Some years ago in the mid 90's I found myself following an internal bleeding incident on a busy hospital ward in a Dublin hospital. All human life seemed to be on that ward but with the constant noise and unending interventions from staff and patients alike I sometimes wished for a little less of that life. Then after several days of stoical endurance, I was unexpectedly transferred to a private room. Luxuriating in my new found peace, I turned on the hospital radio to hear that a Dionne Warwick special was about to start. And for the next hour as one marvellous Bacharach/David song followed another I felt as if in Heaven. Dionne Warwick seemed to me to embody true class and sophisticated elegance. Due to her unusual vocal abilities and musical training she was the ideal vehicle to do justice to the intricate and complex demands posed by so many wonderful Bacharach melodies. And Burt Bacharach not only wrote these songs (with Hal David as lyricist) but also produced her recor...