Pheaturing Burt Bacharach And Daniel Tashian

 

Rabbit. Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Friday and the start of a brand new year... 2021. This month aliens will probably invade earth. Not only is it now 2021 but this is the 15th year of the Phile and the final year of the Phile. Don't all get upset at once. It'll be okay. Let's just enjoy it until it lasts, shall we? I think its cute we're all pretending shit will be back to normal today. I love that for us. Man, 2020 was clearly not over yet, as people were still wreaking havoc all over the United States. A viral video surfaced of a group of young bicyclists attacking BMW in New York, terrorizing a man and woman in their 50s. And no one knows why yet. The cyclists surrounded the vehicle at Fifth Avenue and 21st Street in Manhattan, around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, pounding on the luxury car with their fists in broad daylight for everyone to see. The video of the animalistic attack was caught on a cellphone and posted to social media, where it went viral. In the video, you can see one biker get a running start and jump up onto the BMW’s hood, jumping on the windshield and causing it to cave in. NYPD called for a change bigger than the situation at hand, saying, “This was an animalistic attack in broad daylight. It shows how far the city has deteriorated and the politicians better get their heads out of the sand and start to deal with these problems before there is nothing left.” Apparently, this isn’t the first time this group has attacked a vehicle around NYC. According to the New York Post, the group had also attacked a taxi cab just a short time later. Right now, no one is sure as to why and how this group started coming after seemingly random vehicles, and it’s also still unclear if any arrests have been made. Nevertheless, police officers are calling for action because the situation seems to be escalating. At one point, one assailant was seen lifting his two-wheeler up and slamming it down on the BMW, as reported by the Daily News. The police department is asking that if anyone knows anything, that they call into Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. 

We all know to really and truly be careful about what you ask for because you just might actually get it. And in this case, this guy definitely deserved it. It is never okay to use the n-word, in any situation by anyone, and this guy was not only asking to get his butt whooped by his actions but he stupidly, literally asked to get beat up. This viral video shows a white man, seemingly wasted (and if not, then causing an unnecessary disturbance and ruckus) at a Circle K gas station in Elyria, Ohio, hurling profane words at the customer behind him, who is a black man. The video reveals the white man making obscene sexual remarks about the black man’s mother and hurling racial slurs, using the n-word freely. The black man at first does his best to ignore this guy in front of him, because anyone with decent common sense wouldn’t waste their time on an idiot making racist slurs at a convenience store. But then the white customer just takes it too far. As the victim of the racial slurs grabs a can of Twisted Tea, which I assume he came to the Ohio gas station intending to grab a quick drink and go home to relax, the aggressor taunts his victim, literally asking him to smack him in the face. The patient, but obviously irritated customer loads up into a cautioning stance, giving this idiot one more chance to actually shut up. But of course, the dumb-dumb keeps popping off, and so the tired customer goes at him with the spiked iced tea. The white man is totally thrown off, and as the fight continues on the floor, the black man is clearly stronger and in more control of the situation. “I asked you not to call me a nigger,” he says, as he holds the perpetrator on the floor. He picks him up and whisks him off towards the exit, not entertaining the situation any longer. I have no idea what makes it okay for this guy to do this in the city of Elyria, but this isn’t okay anywhere, ever. According to the Chronicle-telegram, a local newspaper, the incident was not reported to the police, but the video went viral on social media. I won’t fail to mention that the reasonable guy was wearing a face mask, while his oppressor wasn’t. Let’s not forget that COVID is still haunting our country, but even a pandemic isn’t going to stop just because of a brawl. Nevertheless, this was handled with as much class as possible, and I have to hand it to the victim for keeping his cool and not wasting any more time than he needed to on someone like that.

