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Dionne Warwick review – fascinating look back is a little short on songs

Talking through a brave career dating back six decades, the 83-year-old is singing much less, but when the hits come the magic is still there

She explains how she bridged the gap between pop and what was called “race music” (R&B) in the US, and reveals that her first record in France was released with a white woman on the cover, so in Paris “when I walked on stage there was an audible gasp”. She remembers confronting Ronald Reagan over his lack of action over Aids in the 1980s: “If his eyes could have killed, I wouldn’t be here talking to you now.” There’s also a hilarious section when Snoop Dogg (on film) reveals being “out gangsta-d” when she’d hauled his posse to her mansion in the 90s to ask: “What gives you the right to call women bitches?” It feels a long time coming when she gets up again to sing: just four more numbers, but Walk on By, the Bee Gees-penned Heartbreaker and the rest bring glimpses of the old magic of a singer who can justifiably admit, “I’m so proud I was that good.”

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