Message To Michael

"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 May 1966 "Message to Michael" became Warwick's first Top 20 hit since "Reach Out for Me" 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; Billboard's 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". The song re-recorded for Warwick ill fated 2006 album "My Friends & Me" as a duet with Cyndi Lauper.