The Trump Administration and the United States Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against Walmart for allegedly unlawfully filling thousands of invalid prescriptions, as well as failing to report suspicious orders of opioids and other drugs that were placed through its pharmacies. The Justice Department is seeking billions of dollars in penalties in claiming that the massive department store has contributed heavily to the rising opioid crisis. Authorities from the federal government have alleged “hundreds of thousands of violations” of the Controlled Substances Act, with Jeffrey Bossert Clark, the acting chief of Justice’s Civil Division, saying, “As one of the largest pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors in the country, Walmart had the responsibility and the means to help prevent the diversion of prescription opioids. Instead, for years, it did the opposite … This unlawful conduct contributed to the epidemic of opioid abuse throughout the United States.” The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Timothy Shea, also explained that the retailer’s pharmacies have been filling illegitimate prescriptions, saying, “Too many lives have been lost because of oversight failures and those entrusted with responsibility turning a blind eye.” This civil complaint is a result of a years-long Justice Department’s investigation by the Prescription Interdiction & Litigation Task Force of how the retail giant has been filling opioid prescriptions, ignoring warnings from even its very own doctors and pharmacists, according to the Wall Street Journal. Federal officials said, “As the operator of its pharmacies, Walmart knowingly filled thousands of controlled substance prescriptions that were not issued for legitimate medical purposes or in the usual course of medical practice, and that it filled prescriptions outside the ordinary course of pharmacy practice.” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel J. Feith of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch commented on Walmart’s distribution centers saying, “For years, Walmart failed to meet its obligations in distributing and dispensing dangerous opioids and other drugs. We look forward to advancing this case with our DOJ partners,” and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss also said, “The misuse of prescription painkillers is a public health crisis. DEA registrants must understand that licensure is a privilege, not a right. Whenever that privilege is abused, whether by the smallest local provider or the largest national chain, our office and the Department of Justice will take all necessary steps to enforce the law and keep the public safe.” So what does this mean for one of America’s biggest department stores? Well, according to the civil complaint, if Walmart is found liable, the company could face, “up to $67,627 for each unlawful prescription filled and $15,691 for each suspicious order not reported. The court may also award injunctive relief to prevent Walmart from committing further CSA violations.” 

Many Wonder Woman fans were surprised that Steve Trevor returned in Wonder Woman 1984. After all, the character was believed to be dead after his plane was blown out of the sky at the end of the first Wonder Woman movie. It turns, those events still took place, and Steve didn’t miraculously survive the explosion. Steve was brought back to live in the body of another person in Wonder Woman 1984 thanks to the power of the Dreamstone. The Dreamstone gives the bearer any wish they desire, no matter how small or large. But there is a catch. It will take away something from you of value. Diana wishing for Tevor's return from the Dreamstone ended up wishing for Steve to return to life when she held the Dreamstone, although she did not realize that the stone actually had that kind of power at the end. Although her wish did end up making Steve return to life, the Dreamstone took away much of her power, which resulted in her being significantly weaker throughout the movie. Though the movie thoroughly explained how the Dreamstone worked, it doesn’t explain what happened to Steve Trevor in the end. It became clear in the movie that in order to restore the world to balance, everyone must rescind their wishes. That includes Diana's wish for Steve Trevor to be in her life. Steve realizes this and forces Diana to realize the error of her ways and that she must undo the wish that granted him a second chance at life. In Steve’s final moments he tells Diana, “I had a great life. And you only made it better. But you know what you need to do. The world needs you” Diana then shakes her head and cries and tells Steve, “I’ll never love again.” To which Steve responds, “I pray that isn’t true. There’s a wonderful, big world out there. This crazy new world. And I am so happy I got to see it… but it deserves you… I’m already gone. I’ll always love you, Diana, no matter where I am. I love you.” Wonder Woman then renounces her wish as she walks away from Steve. That’s the last we ever see of Steve Trevor in the movie. So what happened to Steve after this scene? Whenever a character renounces their wish, the gift of the Dreamstone is revoked and whatever was taken was given back. Diana got back her powers after renouncing the wish, so we must believe that Steve returns to wherever he was before the movie began. For this reason, we assume Steve is back in DC’s version of Heaven, or wherever souls reside when they die. Steve briefly described this earlier in the film, “ I remember taking the plane up and then nothing, really. Nothing. But somehow, I know I’ve been someplace since then. Someplace that’s, uh… I can’t really put words to it. But it’s... It’s good. And then I… woke up here.” Director Patty Jenkins left a lot to our imaginations. It’s always been a trick of studios to leave the ending ambiguous so that they can mysteriously return the character back in a pinch. For instance, Darth Maul ended up returning to Star Wars canon, despite what looked like his clear demise at the end of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Now he could even return in the new Obi-Wan series. Other burning questions fans had after watching Wonder Woman 1984 include what did the kid wish for? And what happened to Barbara Minerva? And who is Asteria in Greek Mythology? 

