Dionne's 23-Song Medley

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face
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Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by face »

Fans, does anyone know when Dionne officially dropped her legendary 23-song medley from her concerts? The latest instance I know of is from her 1990 Spain concert. Any ideas?
Dionnefan
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by Dionnefan »

I loved the medley. Her performance of the medley from Hot Live & Otherwise was breathtaking. Unfortunately, I think Dionne dropped it because it was too difficult to sing with her declining vocal abilities.
turnupthemusic
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by turnupthemusic »

I would bet on around 1993/4 because that's when her vocals started to become patchy - but who knows, because Dionne has been known to both struggle through songs in their original key, and lower the key of her songs when she is perfectly capable of singing them in their original key (or close to). I imagine she kept doing it until till even she knew it didn't sound good!
face
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by face »

I didn't intend to create yet another thread rehashing Dionne's "vocal decline," but I was genuinely curious about when the medley disappeared from her concerts and why. She sounded just as good singing it in 1990 as she did in 1980 (just compare Spain and Park West), so I imagine she could have kept it up deep into the 1990s if she wanted to, even with her increasing vocal inconsistency. The medley seemed to be quite a hit with fans and reviewers -- awe-inspiring, in fact -- so I wonder why she got rid of it instead of just lowering the keys/changing the arrangements, as she has done with other songs. She's still singing many of the same songs anyway, just not packed into a marathon medley. It's also probably not a stamina issue, because she still sings straight through most of her shows with little talking breaks and rest. Maybe she just got bored with it after awhile. Who knows.

Dionnefan, I think I read somewhere that the medley from HL&O was actually edited down from the full medley. I'm not sure, however, because she sang a full version of "Alfie" for that concert, which would otherwise have been a part of the full medley. I'd love for someone who owns the CD reissue with liner notes to shed some light on this!
BachtoBacharach
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by BachtoBacharach »

Dionne's concerts are much shorter these days. She generally performs for about an hour, sometimes a little longer, these days versus an average of an hour and a half plus to sometimes two hours in her heyday. I attended many concerts in 1976 where she performed over two hours after she came back for an encore of, usually, I Say a Little Prayer and this was sans the lengthy hits medley. For a while during the mid-seventies, she focused on the "Welcome to My World" intro and proceeded into her Love to Love You Baby" medley and full versions of tunes by Stevie Wonder, Morris Albert (Feelings! really) and others and sang a scant three to five of her biggest Bacharach/David hits in medley form. The "In Performance from Wolf Trap" PBS concert telecast live in the mid-seventies contained about a 8 tune hit medley if I remember correctly. Many concert goers were disappointed regarding their expectation that they would hear Dionne sing more of her Bacharach/David hits during that period. I remember many concert goers remarking "I came to hear Dionne sing her stuff and not to hear her sing everyone else" and that sentiment did cause Dionne to add more of her old hits back to her concerts. Many times in the very late seventies and early eighties, she would not do encores during her concerts because they tended to be longer, in large part due to the greatly expanded "hits" medley which came about in around 1978 or 1979, partially in response to her fans. Her televised concerts on PBS and other outlets tended to be compressed versions of her usual concerts during those days, but the highlight of the Park West concert on HBO in 1980 was the medley. The Rialto concert telecast in 1983 by PBS was a good example of her concert truncated to fit an hour time slot...it was broadcast live. A little less than one hour and the famous hits medley was confined to Walk on By, I Say a Little Prayer, Do You Know the Way to San Jose and I believe Then Came You. From about 1999 through about 2002 concerts, she sang perhaps an 8 to 10 song version of the hits medley with her "new" version of ISALP and DYKTWTSJ and sang several tunes from her "Brazil" album. If she were to add the hits medley in its entirety back to her shows, they would exceed two hours again...not likely she will ever do the medley again as many of the tunes can't be lowered sufficiently in key to match her vocals these days without completely destroying the integrity of the tune...Promises, Promises and a couple of others come to mind, and also I don't believe she has the stamina to pull off a two-plus hour concert these days very often.
face
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by face »

