BEFORE: It's another film that played at the theater where I work, that's what brought it to my attention - maybe it played at DocNYC, I'm not sure. Yes, a visit to that festival's web-site confirms that it DID play in the 2021 DocNYC Festival, the same year as "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Mayor Pete", "Listening to Kenny G", "Jagged", "The Automat", "The Velvet Underground" and "Adrienne", all of which I watched in last year's DocBlock. This film just took me a bit longer to link to, that's all. (And Dionne Warwick was scheduled to appear, but she never showed, she had some kind of non-COVID illness. Or am I thinking of a different screening?)
Actually, I think CNN sat on it for a while, or if I remember correctly, they were going to use this film to launch their streaming service, CNN Plus or whatever, and then the plans for that platform fell through, leaving this film without a home. They finally ran it on CNN Regular this February, I think - and it's now on HBO Max, too, but I'll watch the CNN version on my DVR even though it has ads, because then I can watch it on the BIG downstairs TV screen instead of my upstairs computer or my phone.
Carlos Santana carries over from "Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away".
THE PLOT: The dramatic story of Dionne Warwick's meteoric rise from New Jersey gospel choirs to international cross-over super stardom.
AFTER: I find myself in a weird place, simply because I've watched SO many documentaries about the music industry - if you go back to 2018, that was the BIG year for my docs, I started with 2 docs about the Beatles and went through all the big acts - the Stones, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Chicago, Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, The Doors, The Eagles, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, The Who, David Bowie, and worked my way to the metal bands - Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Metallica, Black Sabbath and Rush. I picked up that ball again in 2020 and built up another list of Rock Docs about Bob Dylan, The Band, David Crosby, Whitney Houston (again), John Lennon & Yoko Ono, and various Motown acts. By 2021 I was running a stripped-down version, with docs about Joan Jett, Frank Zappa, the Bee Gees, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Pavarotti, Tina Turner and the Go-Go's. With each successive year, I was watching fewer docs and I wasn't even really a FAN of the acts featured in the docs - I can give or take Joan Jett and the Bee Gees, honestly.
The 2022 Doc Block line-up was much the same - I'm not really a fan of the Velvet Underground or Rick James or the Sparks Brothers, but I'm into the routine now, and even if I don't care for somebody's music, I'm here to LEARN about them at the very least. I know enough about Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot's music to at least appreciate what they stand for and what they mean to people. But by now I'm in my FIFTH Rock Doc Block, and who knows, maybe this one will be my last. I mean, I like Buddy Guy, but Sheryl Crow, who cares? After tomorrow's film I will have cleared the category once again, except for one last doc about John Lennon and another about Abbey Road Studios. If I watched "Muscle Shoals" and "Sound City" I should at least consider watching "If These Walls Can Sing" - and I remind you once again that the three-part Disney docuseries about the Beatles has been deemed ineligible by the judges, because it's in three parts and too damn long. OK, there's also "Moonage Daydream", another doc about Bowie, but I think after that one, I'm done with this topic.
So, yeah, not really a big Dionne Warwick fan - of course, I know some of her songs, like "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?", "That's What Friends Are For", "Walk on By", "I Say a Little Prayer" and "I'll Never Love This Way Again", but these songs were ALL OVER radio in the 1970's and 1980's, that doesn't mean I'm a fan, it just means I was paying attention back then. And Ms. Warwick hosted "Solid Gold" for a while, but I only really tuned in to watch the female Solid Gold dancers in their skimpy outfits. Sorry. (Funny how the doc doesn't mention her TV hosting duties, except for the infomercials for the Psychic Network...)
But you can't argue with 100 million records sold over the years, six Grammys and being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the R&B Music Hall of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame. Not bad for a church singer from New Jersey with crooked teeth (you can see her career took off once she got them fixed, because people are so petty.). Like Sheryl Crow, Dionne started out doing backing vocals for other acts and then Burt Bacharach noticed her and paid her to record some demos of his songs, which he could then pitch to record labels.
This doc does fit in nicely with the running theme, because Dionne came to fame during the early 1960's, and like last week's sports docs, it depicts someone fighting for equality while also being a rising star in their field - and all these docs manage to name-check Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, or both. Dionne Warwick gave a stunning performance of Dr. King's favorite song, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" shortly after his assassination, and I don't know, I suppose that's appropriate but it also seems a little opportunistic at the same time.
She moved to Warner Bros. Records in 1972, shortly before the songwriting team of Bacharach and David split up, leaving her without her usual team of songwriters to write great tracks for her, so her career stalled a bit and she was ready to hang it up until Clive Davis wooed her over to Arista in 1979. Barry Manilow and Barry Gibb were brought in to produce songs for her - "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and "Heartbreaker", and once again she was on top of the charts.
