Songfacts®:

• This Burt Bacharach and Hal David song was one of the first hits for the duo. In the UK it reached #1 and it succeeded another Bacharach/David number, Michael Holliday's version of "The Story of My Life." It was the first instance of the same writers penning consecutive British chart-toppers. Both songs, co-incidentally, featured whistling. In the US this was the B-side of the #1 single "Catch A Falling Star," however it still climbed to #4.
• When Perry Como recorded this song he was a very popular star. The singer was one of the highest-paid performers of the late 1950s and his Perry Como Show was the most successful television variety show of the time, in both the UK and US.
• In 2009 The Performing Rights Society revealed the songs most played in public places (shopping centers, bars, TV, radio etc) in the UK over the last 75 years. And it turned out this tune was the ninth played song ever in Britain since 1934.
• Another version was recorded by English balladeer Ronnie Hilton around the same time. His recording reached #22. It was also covered by the synthpop duo Erasure on their 1997 album Cowboy.
• This song featured in the 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the 2004 movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
• In the UK, the song was revived for a Quality Street confectionery advertising campaign during the 1980s.