(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls

"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" is a 1967 song by André and Dory Previn, composed for the film version of the Jacqueline Susann novel Valley of the Dolls, and recorded by Dionne Warwick.

"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls"
Single by Dionne Warwick
from the album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
A-side"I Say a Little Prayer"
B-side"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls"
ReleasedOctober 1967
Recorded1967
StudioA&R Recording Studios, New York City
GenreSoul, pop
Length3:40
LabelScepter
Songwriter(s)André Previn, Dory Previn
Producer(s)Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Dionne Warwick singles chronology
"The Windows of the World"
(1967)		 "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls"
(1967)		 "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"
(1968)

Actress Barbara Parkins, who starred in the motion picture, suggested that Warwick be considered to sing the film's theme song. The song was to be given to Judy Garland, who had been fired from the film. Warwick performed the song, and when the film became a success in the early weeks of 1968, her single of the film theme became a million-seller, peaking at #2 for four weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (kept out of the first position by "Love is Blue" by Paul Mauriat and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding) and #1 on 4 March 1968 on WLS.[1] It also reached #2 on the Easy Listening charts in early 1968,[2][3] #2 on the Cash Box Top 100 and #1 on the Record World chart. The song was the B-side of another million selling tune composed for Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, "I Say a Little Prayer," which had hit #4 on Hot 100 on 9 December 1967.[2] The single would become one of the biggest double-sided hits of the rock era.

Warwick re-recorded a Pat Williams-arranged and Burt Bacharach-produced version of the theme at A&R Studios in New York because contractual restrictions from her home label, Scepter Records, would not allow her version from the film to be included in the 20th Century-Fox soundtrack album. The re-recorded version became a million-seller. The RIAA-certified Gold Scepter LP that contained the hit version of the song, Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, peaked at number six on the Billboard Top 10 Albums chart, and would remain on the chart for over a year.

In the UK "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" had a February 1968 release with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" as the B-side, peaking at UK #28.

Cover versions

References
  1. "Radio89 Hit Parade". WLS. March 4, 1968. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 669.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 251.

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