Slim Sampler from Dionne's Last Label
The Aeolian | 03/27/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"There is a good reason why the editors of this product page have not provided a list of the tracks on this CD: this is a paltry compilation (twelve tracks) of Warwick's late stint at Arista Records from 1979-1995, well past the time of the signature Bacharach/David songs that made the singer and the songwriters famous
This CD has a few true hits ("I'll Never Love This Way Again," "Heartbreaker," "Love Power"), a clutch of Adult Contemporary charters ("After You," "Deja Vu," "All the Love in the World," "Run to Me," "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye,"), and the rest is filler, some taken from albums. The rest of the tracks are: "Yours" (didn't chart at all), "Walk Away" (same), "So Amazing," and "I Don't Need Another Love."
Warwick adopted two tactics in this late phase of her career in order to maintain some traction in the music business: duets (Luther Vandross, Barry Manilow, Jeffrey Osborne, and The Spinners are heard here) and collaborating with the Gibbs (four of the tracks in this compilation are Gibb, Gibb, Gibb compositions). Both of these moves were typical of the music business in the 1980s: Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder did a smash teaming; Barbra Streisand sought out the then-magic touch of the Gibbs, etc. Whether Warwick's performances along these lines constitute "Greatest Hits" is moot.
Oddly enough, Warwick's most successful collaboration, "That's What Friends Are For," with friends Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder (what an ensemble!), isn't included in this compilation, possibly because of the intricacies of working out release rights from all those heavy hitters. For those who may have forgotten this moment in pop music history, "That's What Friends Are For" was a cover of a Burt Bacharach/Carol Bayer Sager song first performed by Rod Stewart for the film "Night Shift" (1982). The Warwick/John/Knight/Wonder version was released in 1985 as a charity single with the proceeds going to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The single topped the charts in the USA and the UK, and went on to win the performers the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as Song of the Year for its writers. It also was ranked by Billboard magazine as the most popular song of 1986. Dionne and Friend's version is also listed at #61 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time. But you will have to find it elsewhere.
So now you know more than you knew when you clicked on this title. No Bacharach/David golden oldies, the songs that many fans consider Warwick's greatest Greatest Hits.
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