Today’s classic song of the day is a smooth piece of Philadelphia Soul, produced by Philly Soul master Thom Bell. The song is “Then Came You” and it was a duet between legendary singer Dionne Warwick and the equally legendary Spinners. Released as a single in July of 1974, this one went to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. It also reached #3 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #2 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart.
The Spinners and Dionne Warwick first got together on a tour they did together during the summer of 1973. Thom Bell had been asked to produce an album for Ms. Warwick, who hadn’t hit a big hit since leaving Scepter Records for Warner Bros. Records a few years earlier. Instead, he came up with the idea of producing a duet between Ms. Warwick and the Spinners, and set songwriters Sherman Marshall and Phillip Pugh on that task.
The result was “Then Came You,” a wonderful track that saw Ms. Warwick sharing lead vocal duties with the Spinners’ Bobby Smith. As with most Spinners records, Philippé Wynne took over the lead vocals at the end, improvising his way to the song’s fadeout.
Interestingly, “Then Came You” was released on two different labels. The single came out on Atlantic Records, the Spinners’ label, and was also included on their New and Improved album. The song also appeared on Dionne Warwick’s 1975 album, Then Came You, for Warner Bros. (Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records were both owned by Warner Bros. at the time, under the WEA umbrella.)
For today’s daily bonus video of the day, here are the Spinners, with singer Joni Sledge taking the Dionne Warwick part, live on the February 14, 1975, episode of The Midnight Special. That’s a pretty good Valentine’s Day present.