The Armed Forces Bowl Thursday in Forth Worth, Texas could have perhaps used some armed forces to break up what went down on the field. After a pregame skirmish, a few extra-curricular hits went down on the final play of the game, an onside kick. When the clocks struck zero, all hell broke loose, both Mississippi State and Tulsa getting into a massive brawl that covered the span of 40-yards with countless punches and kicks exchanged between players. What a fitting ending to 2020. The Bulldogs ended up taking the game 28-26.

Speaking of football some NFL teams have changed their logos this season. Here's another one that was changed...

If I had a TARDIS I would probably end up at the ppening ceremony of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. 

The U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which was met with a similar boycott of the 1984 games in Los Angeles. So, is this year gonna be better?

Probably not. Does a Christmas present have the potential to cause tension in a family? This one did. One Phile reader who is a 28-year-old with a 30-year-old half-sister named Amanda. When the response to their 50-year-old father’s gift for Amanda got family backlash, she turned to the Phile and asked, “Am I wrong for yelling at my dad and calling him a monster for what he gave my sister as a Christmas ‘gift?'” 

“My sister Amanda never met her bio-mom. My dad raised her alone until she was barely one, my dad and my mom got married in 1992. Amanda knew that my mom wasn’t her bio-mother, she started pressuring my dad for information on her mom when she was around 17. My dad always gave her vague answers and refused to talk about her bio mom, which put a strain on their relationship. Enter our uncle who revealed the ‘family secret.' Apparently Amanda’s mom wanted an abortion (she was 19), but my dad and his parents were able to ‘bribe’ her. They offered her money if she followed up with the pregnancy and she accepted. My grandparents sold one of their houses and gave half of that money to Amanda’s mom when the pregnancy was viable, and the other half she received when she waived her parental rights over Amanda to let my mom adopt her when she was 4. My uncle wasn’t supposed to tell her that and my grandparents were furious. Amanda stopped her crusade to meet her bio-mom and her relationship with my dad went back to normal. Amanda never mentioned her bio-mom again. A month ago, Amanda found out that she was pregnant. The pregnancy was an accident when she switched birth controls. The problem being, Amanda is about to start her surgical residency and her hours are insane. It is basically impossible to raise a baby while working in that rhythm, so she wanted an abortion. The problem is that Mark her fiancé wanted her to keep the baby. It caused a big fight. In a dick move to convince Amanda to keep the baby, Mark told dad about this (until that point no one in our family knew about this). Dad talked with her and they got into an enormous fight. Amanda got the abortion 10 days ago. Mark ended up breaking up with her. She is obviously really sad. My dad was acting like a jerk. He was pretending that Amanda didn’t exist. He didn’t want to talk to or see her. So on Christmas day, we were exchanging gifts. When everyone had already finished giving each other gifts dad got up and gave Amanda her ‘present.' He gave her an envelope in front of everyone and told her to open it. It was 3 pictures with something written on the back, a name, an address and a phone number. Dad told her that he was tired of ‘babying’ her, that this is a photo of her bio-mom and her two sons. That was her bio-mom’s address, and that he contacted her bio-mom and she is willing to speak with Amanda. Dad thinks that they will have ‘a great relationship since they are so similar.' Amanda broke down crying. I ended up in a fight with dad, called him a monster for doing that to her. He just said he ‘was just tired’ and left. We ended up leaving and she spent the rest of Christmas crying on my shoulder. She is a mess since that. My younger brothers called me a grinch for making a scene and ruining Christmas. My mom was silent during the whole thing. My parents have been giving me the cold shoulder since Christmas. Jason, am I wrong here? I don’t know why he acted like this, I swear normally he is very calm and easygoing. I mean this without any jealously, but Amanda always was my dad’s favorite as well. She was always a daddy’s girl (I was too, but she was WAY more) and she was basically his shadow growing up. They were really close. My mom also always favorited her a bit more, I really don’t know why they are doing this. I’m actually really confused." You are not wrong. Daaamn what your dad did is messed up. I get that abortion might be a sore topic for some people but one on, that was just a plain and simple dick move to do. He deliberately preyed on Amanda’s fears and insecurities and is subjecting her to mental abuse. It could’ve hit on some sore points he had about Amanda’s bio-mom. He might have kinda thought what would’ve happened if Amanda's bio mom had done this, so whiplash effect… understandable motive but still a dick move for what he did. Your dad is mature enough to know that what he had quite obviously planned for the night would have some consequences and backlash, and if your family thinks making your daughter cry on Christmas isn’t enough to ruin dinner then maybe they should reevaluate their priorities. I'm so sorry for you and your sister. Your sister’s bio mom did nothing wrong. Your sister probably can understand where her bio mom was coming from. Just be there for your sister. Maybe encourage her to reach out to bio mom when she is feeling up to it, it could help her a lot. Your reaction to your father’s deliberately cruel and callous gift for Amanda was warranted. If you have a problem you wintry opinion on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. 