Thanks, as always, B2B. It never occurred to me that it was more of a length issue than a musical issue, but that makes sense. The two times I've seen Dionne in concert, she sang for about 70-75 minutes, so including the half hour medley would leave room for little else. However, I think most fans would be satisfied to hear all of those BB/HD hits and then a half hour of stage patter and other selections, including her Arista hits. Then again, Dionne received some criticism for not singing some of the best BB/HD songs in their entirety back when she was big on the medley, so I guess she can't please everyone!
ron hertel
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by ron hertel »

This impeccably performed medley was the centerpiece of her performances between the late 70's and early 80's when her career was revived following her signing with Clive Davis at Arista and the release of her Manilow produced album "DIONNE". ..... During the 70's - following her breakup with BB & HD - medleys including some of her most popular recordings were performed in a perfunctory manner with little enthusiasm and the critics noticed. Quite understandable given the bitterness that followed that breakup of the BB/HD/DW team. That lack of enthusiasm for her previous work coupled with the lack of commercial success with her 5 Warner Bros albums resulted in concerts that included many covers of other artists hits. Many were terrific including "All In Love Is Fair" and her 2 song medley: "With One More Look At You / Are You Watching Me Now". Unfortunately I do not believe any of these resulted in studio recordings. ....... For the first time Dionne also resorted to some "uncharacteristic stage gimmickry" dressing up as Dorothy and performing some numbers from "THE WIZ" at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas! ...... BachtoBacharach cited Dionne's opening with "Welcome To My World" which was performed beautifully - but the audiences were looking to hear compelling versions of her most commercially successful BB/HD hits instead of her perfunctory " let's get them out of the way" interpretations.

Clive Davis wisely included 13 of those 23 songs on the "Hot, Live & Otherwise" project .... They were impeccably performed and recorded at Harrahs in Reno, Nevada. Additionally - full length versions of "Don't Make Me Over" and "Alfie" were included on the 2 record set. ...... This may have begun to set the stage for the Bacharach/Warwick reunion a few years later. Both Clive Davis and Dionne were well aware of the importance of these classic BB/HD songs to her ongoing career as a recording artist and performer.
Blair N. Cummings
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by Blair N. Cummings »

Nevertheless, the split with Burt and Hal robbed Dionne of her signature sound and robbed the writers of a free pass to chart success.
Barry Manilow couldn`t have saved Dionne and Carole didn`t save Burt.
The undeniable fact is that the divorce was a disaster for all involved, not least their audience.
face
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by face »

I wouldn't quite call the split a disaster for Dionne and Burt (Hal, perhaps, but not the other two). Both Dionne and Burt had huge careers in the 1980s. No, they weren't singing/writing artistic masterpieces like they did in their heyday, but they were certainly popular and successful in those years.

Sometimes I feel like the 1980s is when Dionne's star was at its the brightest, despite her relatively bland material. By this point she was a "legend," and she had serious media penetration. She was everywhere. I understand that she had a big presence in the 1960s and early 1970s, obviously, but there was something iconic about her in the 1980s. I also suspect that this is when her earnings were the highest. She had her legendary past, new hits on the charts (some of which were international, a relative rarity in her Scepter days), TV gigs, major tours, the rights to the BB/HD stuff that she won in the settlement, a sweet record deal, business endeavors (remember her perfume?), and a high profile in general. In 1986, she stated in an interview that everything she had worked so hard for was finally coming to fruition. Also around that time, she mentioned either owning or wanting a Learjet (I can't remember which), saying that she always knew that she'd be a "very wealthy lady," suggesting that that day had finally arrived. Of course, she was also singing better than ever then, especially when she was singing the BB/HD material in concert. At least from a commercial and financial perspective, Dionne recovered well from the split. As for Burt, he wrote some massive hits with Carole -- as big or bigger than the ones he wrote with Hal (though not nearly as enduring) -- and enjoyed his own legendary status in the 1980s. So, no, I wouldn't say that the split was a disaster for all involved, even if they never recaptured the artistic magic of the Scepter years.
BachtoBacharach
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by BachtoBacharach »

Face...Dionne was huge in the 1960s and folks want to tend to minimize that or marginalize that by comparing that to her 80s career...younger folks who weren't there at the time just don't realize how truly big she was then but even critics, DJs and other performers knew she with Bacharach and David were something truly special, unique and rare and their artistry has not been matched before or since...Even bad Dionne Warwick in the 1980s was better than most of the rest but it surely wasn't art by any stretch of the imagination...that's why I have never had much enthusiasm for her post seventies work. Don't forget too that she was filling arena sized venues in the late 60s and early 70s many times drawing up to 10,000 or more and she's not done that since then. She was among the top concert draws in the country in those days...something she didn't match in the 1980s despite all her success then. Even Aretha Franklin played second fiddle to Dionne Warwick as a concert draw during the 60s and early 70s.

