(UMOD)

The scorching sun is dragging itself across an azure sky, condensation coats the outside of a long glass of continental beer, and the sound of waves kissing the sand can just be heard over the music playing from a nearby speaker…

The perfect summer soundtrack needs to be something special. It doesn't want to intrude on your holiday reading or set the wrong sort of mood. But you can always rely on the classics…

Tracks crafted with effortless grace by the greatest songwriters of their generation, timeless moments of perfection which deserve their places in posterity. Nothing unfamiliar, but comfortably assured, a roll call of musical masterpieces.

Burt Bacharach and Hal David are the team supreme behind many of these songs, with a who's who of performers including the likes of Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Matt Monro, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.

Creating music this good just can't be as easy as they seem to have made it.