If you spot the Mindphuck then let me know. Okay, now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said About How Low People's Standards Are For 2021 New Year's Resolutions

5. New Years resolutions for 2021 are gonna be like travel to the other side of the room, wear a different shirt, cut screen time from 12 hours a day to 11, eat a vegetable, bathe. 

4. My 2021 resolutions are drink more water, try to be less of a bitch.

3. My New Years resolutions is to get ready more and do my make-up but I already know that shit ain't gonna happen. 

2. I just remembered my New Years resolution was "be more social" and "get out more." Rest assured, I'm not doing that this year. 

And the number one thing said about how low people's standards are for 2021 New Years's resolutions is...

1. For my New Years resolution I'm giving up. 

Drama, drama, drama. Will American politics ever be more about the good of the people instead of the technicalities of drama ensuing between politicians? President Donald Trump has used his presidential pardon power to its fullest in granting clemency to over 90 people, sparking controversy all over the United States. A few of his recent controversial, but unsurprising full pardons included former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, political ally Roger Stone, and wealthy real estate developer Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father. Jared Kushner is President Trump’s son-in-law, married to his daughter Ivanka Trump, and the senior adviser to the president. And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had a few things to say about this. Charles Kushner served a 14-month prison sentence of a two-year sentence in federal prison for tax evasion, false statements, illegal campaign contributions, lying to the Federal Election Commission, and witness tampering. This included paying a prostitute $25,000 to seduce his brother-in-law so that he could tape the encounter with a hidden camera and send to his own sister, after finding out his brother-in-law was aiding federal authorities who were investigating him. Christie, Trump’s longtime friend and ally, was the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case back in 2004 explained that the case highlighted the “extraordinary” work of his office, telling ABC News, “What it doesn’t overshadow is the extraordinary work that my office did 16 years ago. Let’s remember, the case was not tried. Mr. Kushner pled guilty. So we’ll stand on the record of our prosecution at that time and of the conduct that was engaged in the case.” He also called the charges against Kushner, “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes.” The White House, in announcing the pardoning, said, “his “record of reform and charity overshadows Mr. Kushner’s conviction and a two-year sentence for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation, and making false statements.” But Christie had told PBS last year, “Mr. Kushner pled guilty, he admitted the crimes. So what am I supposed to do as a prosecutor? If a guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, and videotapes it, and then sends the videotape to his sister in an attempt to intimidate her from testifying before a grand jury, do I really need any more justification than that?” Christie has also had his tiffs with Trump recently. After contracting the coronavirus, he admitted to being “wrong” for not wearing a mask during White House events and has criticized the Republican president for not accepting his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. And as of recently, Christie claimed that he would not rule out running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, even if Trump runs also. 

