Leslie Bricusse...pretty talented

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:13pm

While working on a project, I needed info. on Leslie Bricusse. I know he's written a lot great songs...but he's credited with almost 100 according to the info. I just found.
Here's the links:
http://www.mtishows.com/bio.asp?bID=3396

http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?
exhibitId=204 ( < may not link from here)

From familiar songs like What Kind of Fool am I, and Who Can I Turn To and The Candy Man, trademark songs of Sammy Davis Jr. and others to lesser known songs like " When I Look In Your Eyes" ( the song Dr. Doolittle sings to the seal).

An impressive list from that site.

Updated On: 3/17/06 at 10:13 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:39pm

He is, I believe , in the songwriters Hall of Fame

[jv92]

Posted: 3/19/06 at 11:02am

How is he in the songwriter's hall of fame after writing the awful lyrics to the stage version of "VictorVictoria?"
Examples-

Paris is so sexy
Riding in a taxi
Gives apoplexi

Paris makes me horny
Not like Californy

[mrcacou]

Posted: 3/19/06 at 11:13am

IMHO I think those lyrics go pretty well with the character of Norma Cassidy. She is the dumbiest girl in town and deserves a song that goes well with her limited IQ.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/19/06 at 12:00pm

One of my favorite film musicals of all-time is the Bricusse "Scrooge." It made such an impact on me as a child that I can't go a holiday season without watching it. His music and lyrics (and screenplay!) really shine here, with my absolute favorite being "I Hate People" written for the title character. Amazing!


I hate people! I hate people!
People are despicable creatures,
Loathesome inexplicable creatures,
Good-for-nothing kickable creatures,
I hate people! I abhor them!

When I see the indolent classes
Sitting on their indolent asses,
Gulping ale from indolent glasses,
I hate people! I detest them! I deplore them!

Fools who have no money spend it
Get in debt then try to end it
Beg me on their knees befriend them.
Knowing I have cash to lend them
Soft-hearted me! Hard-working me!
Clean-living, thrifty and kind as can be!
Situations like this are of interest to me.

I hate people! I loathe people!
I despise and abominate people!

Life is full of cretinous wretches
Earning what their sweatiness fetches
Empty minds whose pettiness stretches
Further than I can see.
Little wonder I hate people,
And I don't care if they hate me!

EDIT: That last rhyme scheme in particular is GENIUS.

Updated On: 3/19/06 at 12:00 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 8:12pm

Those are damn good lyrics. I don't know what happened with VictorVictoria.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 9:01pm

TALK TO THE ANIMALS (I believe this one an Oscar?)

If I could talk to the animals.
Just imagine if.
Chatting with a chimp chimpanzee.
Imagine talking to the tiger.
Chatting with the cheetah.
What a neat achievement it would be.

If we could talk to the animals.
And learn there languages.
Maybe take an animal to agree.

I'd study elephant and eagle.
Buffalo and beagle.
Alligator, guinea pig, and Flea.

I would converse in Polar bear pathon.
I wouldn't curse in fluent Kangaroo.
If people asked me can you speak rhinoceros.
I'd say of causurus.
Can't you.

If I could flirt with a fury friends.
Man the animal.
Think of the amazing repartee.

If I could walk with the animals.
And talk with the animals.
Grunt,
Squeak
And squawk with the animals.
And love they could talk to me.

If I could talk to the animals.
Think what fun we'd have.
Asking over crocodiles for tea.
Or maybe lunch with two or three lions.
Walruses and sea lions.
What a lovely place the world would be.

If I spoke slang to an orangutan.
Oh the advantages.
Any fool on earth can plainly see.

Discussing ease and art and dramas.
With intellectual llamas.
That's a big steep for a dual of three.

I'd learn to speak in antelope and turtle.
My Pekinese would be extremely good.
If I were asked to sing in Hippopotamus
I'd say why-not-amus
And I would.

Stop and think of it .
There's no doubt of it.
I could win a place in history.

If I could walk with the animals.
And talk to the animals.
Grunt, Squeak,
And squawk with the animals.
And they could. Squeak, and Squawk,
and Speak and Talk To me.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 9:21pm

While Leslie Bricusse has come up with some very good lyrics (and some really dreadful ones), his music is monotonous and seems to have a range of four notes.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 9:28pm

I agree that some of his work is a bit pedestrian and corney. But he created enough credible music, performed by some great singers in some famous films/musical to land him in the hall of fame. Certaintly more than I knew before my research.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 10:04pm

Thanks, Best12bars. I always thought I was the only person on earth that thought Scrooge was brilliant. I also got a kick out of his "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" score.

Posted: 3/23/06 at 2:49am

"To kill outside St. Paul's
requires a lot of balls."

