz saxophonist Michael LingtonMichael Lington
Michael Lington is a contemporary jazz saxophonist and recording artist.Lington plays a distinctive contemporary saxophone leaning strongly towards the pop side of jazz. He reaches a younger demographic than traditional jazz listeners and is emerging as a contemporary face of jazz.Born in...
covered "Message to Michael" on his album Vivid.
During the 1988 US presidential election
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
cited the song's lyrics in his acceptance speech at the Republican Party National Convention saying: "Someone better take 'a message to Michael'", referring to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
.