As for the sixties concerts, I recall a performance in Chicago in 1968 where she performed "Let Me Be Lonely" which was the "B" side of DYKTWTSJ and had just been flipped by DJs the country over and it was getting tremendous airplay...peaking at #79 that summer which belies its airplay. The tune made the hit bound list on stations across the country. This was the only time I know of that she performed that tune and it was introduced as "I hope you are hearing my latest single release on the Scepter label on the radio...it's entitled 'Let Me Be Lonely'". It was a rousing version of the tune...I also remember her performing Who Is Gonna Love Me with Always Something There to Remind Me in the fall of 1968...although ASTTRM was and is a staple of her concerts, I think that was a handful of times she performed WIGLM. That tune was her second double sided hit of the summer of 1968 and the third in a row...WIGLM peaking at a very respectable #33 and ASTTRM peaking at #65...DJs once again flipped the single, something which had happened with ISALP and (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls, continuing with DYKTWTSJ and LMBL and then WIGLM and ASTTRM. DJs couldn't get enough of Dionne in the mid and late sixties...she was the most programmed female vocalist in radio from 1967 until 1972 according to CashBox Magazine and I don't think anyone before or since has matched that. That was in the day when radio airplay sold records. To me the highpoint of all those concerts was when she performed her "latest Bacharach/David" tune...usually they were soon to be released or just been released.

Here is a link to a great radio aircheck from 93/KHJ Los Angeles in May 1968 while DYKTWTSJ was in the top 10, 'Let Me Be Lonely' was hitbound!
Paste this link in your browser to hear the aircheck or click on the link:
http://airchexx.com/2011/04/13/johnny-w ... eles-1968/
ron hertel
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by ron hertel »

BachtoBacharach:

We share many of the same recollections. After discovering who Dionne was during my college years in 1964 - I first saw her perform at Mister Kelly's (now Gibson's Steak House) on Rush Street in Chicago back in 1967. Between 1967 and 1970 I attended Warwick Concerts at The Civic Opera House, The famed Auditorium Theater and the annual summer Ravinia Music Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. .......... You are absolutely right when you say the highpoint of those concerts was when she performed her latest BB/HD tune. Remember her saying? ... "My latest recording on the Scepter Label".

Some of the most memorable introductions at that time were for "Say A Little Prayer", "Let Me Go To Him", "Message to Michael" and "Promises Promises" (audiences immediately loved those songs). Dionne was one of the few artists who could perform a song like it was recorded. Only later in her career did she begin "messin-with-em". ...... I do not remember her mentioning or crediting Burt or Hal until Burt came into his own as a performer and she recorded "Promises Promises". ..... Throughout the 70's and up until 2011 - I have seen Dionne perform throughout the country innumerable times - she understandably lost much of her enthusiasm for her BB/HD material in the 70's; however, she performed many stellar covers made famous by others and attempted to reignite the flame with some Warner releases that were really quite good! ....... Things turned around for her beginning in 1979 when she joined the Arista roster (that's a whole separate topic!)
face
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by face »

Thanks. You know, whenever we compare Dionne's 1960s career with her 1980s career, three thoughts come to mind: 1) the changing nature of pop culture and entertainment by the 80s might have something to do with the perception that Dionne was at her biggest then -- celebrities were simply more heavily exposed in the 80s than they were in the 60s; 2) entertainment in the 60s was still largely dominated by white men, so Dionne's achievements, even if they may seem relatively modest by later standards, were quite a feat then; and 3) singers simply sold more records in the 80s than in the 60s, especially post Thriller. It was the era of the blockbuster. I will accept your informed opinions that Dionne was the biggest female in the game in the 60s, and that means something, even if she wasn't selling gazillions of records and having one number-one smash after another, like superstars of later times. Relative to other singers, she was huge, and it seems that she was less huge relative to others in the 80s. So, it seems that comparing the two eras is like comparing apples and oranges.

