On My Own

[Dionnefan]

I really love this song....one of my favorite midtempo ballads from the 80s.

From what I understand Dionne recorded this for the Friends album, but inexplicably Clive Davis decided it wasn't good enough to be included on the album.

On My Own seems like it's tailor-made for Dionne, and if you've seen her live performances of it on YouTube, you'll see why. Does anyone know the story behind Dionne's version, and more importantly, has anyone ever actually heard it or know where to get a copy?

I am linking a YouTube video of Dionne performing this in Spain in 1990, and she is in particularly fine voice. I also would love if someone could identify her background singers in the video. I know the one on the far left is Dee Dee, and I think the middle one might be her cousin Felicia Moss and the one on the end maybe Myrna Smith? If someone knows I'd love to find out.



Another song of Burt's I wish Dionne would have gotten is the Arthur theme. Another song that seems tailor made for her. I have heard her perform this in the mid 90's (New Year's Eve concert with Burt), but she wasn't in good voice at the time, so it wasn't very impressive. Would love to hear her doing it in the early 80s.

[Steve Schenck]

I'd never heard Dionne sing this song before. You're right - she did a fine job with it! Her voice sounded good and she didn't seem to strain to hit notes (although it seemed to me the song was deliberately keyed lower for her performance). She looked great, too. But, of course, that was 20 years ago. Much as I admired her performance, I thought it was not quite as good as Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald's take on it. Just a personal preference, I guess. I think the man/woman duetting of the piece adds something that no solo rendering could achieve. But hey, Dionne has given more than her share over the years. She owes no apologies or explanations to anyone!

[ron hertel]

I agree with you Steve ........... Have seen Dionne perform this in concert and throughout her peak performing years she could have sung the "Yellow Pages" and I'd have been a happy camper! "On My Own" is one of those few BB songs not tailor made for her. ....... Another that she recorded -"Raindrops" - falls into that same category as far as I'm concerned. ......... Generally speaking - once Dionne recorded a BB song it became the "definitive interpretation" including many of those she was not the first to record - for example - "Alfie" !

[GehVorbei]

I'm not quite so sure, I remember seeing her perform in on SG in 1985 and feeling she "owned it" or "could have owned it". It becomes a different, more desperate, much more heartfelt song. What's fascinating is that hers is the original version and that that original Bacharach-produced version of one of his greatest hits is still somewhere in the Sony vaults.

I'm also not sure that it really was Clive Davis who made the decision to not include in on the "Friends" album. It was always my understanding that it was Dionne who passed it on to her friend Patti Labelle. And when it became No. for Ms. Patti 1 there seemed to be no bitterness on Dionne's part, as a matter of fact I remember DW being genuinely thrilled on SG for Patti.

Over the years there have been stories of DW not wanting to record some of her biggest hits, most notably about "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" and about "Heartbreaker" which she apparently at one point felt, it didn't suit her voice.

[GehVorbei]

There is a version on YT from 1985 and besides the tape being pretty bad the second half is - I think - incredibly beautiful:

[gabba]

i had the privilege to hear Burt and Dionne performing this duet in Milano ,Italy 1995....bye GABBA

[BachtoBacharach]

I am not doubting that Dionne recorded On My Own but I vaguely recall she mentioned once that it was offered to her and she turned it down. Did she actually record the tune? I have never heard the Clive Davis statement that he didn't like Dionne's version of the tune. Does anyone know for sure? I love the Labelle-McDonald tune...one of the only tunes where Patti toned it down (and how Bacharach got her to do that I will never know) and one where the vocals make the tune...otherwise the tune was pretty average for what Burt was writing then. Burt allegedly didn't like Patti's solo performace on the recording and I understand that the McDonald vocals were dubbed in later...La Labelle and he never actually recorded in a studio together...interesting. Dionne's TWFAF was originally a solo recording and later vocals by Wonder, John and Knight were dubbed in.

[GehVorbei]

I'm very sure that both ET and B&S mentioned back around 1985 that DW had actually recorded "On My Own" first. Concerning TWFAF I always thought that Dionne and Stevie had recorded it as a duet and then Gladys and Elton were added.

[JR]

Stellar performances by Burt’s own Donna Taylor and Michael McDonald paired with Jenni Meno and Todd Sand from Tribute On Ice recorded for TV at the HP Pavilion Sept 2003 to be shown at Christmastime. Dionne attended and Burt put her on camera. It would have been nice if they had somehow made copies of the show available to the general public

[Pablo]

I love how she "waits" a bit before singing the "on my own" chorus... it gives the song a dramatic more dramatic feel than the original Patti Labelle version. I didn't know Dionne sang this.