Dawn Wells 

October 18th, 1938 — December 30th, 2020 

Okay, we can finally put this one to rest: Mary Anne was the hot one. 

Pierre Cardin 

July 2nd, 1922 — December 29th, 2020 

Say what you want... dude made some WEIRD ass clothes.

The 143rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Matthew will be on the Phile in a few weeks. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, New York, shall we?

Looks like a rainy day there. 

This is pretty cool to start the year off... one of today's guests is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who has composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, his songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. He is considered one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music. The other guest is an American songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. They both have a new EP out called "Blue Umbrella" which is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Burt Bacharach and Daniel Tashian.

Me: Wow! Welcome to the Phile, gentlemen. It's so cool to have you both on the Phile for the first entry of the 15th year and last year of the Phile. How are you both? 

Burt: Pleasure to be here. 

Daniel: Thank you, Jason, I'm good. 

Me: You have a new EP out called "Blue Umbrella." It's a good record, I like it. You two mist be proud of it, am I right?

Burt: I like to hear that. It's music to your ears, Daniel, right? 

Daniel: Yeah, we're off to a good start. This interview has the right tone. 

Me: Good! I think you should have released it as "Tasharach" instead of Burt Bacharach and Daniel Tashian. What do you think? 

Daniel: Sounds like a great liquor someone would have after dinner. 

Me: Ha! So, Burt, sir, what was it like working with Daniel? 

Burt: Flawless. It got easier by the day, by the month, by the time spent. He is a special guy and a good friend. I never know what I'm going to get into something like this. I come in with reservations, I come in with insecurities, I don't come in with it's my way or no way. So it was not pre-planned, not pre-set up, our paths crossed when they crossed. 

Daniel: That's true, Burt, I feel very lucky when they did. Thank you for saying that, I'm very find of you too. 

Me: So, Daniel, how was it like working with such a legend as Burt? 

Daniel: We do have to go through a little phase to learn how to work with someone but it was remarkably brief with Burt. It almost seemed like it was seamless, as soon as we started mixing some of the words I things that I had and some of the musical things he had going there wasn't like any real great mountain to climb or anything, We just kind of caught fire and it was just we were off and running. 

Me: You have a song on the EP called "Bells of St. Augustine," and I'm not sure if you're singing about the St. Augustine here in Florida. Anyway, it has some different kind of singing on it I think. What was it like singing that song, Daniel? 

Daniel: This may make me sound like sort of a lecturey kind of uncle or something but it's almost the kind of thing that I wished more long people would focus themselves on a specific melody as opposed to singing licks. There's a great joy of singing something specific and to try to really detail and outline that melody with my voice it's just one of the best things about life and I have to think of myself as sort of an instrument and really kind of focus myself that way. It's a good challenge and a challenge I want to have more in my life and that I want to share with other artists in my life that I work with. 

Me: So, Burt, I heard or read that you are very particular about melody, am I right? 

Burt: Yes, and how syllables might land on particular notes. You are right, Jason. 

Me: Ha! Can you give me an example of that? 

Burt: Yes. With the song "That's What Friends Are For" Carole Bayer Sager had to start the song with "And I," she was not going to get away with just "I." 