Finally, I should say that part of my perception of Dionne's success in the 80s is drawn from her own words. She seems to cite those days as her peak. How many times has she said that 1980 was her "absolute golden year," or cited the "incredible heights" that she reached in the mid 80s? She was a legend by then, and she knew it. However, I wasn't alive in the 1960s, so I will defer to you veterans about Dionne's star power and overall popularity through the years!
BachtoBacharach
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Re: Dionne's 23-Song Medley

Post by BachtoBacharach »

More than an informed opinion, my friend. Aretha and Dionne Warwick dominated popular music in the sixties more than any other female solo performers. And, there were no male solo vocalist counterparts to Dionne and Aretha for consistency on the charts, particularly Dionne. Aretha, if you study her chart history, charted many hit singles in the top 10 but only one number one in the sixties and only an handful in the top 5 during her Atlantic career but chart position didn't necessarily mean low record sales. This was an era dominated by groups and Dionne and Aretha were neck and neck. Aretha charted a bit more but Dionne sold out concert venues. Aretha was an inconsistent concert performer and was not the consummate entertainer Dionne was...so I would say that they were on pretty much an even par when comparing popularity in the 60s. Both their 80s product was nowhere near the artistic achievement that their 60s work was. In the 80s there were many more "anomalies" like Michael Jackson and Madonna who became mega-stars and there were bigger "sellers' in the 80s but in the 80s there was so much over exposure of recording artists that the term "super-star" became relatively meaningless. Now, there are no true stars and much less talent...it's all about a performers "marketability", not their talent...most vocalists are run through Auto-tune these days which can make even a frog sound great....everyone is famous therefore no one really is. Few concert performers these days don't lip sync at least some. All due to gross overexposure and the changing face of the music industry...the 80s was the beginning of the spate of "manufactured" stars in my opinion and the beginning of the slow death of the music industry as we knew it then...a decade of musical blandness and synthesized crap as well...sure that's a generalization but video killed the radio star as that great tune from the 80s so prophetically pointed out and now digitized music has almost killed the music industry. There were then in the 80s and are now a handful of truly talented singers and groups out there but really, now with the ability of anyone to put a single out in digital format, so few get media exposure...the media makes "stars" out of folks like Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, etc. In 30 years, will folks be singing their music or even remember their catalogs? Dionne coasted on her legendary status in the 80s, in my opinion...her 80s business ventures were not successful (much discussed here previously) and aside from a few hit singles (and only three made the top 10: I'll Never Love This Way Again, Heartbreaker, and TWFAF) during that decade, her chart career dried by up by 1988. Her financial woes are well known so I don't think failed business ventures would qualify as a thing to say she had more success in the 80s than the 60s. Atristically, her "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" album to me is a low point among a spate of generally mediocre releases during that decade and if I recall the Luther Vandross' produced album for Aretha was also a low point for Aretha...they both coasted on their legendary status. Dionne had six gold albums in the 60s and early 70s (before there were platinum record awards) and only three in the eighties if you count the Dionne album from 1979. Yes, there was That's What Friends Are For" great single from 1985 but would that have succeeded as a solo single? Likely not. The quote you are referring to was Dionne actually referencing her1979-1980 and her wildly successful year...a year where she said she could do no wrong...the single best in her career (although 1967-68 are a close second)...two Grammies, a platinum album and a gold single that year...after that her career began to decline due to, in my opinion, a lack of quality product...and then there's her chart history...her chart history shows that her greatest consistent success came about in the sixties, commercially, artistically and as a concert draw. But it's moot as you say...the 80s were quite different than the 60s and early 70s. Also, I don't know of a single time in the 80s where Dionne filled a US venue of 10,000 or more as she did frequently in the late 60s and early 70s. She was as internationally successful in the 60s as in the 80s, perhaps even more so in my opinion toward the end of the decade. I keep in mind that without her 60s success, she probably wouldn't have been that successful in the 80s. Her sixties career stands alone. Her eighties career is a coda to that legendary 60s body of work.
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