''How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye'' is a
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by the American singer
Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...
. It was released by
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
on September 29, 1983, in the United States. Recorded during the spring of 1983, Warwick worked with the singer and songwriter
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...
, who also appears on the
hit title track. The album includes the original version of the song "So Amazing", which Vandross would record later for his ''
Give Me the Reason'' album, and a remake of
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...
' 1960 hit "
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", featuring the original group on guest vocals.
Despite strong reviews, ''How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye'' failed to reprise the commercial success of its predecessor ''
Heartbreaker'' (1982) and became a commercial disappointment, stalling at number 57 on the US
''Billboard'' 200. Lead single "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" hit number 4 on the
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart and number 27 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, while the upbeat "Got a Date" peaked at number 45 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart and number 15 on the
Dance Club Songs
The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
charts.
Track listing
All tracks produced by
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...
.
Personnel and credits
Musicians
* Dionne Warwick – lead vocals, backing vocals (2, 6)
*
Nat Adderley Jr. – keyboards, rhythm arrangements (2, 4, 5, 6, 8), synthesizer arrangements (4-7), horn and string arrangements (6)
* Cliff Branch –
clavinet
The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
(1)
*
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...
– synthesizers (1, 3), bass guitar (1-5, 8), rhythm arrangements (1), synthesizer arrangements (1)
* Skip Anderson – synthesizers (2, 4, 5, 7)
*
Doc Powell – guitar (1-5, 8)
*
Georg Wadenius – guitar (1-5, 8)
*
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...
– guitar solo (1, 3)
*
Paul Jackson Jr.
Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American Jazz fusion, fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist.
In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a session player, with a career ...
– guitar (6)
*
Abraham Laboriel
Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...
– bass guitar (6)
*
Yogi Horton – drums (1-5, 7, 8)
*
Carlos Vega – drums (6)
*
Sammy Figueroa – congas (1, 3)
*
Paulinho da Costa
Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...
– percussion (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8)
*
Paul Riser
Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the " Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of ...
– horn and string arrangements (2, 7)
*
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He achieved success at an early age, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21. During his career, he established himself as one of Am ...
– horn and string arrangements (4, 8)
*
Leon Pendarvis – horn and string arrangements (5)
*
Tawatha Agee – backing vocals (1, 3)
*
Patti Austin
Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after its re-release ...
– backing vocals (1, 4)
*
Phillip Ballou – backing vocals (1, 4)
*
Cissy Houston – backing vocals (1, 4)
* Yvonne Lewis – backing vocals (1, 2, 4)
*
Fonzi Thornton
Alfonso "Fonzi" Thornton is an American vocalist, songwriter, producer and vocal contractor. In a career spanning 40 years, Thornton has sung backing vocals for top artists across many genres of music. His vocal credits can be found on the re ...
– backing vocals (1)
*
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...
– backing vocals (1, 2, 4), vocal arrangements (1, 2, 3), rhythm arrangements (2), lead vocals (4)
* Brenda White – backing vocals (1, 3, 4)
* Damaris Carbaugh – backing vocals (2)
* Lani Groves – backing vocals (2)
* Louise Bethune – backing vocals (3)
* Michelle Cobbs – backing vocals (3, 4)
* Diana Graselli – backing vocals (3)
*
Alfa Anderson – backing vocals (4)
*
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...
– backing vocals (8)
Production
* Producer – Luther Vandross
* Engineers – Ray Bardani, Carl Beatty, Michael Brauer, Michael Christopher, Doug Epstein and Bill Stein.
* Assistant Engineers – Michael Christopher, Mark Cobrin, Scott Maguchi, Jim Scott and Harry Spiridakis.
* Recorded at
Record Plant
The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...
(Los Angeles, CA). and
Mediasound (New York, NY).
* Mixing – Ray Bardani, Marcus Miller and Luther Vandross.
* Mastered by
Greg Calbi
Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey.
Biography
Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...
at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
* Art Direction and Design – Donn Davenport
* Photography – Frank Laffitte
Charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Dionne Warwick albums
1983 albums
Arista Records albums
Albums arranged by Paul Riser
Albums produced by Luther Vandross