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When Dionne Warwick gets on the phone to do an interview, two things immediately stand out.
And then theres the laughter.
That same independent spirit applies to Warwicks latest method of reaching audiences her Twitter feed.
ET on the web link.
Lets start by talking about your relationship with Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
They were to you what Bernie Taupin would become to Elton John.
And thats how we kind of got together.
We each felt that we had something to offer and made it all work together.
But musically, of course, Burts musicianship is I dont think anybody can surpass it.
I dont consider him a lyricist.
I consider him a poet.
And I was the interpreter of both.
So we brought what we had to the table and it worked.
She and my mom were in school together, so I knew her personally since I was a child.
And we referred to her as Aunt Sarah.
As I grew older, her nickname became Sassy.
So she was Aunt Sarah for a minute, and then all of a sudden she was Aunt Sass.
You cant be anyone other than who you are.
And that has been something I practiced all my life.
Did they give you any specific advice on how to navigate the industry?Nope.
No one ever wanted to force their opinions on how I presented myself.
I presented myself the way that I am.
And thats exactly what I was told to do.
Be who you are.
I come from a singing family.
So singing has never been an issue.
I think it was preordained.
And thats what we did.
I mean, she literally tossed them into the hall of my dressing room.
I thought she had lost her mind!
But she said, No, you must … wear …couture.
Well, what is couture?
And she proceeded to show me, and I have not worn anything aside from couture ever since.
But I dont categorize music.
I dont want to be put into a box, and I dont think anyone should be.
Because generally, if you stop and think about it, we are all singing the same eight notes.
Theres only eight notes in a scale.
But theyre all the same notes that were all singing.
Its all just music.
There was a picture of a white woman on your first single.
Were they afraid a pop song by a Black woman wouldnt sell?It wasnt necessarily that at all.
They just didnt know what I looked like or anything about me.
So thats the story: They just decided I was a blonde, blue-eyed girl.
Your songs have been covered so many times by so many different artists.
Two people immediately come to mind: Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross.
I adored Luther, and he was a very, very dear friend.
He was more family than friend.
And he went on to do Anyone Who Had a Heart and What the World Needs Now Is Love.
He just decided that the songs that I sung were suitable for him.
But each one of them were made to sound like Luther Vandross and not Dionne Warwick.
Same thing with Aretha.
When she sang Say a Little Prayer, she made it her own.
She didnt sing it like me.
I said to them, Youve been playing all kinds of songs for me.
Why didnt you play this one for me?
Its too good not to be heard.
As they say, the rest is history.
The song became the anthem for AIDS activism.
We were losing dancers, we were losing hairdressers, we were losing lighting men and decorators.
I mean, it was just running rampant.
I lost two people in my life.
I lost my hairdresser and my valet to AIDS.
So I wanted to find out, okay, lets see what we can do about this.
I talked to Dr. Fauci at the CDC to find out what they knew and what was going on.
It was the coolest place for performers back then, right?It was absolutely wonderful.
Jack Entratter, who ran the Sands Hotel, used to work at the Copacabana in New York City.
So I knew Jack from there.
That was my first Las Vegas job, the Sands.
It was the most exciting.
And the Rat Pack embraced me.
Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll, Ella Fitzgerald?
Those were the ones that really said, Hey, new kid in town?
Lets take care of her.
They spoiled me rotten, and I loved every second of it.
Im still very spoiled.
No, that was a roast.
It was lines I was given to say.
Okay, just trying to ensure this wasnt new history being revealed.
Sammy was such a fascinating part of the Rat Pack.
What was he like to work with?A wonderful, wonderful,wonderfulman.
He was a gentleman.
He was funny as all get out.
And he was a friend, and I dont say that word very often.
I count my friends literally on one hand.
When you say a friend, theyre true friends, and he was that to me.
I miss him very, very much.
We were born the same month, in December.
And he would call me for my birthday, as I would call him for his.
The same thing with Mr. Sinatra.
We share the same birthday, December 12.
So I heard from him every year.
There was not a year that went by that I didnt get flowers from him or a phone call.
I referred to him as Poppy.
He would say to people, This is my daughter.
I said, Okay, Poppy!
Did you get to perform a lot with Mr. Sinatra?
And that was onSolid Gold, of all things.
I actually was going to ask you aboutSolid Gold, but I need to know more about this duet.
Its not really the kind of show he would do back then.
I imagine that booking had to be about your relationship.It was.
And he said, Yeah, okay kid.
And as a result of that, it happened.
Not only Frank Sinatra but Barry White and Earth, Wind & Fire.
These are people that just didnt do television at that time, or at least those kinds of shows.
How did you find yourself hostingSolid Goldin the first place?
And after they got these wonderful ratings, they asked if Id be interested in continuing to host.
And I said, Sure, of course, Ill do it.
You left after that first season but then returned a few years later.
And you said, How much?Exactly, exactly.
So there was a renegotiation.
So that story about me being fired is completely insane and not the truth at all.
My contract was up and they had a right to do what they wanted to do.
Last year, I was on YouTube andfound a videoof youperforming the themetoSolid GoldonJohnny Carson.
Id heard your version from the show a million times before, but this was different.
Do you remember that?I certainly remember that.
I had actually done that in performances onstage in my concerts all over the world.
It always felt like that song was not only written for the show but it was written for me.
In the documentary, you talk about how you didnt fully trust them at first.
I said, Ohhhhhhkay.
And I let Barry know as well.
I said, Barry, I dont know if its really going to work out with us.
He said, Well, why not?
I said, Because youre known to write your own songs.
To not only write them, but to record them.
He said, Trust me, I know I can do it.
Well, what happened?
He gave me my very first platinum CD and he gave me two Grammy Awards in the same evening.
It was the same way with Barry Gibb, and the Brothers Gibb, with Heartbreaker.
I did not want to record that song.
I kept telling them, Thats not me.
It doesnt sound like me.
I dont think I can do any justice to it.
Its going to be the biggest hit youve ever had.
Dont worry about it.
Well, needless to say, again, Dionne was wrong and they were right.
I get why you were hesitant, though.
You just turned 82, and you havent really slowed down.
Youve been touring all across the country.
Im wondering what you do now when you do have downtime.
What do you watch or listen to?I watch MeTV.
MeTV has taken me back to my childhood television.
You dont have to think.
Its familiarity and things that you grew up knowing.
Family TV, thats exactly what MeTV is.
And I happen to enjoy it.
I start very early in the morning and take it right through to six oclock in the evening.
Or is that just not possible?No, its impossible.
Every single song that was written for me is something that has shaped me musically.
It was specifically for me.
So each one of them happens to represent my children.
No way in the world.
I mean, thats the reason Im performing.
Last question: I assume by now you found the way to San Jose?Several times, yes.
We are running out of space.
