Gotta get out of the spell that I'm under

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

09/01/83 : Heartbreaker - Dionne Warwick

I am, of course, aware of Dionne Warwick and she's done some great stuff over the years - but I'm also aware of the title track of this album and would struggle to describe it as great.  Fair to middling would seem more accurate - and I'm struggling to imagine the rest of the album is a whole lot better.

The title track is up first and I'd forgotten it was written by The Bee Gees, but it really doesn't take long to remind you (and I actually think their version is considerably better) - and in case you didn't get it from that one, the theme very much continues throughout.  At least one Gibb wrote all tracks but one and Barry produced the thing, so there's a definite Bee Gee feel to the whole album.  It's squarely aimed at US adult radio stations and it hits the target well - it's not at all my sort of thing but I can see it was probably the best option available to her at the time.  I will also graciously admit that "All The Love In The World" is actually a pretty decent track.

We're at #4 in the charts in its twelfth week of a 31 week run, which feels waaaay more than it deserved (it peaked at #3).  Above it this week were the Raiders and John Lennon compilations and Duran Duran - the highest new entry was Men At Work (#12), about to take over the charts. 

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album other than going into The Bee Gee connection and noting it was pretty successful, selling over 3 million globally (and getting to #1 in Norway).  Her entry is a lot more interesting - it tells me that she's Whitney Houston's cousin, which surprised me, partly because I didn't know it and partly because they seem to come from different worlds (but they were born 23 years apart).  I also learned that she was Bacharach and David's first choice to record a load of their stuff, but it was often then re-recorded over here by a British artist - "Alfie", "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" were all such examples.  The other surprising theme running through her Wikipedia entry is financial irregularity - it doesn't quite call her a crook, but it gets pretty close.

"Customers also listened to" Donna Summer, Shirley Bassey, Syreeta and Barbra Streisand - I wouldn't mess with any of those ladies but I will say they've all produced output of varying quality over the years.  As has Dionne - this isn't terrible but there's nothing there to compare with her classic 60s output for me.

02/01/83 - A somewhat uninspiring end to the year
16/01/83 - One I didn't mind at all