Dionne Warwick 1979

As one of the premier pop/R&B singers with a singular voice, Dionne Warwick's list of hits includes "Are You There (With Another Girl)," "Once You Hit the Road," and the often nerve-racking "Heartbreaker." As she racked up the singles, Warwick fans also realize she has also released fulfilling albums through the years, including 1975's Track of the Cat and her 1979 comeback effort, Dionne. Dionne Sings Dionne is also a strong effort. While including new tracks, the bulk of Dionne Sings Dionne consists of reconfigured versions of her '60s work with Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David.

Dionne Warwick enjoyed a career revival in the late '70s and 1980s when she teamed with such producers as Barry Manilow, Barry Gibb, and even Luther Vandross. They returned her to the elaborately arranged and structured soul-tinged pop that had marked her finest hits, although the lyrics and compositions weren't as consistent as they were during her Burt Bacharach/Hal David period. This album collects the biggest hits from this second phase of Warwick's career, including such triumphs as "Deja Vu" and "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again"; it also introduced a new tune, "Take Good Care of You And Me".

VA – Time-Life Music – AM Gold 1979
EAC Rip | Included: EAC Log + CUE + Flac + Covers | Size: 464 MB | RAR files
Release: 1997 | Label: Time Life, EMI-Capitol Music | Number: AM1-26
Style: Funk, Soul, Rock | Stereo | FilePost.com, RapidShare.com

While the nose-thumbing 1970s musical (or anti-musical, as its detractors deemed it) movement called punk rock never quite managed to upset the world-conquering way its safety-pinned revolutionaries hoped it would, punk did nonetheless have a significant impact on pop music. If nothing else, the back-to basics, do-it-yourself attitude of punk gave many musicians the inspiration to try to make their own kind of music, regardless of whether it “fit in” anywhere or not. By 1979, punk’s nonconformist approach had helped create a number of sub-genres that, while not as overtly threatening as punk was perceived to be, nonetheless signaled the emergence of fresh musical perspectives.

Having compromised on her Arista debut and gotten a hit single for her trouble, Jennifer Warnes took charge of the recording of her second Arista album, co-producing it and writing three songs, including the title track. It was hard to miss the point when Warnes covered Dionne Warwick's 1963 hit "Don't Make Me Over" (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) that she was finished with having people tell her what to do. On her own, her taste was impeccable, her song choices including the work of Jesse Winchester, Bob Dylan, and Stephen Foster, and her own songwriting was good, too. She also managed to satisfy the commercial expectations aroused by her previous album, with "I Know a Heartache When I See One" rising into the country Top Ten and the pop and adult contemporary Top 40. (She also made it into all three charts with "Don't Make Me Over" and into the pop and AC charts with "When the Feeling Comes Around.") She proved an adept producer, achieving a smooth pop/rock sound. With session stars like Andrew Gold aboard, Warnes succeeded in making what sounded like the great lost Linda Ronstadt album.