Editing Dionne Warwick (section)

=== Chart success (1966–1971) ===
[[File:Dionne Warwick television special 1969.JPG|thumb|upright|Warwick in 1969]]
The mid-1960s to early 1970s were a more successful time period for Warwick, who saw a string of gold-selling albums and Top 20 and Top 10 hit singles. "[[Message to Michael]]", a Bacharach-David composition<ref name="Pop Chronicles 1969" /> that the duo was certain was a "man's song", became a top 10 hit for Warwick in May 1966. The January 1967 LP ''[[Here Where There Is Love]]'' was her first [[RIAA]] certified Gold album, and featured "[[Alfie (Burt Bacharach song)|Alfie]]" and two 1966 hits: "Trains and Boats and Planes" and "[[I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself]]". "Alfie" had become a radio hit when disc jockeys across the nation began to play the album cut early in 1967. "Alfie" was released as the "B" side of a Bacharach/David ballad, "The Beginning of Loneliness", which charted in the Hot 100. Disc jockeys flipped the single and made it a double-sided hit. Bacharach had been contracted to produce "Alfie" for the [[Michael Caine]] film of [[Alfie (1966 film)|the same name]] and wanted Warwick to sing the tune, but the British producers wanted a British subject to cut the tune. [[Cilla Black]] was selected to record the song, and her version peaked at No. 95 upon its release in the US. A cover version by [[Cher]] used in the American prints of the film peaked at No. 33. In the UK and Australia, Black's version was a Top-10 hit.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May 21, 1966 |title=Billboard Magazine, May 1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8SgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605080647/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=8SgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref>

Later that same year, Warwick earned her first RIAA certified Gold single for U.S. sales of over one million units for the single "[[I Say a Little Prayer]]". When disc jockeys across the nation began to play the track from the album in the fall of 1967 and demanded its release as a single, Scepter Records complied and "I Say a Little Prayer" became Warwick's biggest U.S. hit to that point, reaching #4 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] and Canadian Charts.<ref name="BillboardHistory">{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/dionne-warwick/chart-history/ |title=Dionne Warwick Chart History |publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=2025-02-18 }}</ref><ref name="can">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/list.aspx?OCRText=Dionne+Warwick&|title=CAN Charts > Dionne Warwick|magazine=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|access-date=2025-02-18 }}</ref> The tune was also the first RIAA certified USA million seller for Bacharach-David.<ref name="Bacharach Song by Song">{{cite book | first= Serene | last= Dominic | year= 2003 | title= Burt Bacharach, song by song: the ultimate Burt Bacharach reference for fans | publisher= Schirmer Trade Books | location= New York City | page= 186 | isbn= 0-8256-7280-5}}</ref><ref name="RIAA">{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=dionne+warwick&tab_active=default-award&col=certification_date&ord=asc#search_section |title=Gold & Platinum - RIAA |publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |access-date=2025-02-18 }}</ref>

Her follow-up to "I Say a Little Prayer", "[[(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls]]", was unusual in several respects. It was not written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; it was the "B" side of her "I Say a Little Prayer" single, and it was a song that she almost did not record. While the [[Valley of the Dolls (film)|film version]] of ''[[Valley of the Dolls (novel)|Valley of the Dolls]]'' was being made, actress [[Barbara Parkins]] suggested that Warwick be considered to sing the film's theme song, written by songwriting team [[André Previn|André]] and [[Dory Previn]]. The song was to be recorded by [[Judy Garland]], who was subsequently fired from the film. Warwick performed the song, and when the film became a success in the early weeks of 1968, disc jockeys flipped the single and made the single one of the biggest double-sided hits of the rock era and another million seller. At the time, RIAA rules allowed only one side of a double-sided hit single to be certified as gold, but Scepter awarded Warwick an "in-house award" to recognize "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" as a million selling tune.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Umphred |first=Neal |date=June 19, 2023 |title=Understanding RIAA Gold and Platinum Record Awards |url=https://www.ratherrarerecords.com/understanding-riaa-gold/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222075556/https://www.ratherrarerecords.com/understanding-riaa-gold/ |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |website=ratherrarerecords.com |quote=If the LP was reissued as a CD with additional "bonus" material (such as B-sides, outtakes, etc.) and the CD runs over fifty-five minutes, then the RIAA counts it as a completely separate album (a double-album).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dionne Warwick – Valley of the Dolls Lyrics {{!}} Lyrics.com |url=https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/8949127/Valley+of+the+Dolls |access-date=June 5, 2024 |website=www.lyrics.com}}</ref>

Warwick had re-recorded a Pat Williams-arranged version of the theme at A&R Studios in New York because contractual restrictions with her label would not allow the Warwick version from the film to be included on the [[20th Century Fox]] soundtrack LP, and reverse legal restrictions would not allow the film version to be used anyplace else in a commercial LP. The LP ''[[Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls]]'', released in early 1968 and containing the re-recorded version of the movie theme (No. 2 for three weeks), "[[Do You Know the Way to San Jose]]?" and several new Bacharach-David compositions, hit the No. 6 position on the ''Billboard'' album chart and would remain on the chart for over a year. The film soundtrack LP, without Warwick vocals, failed to impress the public, while ''Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls'' earned an RIAA Gold certification.