[BachtoBacharach]

According to Dionne, she cut TWFAF as a solo recording and Burt suggested that she contract her friend Stevie Wonder to duet as she felt something was missing from the song. According to Carol Bayer-Sager, Elizabeth Taylor was visiting the studio one day while Dionne and Stevie were rehearsing the tune and it was Elizabeth who suggested to Dionne and Burt that the tune would make a great anthem to raise awareness and funds for AMFAR. At that point, it was decided that Dionne would also ask "friends" Elton John and Gladys Knight to contribute to the recording. Knight and John were not in the studio when the original was recorded but added their parts later...the famous video we all are familiar with was actually taped after the recording was completed and was lip-synced. The tune went on to be the biggest hit of Dionne's career (her biggest solo hit was Theme from Valley of the Dolls...#2 for four weeks in February 1968 and another duet credited to Dionne Warwicke and Spinners, Then Came You, hit #1 in October 1974), and the single and album both went "gold". The tune was Billboard's #1 seller for 1986.

[Dionnefan]

BacktoBacharach,

You seem to be such a font of knowledge on Dionne-

Could you please identify for me who the backup singers are in the video of Dionne in Spain singing On my Own I posted above? Of course I know that's DeeDee on the far left! Thanks!

[An Enormous BB Fan]

That's very interesting, BachtoBacharach, about "That's What Friends Are For". I read that Burt gave all his royalties from that song to AMFAR. I wonder how many millions of dollars that was? After all, that song was a phenomenal hit and was played on the radio all the time all over the country.

Question: I thought Dionne's first #1 record was "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" BachtoBacharach, is that not correct? Did that song NOT go to #1? If not, how high on the chart did it get? Either way, that was a monster hit record and was also played constantly on radio stations all over the country. For my money, "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" and "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" are the two greatest pop songs of all time. They are just quintessential pop songs. They are the definition of pop songs.

Question: BachtoBacharach, didn't "I'll Never Love This Way Again" also give Dionne a #1 hit. I could have sworn that was a #1 Billboard hit. That's another pop song that deserves the highest accolades and was also constantly heard on radio stations. Dionne's voice was astounding on that record. It could literally take your breath away.

"Then Came You" is one of my favorites also. If any song deserved to be #1, that song did. What a fine mixture of voices, too, with Dionne and The Spinners. Toss in Thom Bell (he produced it but didn't write it -- Sherman Marshall and Phillip T. Pugh wrote the song) and you have gold. Now here's something interesting: Thom Bell said that, after the song was recorded, Dionne did NOT like it! This reminds me of Dionne's assessment of "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?". Either she was very hard to please, or she could not see a great pop song if it was staring her in the face.

[BachtoBacharach]

Three million was raised according to Burt and Dionne since 1985...everyone donated their net proceeds to AMFAR.

"Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" was not a number one hit...it hit #10 in May 1968...but was Dionne's biggest international hit...huge all over the world. It was one of those tunes that instantly became a standard and is one of the most memorable tunes from the 1960s...an instant classic. It was Dionne's third top ten in 6 months (ISALP-Dec 67-#4; TFVOD-#2 Feb 1968 and DYKTWTSJ-#10 May 68. DYKTWTSJ was one of the fastest rising tunes on the Billboard Chart that Dionne recorded.

I'll Never Love This Way Again peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 in September 1979 and #1 on the Billboard AC chart.

Dionne was not hard to please, remember that Burt tried to keep her original of I Say a Little Prayer from being released and that tune was "the one" which propelled Dionne's career into the "superstar" realm and provided the impetus for him to begin to focus on his own career as an entertainer in his own right. Remember also that Burt was not writing "ART" as his goal...he was writing radio hits. No one can ever predict what a pop tune will do...or how the public will react. Why did Paper Mache fail? Burt said of all the tunes he's recorded with Dionne; he felt that it was going to be a biggie the minute he committed the recording to tape...it peaked at # 43 in July of 1970...should have been a hit but wasn't. He said to this day he can't figure out why it didn't hit. Dionne's complete discography with international chart info can be found on the very detailed and lengthy Wiki article about her...her top 40 discography is on that page but her complete discography can be accessed by clicking the complete discography link.

I will view the video to see if I recognise the back-up singers.

[Pablo]

One comment about this 1990 concert. I think it was in the Castle of Perelada, a beautiful medieval town with a castle (and a casino!) in north-east Spain (Catalonia). There is an annual summer opera festival in which, eventually, they celebrate some jazz or pop concerts. This was televised through national TV channel TVE (Televisión Española).