Her biggest song ever, in terms of sales, however, was "That's What Friends Are For", which she performed with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, as a benefit single to raise money for AIDS research in 1985. (President Reagan, as a conservative, didn't commit any government funds to research or fight the disease until it was far too late...). All of the money from the sales of the single went to AIDS research, and of course that's a great thing to do - but a more cynical person might point out that if Dionne hadn't signed away her royalties, she might not have had to file for personal bankruptcy a few years later. (The single raised millions for AMFAR, but apparently the Warwick Foundation was investigated by ABC News, who reported that their administrative costs ate up 90% of the money coming in, and only 3% went to AIDS groups. Meanwhile, Ms. Warwick was flying first-class and staying at four-star hotels, just saying.)
After that, you can kind of chart the normal arc of a superstar who's on the older side - record a "Duets" album, go on "Celebrity Apprentice", appear at a few benefit concerts, write your autobiography, go on "Masked Singer", and appear in the documentary about you.
But the BEST story told here is about when Dionne accidentally heard some "gangsta" rap while driving in her car one day, and did not approve of the language being used by rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight and others, calling women "bitches" and other misogynistic terms - so apparently she called a meeting and demanded that these rappers show up at her house one particular morning at 7 am, and then she invited them in and gave them a stern talking to. Dionne dared the rappers to call HER a bitch, then reminded them that one day they might grow up and become fathers, and have to explain their old lyrics to their daughters, and how was THAT going to go? Snoop Dogg, for one, changed his ways and toned down his lyrics somewhat, and then, sure enough, he had some kids, three sons and one daughter. That confrontation with Dionne Warwick was enough to inspire him to make records that set out to spread joy and not objectify women. I'm not sure I fully believe it, but I do love this story.
Also starring Dionne Warwick (last seen in "Listening to Kenny G"), Clive Davis (ditto), Burt Bacharach (last seen in "Whitney: Can I Be Me"), Jerry Blavat (last seen in "Dean Martin: King of Cool"), Dr. Lonnie Bunch III, Bill Clinton (last seen in "Sheryl"), Kenneth Cole, Damon Elliott, David Elliott (last seen in "Ali"), Gloria Estefan (last seen in "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"), Barry Gibb (last seen in "Mr. Saturday Night"), Olivia Newton-John (ditto), Berry Gordy (last seen in "What's My Name: Muhammad Ali"), Cissy Houston (last seen in "Whitney"), Chuck Jackson, Jesse Jackson (last seen in "Summer of Soul"), Gladys Knight (ditto), Elton John (last seen in "An Accidental Studio"), Quincy Jones (last seen in "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"), Alicia Keys (last seen in "Muscle Shoals"), Melissa Manchester, Billy Mitchell, Charles Rangel, Smokey Robinson (last seen in "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James"), Snoop Dogg (last heard in "The Addams Family 2"), Valerie Simpson (last seen in "Hitsville: The Making of Motown")
with archive footage of Glen Campbell (last seen in "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"), Dean Martin (ditto), Johnny Carson (last seen in "Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists"), Perry Como, Sean Connery (last seen in "An Accidental Studio"), Sam Cooke (also last seen in "What's My Name: Muhammad Ali"), Sammy Davis Jr. (ditto), Ronald Reagan (ditto), Hal David, Marlene Dietrich (last seen in "Val"), Marty Feldman (last seen in "Mel Brooks: Unwrapped"), Ella Fitzgerald (last seen in "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"), Maurice Gibb (also last seen in "Mr. Saturday Night"), Robin Gibb (ditto), Lesley Gore, Billie Holiday (last seen in "Standing in the Shadows of Motown"), Whitney Houston (also last seen in "Listening to Kenny G"), Chuck Mangione (ditto), Danny Kaye (last seen in "George Carlin's American Dream"), Martin Luther King (last seen in "Say Hey, Willie Mays!"), Ed Sullivan (ditto), Peter Lawford (also last seen in "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"), Barry Manilow (last seen in "Sound City"), Freddie Mercury (last seen in "Count Me In"), Dinah Shore (last seen in "Citizen Ashe"), Frank Sinatra (last seen in "Domino"), Sarah Vaughan (last seen in "Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President"), Paul Williams (last seen in "The Rules of Attraction"),Stevie Wonder (last seen in "Summer of Soul") and the voice of Tom Brokaw (also last seen in "Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists")
RATING: 5 out of 10 appearances on "American Bandstand"
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