“I’m a big Burt Bacharach fan. I had the pleasure of working with Linda Perry on a Pink record, and we got to talking about songwriting. We were discussing Burt Bacharach, and she said, ‘That guy’s got the gift of melody.’ It’s something you either have or you don’t, and in the case of Burt, he’s got more than most people.

“To me, this is very sexy music. Even my wife, who is considerably younger than me, will say, ‘Wow, that’s really horny music!’ [Laughs] And she wasn’t even born when this stuff came out. There’s just something about the time when Burt made these records – he was very good at portraying the playboy image. The music fit him, and he fit the music.

“The reason why I like this record is because I prefer the way he sang his songs. He was never a perfect singer – he struggles to get his melodies out. Obviously, he could never do what somebody like Dionne Warwick did – who could? But I love how imperfect he is when he does his own material. He achieves an intimacy that pulls you right in.”