Me: Why is that? 

Burt: Living with her and fighting with her until, she finally said "surrender" meant to me a big world of difference because it became a bit more conversational than just saying "I never thought I'd feel this way..." than just "I." Letting the audience into the story. 

Daniel: It's also sometimes we hear a story like that and we think we don't want to be on the wrong side of history, so the best thing to do is trust this man when he has an instinct about a melody. Hahahaha. 

Me: So, what that the same process, making sure the lyric fits on a fixed melody? 

Burt: We work a lot with lyrics first. Daniel would send me something, I'd send him something back. Listen, having a start like we had which was best of all worlds for Daniel in a sense that he just won a Grammy for producer of the year the night before and we didn't know each other. We've spoken on the phone but A) he was in a celebratory mood, he just won a Grammy. That's a big thing. He brought his guitar, came over, who knew what we were going to get. But I liked the guy so much. 

Daniel: I like you too, Burt, very much. I like you. 

Burt: That was the real help because working with somebody and creating something and I like that person. I remember when I used to write with Hal David, Hal would go leave the Brill Building by 5 o'clock and I'd go back over to my apartment and that was about it, then we'd meet again. So there are different ways of going about it. I wouldn't say it was easy being married to Carole Bayer Sager and we wrote some really good songs but imagine being married and that's what you do. I get up, then worry about whether there was too much of a tight end of the vocals and then I came home and had dinner and went to bed and then get up the next day and do it all over again. 

Me: Daniel, what was the process like for you working with Burt? 

Daniel: It was a process of growth for me and a process of joy really because I realized he's not any different from anybody, or me, in the sense that our best guide of navigating through something is by feel and by instinct. That's Burt's way of navigating through music too. He likes to close his eyes and really feel what his instinct is telling him about it. So when I work with somebody like Burt that heighten that aspect within myself. I realize hey, I'm going to trust my gut on this and this is what my gut is telling me. That's not even mentioning the friendship side of Burt and I. We talk on the phone, we tell each other the struggles that we each having in our own fears and families and trying to manage life during a pandemic. And the life of working songwriters that are trying to get things accomplished, trying to get songs recorded, trying to get recordings, trying to get vocals finished, there's a lot to do. Burt said this before and I agree, music is a lifesaver in these times. 

Burt: Sure has been for me. Absolutely for me. I try to get exercise, I try to get fresh air, try to stay away from people, not go outside. These are very difficult times. But as there thing evolved and the more Daniel and I started to finish these songs it just kind of grew. And the possibilities grew. The fact the EP is done and now out we're still writing. 

Daniel: Yeah, man, we've got some bangers in the works. Ha ha ha ha. 

Me: So, you're working in two different places now? 

Daniel: Yeah, me in Nashville and Burt in the Pacific Palisades in L.A. 

Burt: It's just a different way of doing it. I have never done that but it can be done. With these two new songs we are working on my reservation was "how is it gong to sound?" Is it the same sound we get in the studio with drums? So I got a couple of rough mixes from Daniel and it was a great relief for me to hear yeah, it certainly sounds like studio quality. 

Daniel: Also I'm noticing is this time it's given that feeling like I got something to prove a little bit for me. I really want to show that it's possible to do it this way and have great results. I think it's a good place to come from when I'm making something to have it come from having something to prove kind of place. Ha ha ha. 

Burt: It makes a lot of sense to me. 

Me: Why is that, sir? 

Burt: Because maybe Daniel knew it was really going to sound okay studio wise. 

Daniel: I hoped but I don't think I did know for sure. Its just something that is unfolding as we go but it is encouraging because it is sounding good. 

Burt: Absolutely. 

Me: So, is the song "Midnight Watch" about what is happening now? It sounds very timely. 

Daniel: It's a song about vigilance, man, and you're absolutely right, Jason. Vigilance can be hard to maintain for long periods of time, and it can be very tiresome. That's why we need the relief of good old fashion humming and strumming. 