'nuff said.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 2:56am

I enjoy his work on VICTOR/VICTORIA. I have no idea why people are so hard on that show...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 3:25am

I adore his work. Scrooge is awesome. Doctor Dolittle has one of my favorite songs of all time: "Where are the Words" and his work on Victor/Victoria is pretty enjoyable. I love "Paris Makes Me Horny". It's hysterical. I hate that people say things that are so negative about the show, the lyrics and that song in particular without even realizing that the lyrics are so original and absolutely dead on perfect for the character. in reverse, it's my opinion that it was probably rather difficult for him to come up with such odd rhymes. it's written as if she's making up the words as she goes along and I would imagine that he spent probably longer then you'd think in order to make it come off as such without the lyrics actually being ones that just came off the top of his head...

even Doctor Dolittle, the current US tour aside, the OLCR is one of my favorite cast recordings in my collection. it's vastly different, and far superior to the revisions made for the current tour, and judging from the pictures the design aspects of the show were gargantuan -- which, at least for me is always really fun. and the animals were by the Jim Henson creature shop which should have been kept for the current tour as well, but then the show is only 90 minutes now so I wonder, really, why they even bothered in the first place picking such a perfect show and then messing with it until it's unrecognizable. the music and lyrics (in their correct order) are not the problem with this show and I really feel hurt when people bash the score. it's one of my favorites... Updated On: 3/23/06 at 03:25 AM

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 6:48am

I damn well love all of his work and I'm terribly glad to own most of the recordings from "Stop the world...", "The Roar...", "Dr. Doolittle OLC", "Charly and the Chocolate Factory" to "Goodbye Mr. Chips", "Sherlock Holmes" and "Scrooge". And to anyone who says his music were monotonous: you probably haven't listened to a lot of oevre. He actually writes anything but monotonous.

[tophertilson]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 7:00am

He was brilliant in his day. I choose to ignore his more recent efforts. J&H never happened as far as I'm concerned...

TT

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:00am

How about " When I Look In Your Eyes" from Dr. Doolittle? That cute little song that Rex Harrison sings to his seal! In fact Linda Eder sang it at one of her Lenape concerts.

I think I should interview Leslie!

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:03am

I was so mad that the St Paul's line kept popping in my head when I went to the cathedral. Far too beautiful to be marred by such shoddy lyrics.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:05am

Love for Scrooge here..."Happiness", "Christmas Children", "Christmas Carol"...and I sing "I Hate People" under my breath while walking the streets of Manhattan

[EganFan2]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:07am

I've always liked his work on Jekyll and Hyde, and on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Especially "Pure Imagination".

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:57am

I'm much more fond of the stuff he did with Anthony Newley than some of the others. I was actually going to catch Anthony Newley in a tour of Victor/Victoria at one point, but sadly, he died before the tour came to be.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:16am

PB ENT.---I would love it if you interviewed Leslie! One of the things I'd be curious to know is how he feels about his older work (for Scrooge, Dolittle, Wonka, etc.). Did he get a sense then that his songs would still be around and appreciated today?

Scrooge was a critical hit (with a few Oscar noms and a Golden Globe win for Finney), but a financial flop. It has only entered the (well-deserved) realm of "classics" in recent years with TV airings and home video releases. Hey, it's in good company... "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story" also did poor to mediocre business in their initial releases! Dolittle was a flop financially, but managed to pull a Best Picture nomination. Only Wonka did well right off the bat as a summer movie back in 1971.

Yet, they're all around today... and probably enjoying greater success now than they did back then! I'd be curious as to what Mr. Bricusse might say about that.

Oh, and on a REALLY obscure side note--- I remember his WONDERFUL theme song (co-written by George Aliceson Tipton) for a 1980 TV sitcom called "I'm a Big Girl Now," starring Danny Thomas and Diana Kanova (who also sang the tune). This show didn't last very long, but I still remember the song to this day. Speaking of TV theme songs, he also wrote the lyrics to the catchy, contrapuntal ditty for that popular waitress show known as "It's a Living."

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:29am

B12B...The "It's a Living" theme is classic...I never knew that Bricusse wrote it!

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:43am

PB ENT.---I would love it if you interviewed Leslie!

That being the case, I have just wisked off an email to Leslie respectfully requesting an interview. We shall wait for a reply.


Thanks,
Pati b/PB Ent.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 12:31pm

I'm on pins and needles!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 12:50pm

I played in a pit orchestra for Roar of the Greasepaint. For the claims above that his music (credited to Bricusse and Anthony Newley) is monotonous and has a range of four notes, I have to say, not from my experience. It was murderously difficult to play, and I could have used an extra two or three fingers. That may be due to the orchestrations by Phil Lang, but still, it was extremely challenging. When one of the songs slipped into C flat, I think I cried.