Dionne Warwick: Anyone Who Had a Heart

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This was written for Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded in 1963. In January 1964, it reached No 8 in the United States and No 42 in Britain.

Cilla Black made a terrible cover version which quite unfairly topped the charts in Britain.  When she turns up the volume it is like a dentist’s drill, but not as soothing. In May 2010, research published by BBC Radio 2 revealed that it was the biggest female UK chart hit of the 1960s. What a shocking indictment of British taste.

Dusty Springfield recorded it at around the same time as Cilla Black for her album A Girl Called Dusty, but did not release it as a single. That is a shame because it’s miles better.

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2 Replies to “Dionne Warwick: Anyone Who Had a Heart”

  1. OK I ADMIT IT…

    I’m a Cilla Black fan, foghorn voice and all!

    She is one of the important parts of Sixties pop for me, all her big hits were great: “Step Inside Love”, “You’re My World”, and “Alfie”*. Sometime later there was “Something Tells Me (Something’s Gonna Happen Tonight)”. I liked her TV shows, more so the ones where she sang, interviewed other stars and presented other musicians rather than “Surprise Surprise” or “Blind Date”. She was always smiling, friendly, giggly and pretty.

    “Liverpool Lullaby” is a favourite too (Oh you are a mucky kid).

    You either loved or hated her I suppose. My Auntie Joan, a Liverpudlian, didn’t like her, and said she brought Liverpool down and gave the place a bad image to the rest of the country.

    I like all those versions of “Anyone Who Had a Heart” equally. I believe Dionne Warwick was very angry at Cilla for having the hit with it, although Dionne became a massive star in the ’80s so I’m sure she got over it.

    * “Alfie” was sung by Cher in the film of course.

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