Me: So, Burt, do you add any lyrics to the songs? 

Burt: Absolutely. Daniel: 

Daniel: He's very gracious about that but he does contribute lyrical thoughts. He just sent me a chorus basically there other day of a song we are working on called "Quiet Place" that is exactly what the song needed to lift it and I can't wait for you and your readers to hear the song. And another song called "21st Century Man" that we're in the process of recording now and they're going to be coming out soon. The question was does he contribute lyrics and he totally does. 

Me: Daniel, did you study Hal David's writing style on how he wrote lyrics for Burt? 

Daniel: Man, if you're me and you're trying to get something done you'd look for help anywhere. I mean if it's a milkshake that someone is bringing me, somebody's passing me a joint, or anything. A breath of fresh air, a walk. phone call, I need anything I can get for inspiration. Of course I want someone to look over my shoulder, I want to learn from the past but I also don't want to be hemmed in by it. I want to feel free to take it to a place that is unique to me and things that are tugging at my own sleeve rather than imitation. 

Me: So, you must be happy to still be writing songs after all this time, right, Burt? 

Burt: That's a very interesting thing. We are not in the same city, we are in different places, we both have families, we are both worried, we are both scared, It's just terrible how out of control things are. It's just great to have written these songs and be writing with Daniel and to get my mind of the heaviness of the day and the fear of the day. Daniel's got young kids, they went back to school and how that was handled. We have butchered our response in this country. Trump should go to jail for how he jeopardized this country like this. 

Daniel: It's a catastrophe wrapped in a disaster. 

Me: So, Burt, do you play the piano every day? 

Burt: It is a good premise. I used to believe that if I went to the piano every day, but I'd be duping myself because there'll be some days I didn't go to the piano. But it sounds good in press releases having doing an interview like this. Yes, I get to the piano every day even if nothing happens I get to the piano every day. Maybe something will come about it, if it doesn't it's okay too. But that's bullshit. I don't get to the piano every day. I like the premise if I play the piano every day I never know what I'm going to come up with. 

Daniel: He doesn't need to get to the piano, the music goes on. It's like what John Cage said, "sleep if you want to, your work will go on." I remember there was a big debate whether if we could close our eyes and play "The Star Spangled Banner" in our mind then we didn't need to go to the piano every day. 

Burt: You mentioned John Cage, wow, out of left field comes John Cage. 

Daniel: Well, he had a lot of great saying about stuff. 

Me: So, Burt, when you write music how do you remember it? 

Burt: I notate ideas. 

Me: Okay, so your songs are so well known and they have been covered so many times, is there any version you think is better than the original version? 

Burt: Yes, for example Dionne Warwick singing "Say a Little Prayer" in the studio but four months later Aretha got it and made the song a hundred percent better. It's seamless. 

Me: Okay, so I have to mention Cilla Black singing "Alfie." What did you think of that performance? 

Burt: That was an endurance test. It's kind of like no prisoners, I'm a nice guy but when I walk into the studio I want everybody to give me a hundred percent. It's hard to get them all to do it at the same time. I did maybe 38 or 40 takes with her in the big studio. She was saying "you're joking." Yeah, then I would go into the studio control room where a guy was who I haven't met named George Martin who said to me, "She had it on take number four." 

Me: Hahaha. Well, thanks, gentlemen, for being on the Phile. I hope it was fun for you. 

Daniel: Jason, thank you. 

Burt: Thanks, Jason, stay safe and stay well. 

Daniel: It's that time where we should lay low. 

Burt: We don't have that kind of time. We don't have the time to lay low. These are days we'll never get back. I don't want to hear from anybody that I know say "I'm bored." "Please give me a break." Enjoy the last year doing your blog. Have a good day. 

Me: You too. Take care.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to both Burt and Daniel for a fun interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with actor Dave Coulier. You know, Joey from "Full House." Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain.

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...