The single "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" (an international million seller and a Top-10 hit in several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Mexico) was also a double-sided hit, with the "B" side "Let Me Be Lonely" charting at No. 79. More hits followed into 1971, including "Who Is Gonna Love Me" (No. 32, 1968) with "B" side, "[[(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me]]" becoming another double-sided hit; "Promises, Promises" (No. 19, 1968); "[[This Guy's in Love with You|This Girl's in Love with You]]" (No. 7, 1969); "The April Fools" (No. 37, 1969); "[[You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin']]" (No. 15, 1969); "[[I'll Never Fall in Love Again]]" (No. 6 Pop, No. 1 AC, 1969); "[[Make It Easy on Yourself]]" (No. 37 Pop, No. 10 AC, 1970); "Let Me Go to Him" (No. 32 Pop, No. 4 AC, 1970); and "Paper Mache" (No. 43 Pop, No. 3 AC), 1970). Warwick's final Bacharach/David penned single on the Scepter label was March 1971's "Who Gets the Guy" (No. 52 Pop, No. 6 AC), 1971), and her final "official" Scepter single release was "He's Moving On" b/w "Amanda", (No. 83 Pop, No. 12 AC) both from the soundtrack of the motion picture adaptation of [[Jacqueline Susann]]'s ''[[The Love Machine (film)|The Love Machine]]''.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Warwick had become the priority act of Scepter Records with the release of "[[Anyone Who Had a Heart (song)|Anyone Who Had a Heart]]" in 1963.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Other Scepter LPs certified RIAA Gold include ''Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits Part 1'' released in 1967 and ''The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold'' released in 1971. By the end of 1971, Warwick had sold an estimated 35 million singles and albums internationally in less than nine years and more than 16&nbsp;million singles in the U.S. alone. Exact figures of her sales are unknown and probably underestimated, due to Scepter Records' apparently lax accounting policies and the company policy of not submitting recordings for RIAA audit. Warwick became the first Scepter artist to request RIAA audits of her recordings in 1967 with the release of "I Say a Little Prayer".

On September 17, 1969, [[CBS Television]] aired Warwick's first television special, entitled ''The Dionne Warwick Chevy Special''. Warwick's guests were Burt Bacharach, [[George Kirby]], [[Glen Campbell]], and [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]].{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} In 1970, Warwick formed her own label, Sonday Records, of which she was president. Sonday was distributed by Scepter.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 18, 1970 |title=Dionne Warwick Announces Own Sonday Label |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-07-18.pdf |journal=Record World |pages=3}}</ref>

In 1970, she was a performer on the prestigious [[Royal Variety Performance]] at the [[London Palladium]], singing ''The Look of Love, What the World Needs Now'' and ''[[Come Together]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Royal Variety Performance 1985 |via=[[YouTube]] |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126174141/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9eOM_3hYtA |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9eOM_3hYtA |access-date=November 26, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Pat Nixon with Dionne Warwick.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Warwick with First Lady [[Pat Nixon]] in 1971]]
In 1971, Warwick left the family atmosphere of Scepter Records for [[Warner Bros. Records]], for a $5&nbsp;million contract, the most lucrative recording contract given to a female vocalist up to that time, according to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. Warwick's last LP for Scepter was the soundtrack for the motion picture ''The Love Machine'', in which she appeared in an uncredited cameo, released in July 1971. In 1975, Bacharach and David sued Scepter Records for an accurate accounting of royalties due the team from their recordings with Warwick and labelmate [[B.J. Thomas]]. They were awarded almost $600,000 and the rights to all Bacharach/David recordings on the Scepter label. The label, with the defection of Warwick to Warner Bros. Records, filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and was sold to Springboard International Records in 1976.

Following her signing with Warners, with Bacharach and David as writers and producers, Warwick returned to New York City's A&R Studios in late 1971 to begin recording her first album for the new label, the self-titled ''Dionne'' (not to be confused with her later Arista debut album) in January 1972. The album peaked at No. 57 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] Album Chart. In 1972, Burt Bacharach and Hal David scored and wrote the tunes for the motion picture ''[[Lost Horizon (1973 film)|Lost Horizon]]''. However, the film was panned by the critics, and in the fallout, the songwriting duo decided to terminate their working relationship. The break-up left Warwick devoid of their services as her producers and songwriters. She was contractually obligated to fulfill her contract with Warners without Bacharach and David, and she would team with a variety of producers during her tenure with the label.

Faced with the prospect of being sued by Warner Bros. Records due to the breakup of Bacharach/David and their failure to honor their contract with Warwick, she filed a $5.5&nbsp;million lawsuit against her former partners for breach of contract. The suit was settled out of court in 1979 for $5&nbsp;million, including the rights to all Warwick recordings produced by Bacharach and David.

Also in 1971, Warwick had her name changed to "Warwicke" per the advice of [[Linda Goodman]], an astrologer friend, who believed it would bring greater success. A few years later, she reverted to the old spelling after a string of disappointments and an absence from the ''Billboard'' top 40.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Eldridge |first=Allison |title=Dionne Warwick |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dionne-Warwick |date=March 8, 2017}}</ref>