Warwick Chiaroscuro

Lately, for a fix of female-driven retro pop soul, my pick is Dionne Warwick. Her best tracks (of the ones I am familiar with) often have a great contrast of lush, shadowy musical arrangements--often peppered with percussive piano--against her pure and light vocals.

Here is a really fine example of that:

DIONNE WARWICK "Anyone who had a heart" 1963
Geüpload door Ultra_White_Forever. - Bekijk de laatste uitgelichte muziek video clips.

I have long loved that tune and the Bacharach-David penned body of work she put out, but the song that is really making me hit the repeat button is this lesser known HDH gem:



It was sampled (sadly to inferior effect) by Usher:



I've always thought Usher was sort of a second rate singer who got by on abs and dancing. Though this choice of sample might reveal some savvy (or producer's savvy) on his part. Of course, Simone has some other thoughts on Usher Raymond IV that are pretty dead-on which you must read if you don't already enjoy her(and Gaby's) blog.

Finally, as a member of the Pre-psychic-friends-network Warwick Appreciation Society, I'd like to proffer the original Walk on By, one of her earlier and most well-known hits.



But you should also check out Stanley Turrentine's truly excellent jazz reworking. I searched a bit for a free link to listen, but failed. Nonetheless, it's worth the effort to take the track for a spin if you can get your hands on it.

Sure, there's the latter day hits like Deja Vu (which is a sorta guilty pleasure of mine) and her collabs with Stevie Wonder, etc. But the older stuff is the real ish.