"That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.
The song is far better known for its cover version by Dionne Warwick and Friends. A one-off collaboration featuring Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder released as a charity single in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1985, it was recorded as a benefit for American Foundation for AIDS Research, and raised over US$3 million for that cause. The tune peaked at number one for three weeks on the soul chart and for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 [1] in January 1986 and became Billboard's number one single of 1986. In 1988, the Washington Post wrote, "So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. 'You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony,' Warwick remembers. 'I am tired of hurting and it does hurt.'"
The Dionne and Friends version of the song won the performers the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager. It also was ranked by Billboard magazine as the most popular song of 1986.[2][3]
Dionne and Friend's version also listed at #61 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[1]
[edit] 1990 benefit concert
On March 17, 1990 an AIDS benefit titled That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One month later, CBS aired a two-hour version of the concert on television. The celebrity guests and Arista label performers were: Air Supply, Lauren Bacall, Burt Bacharach, Eric Carmen, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Clive Davis, Taylor Dayne, Michael Douglas, Expose, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Hall & Oates, Jennifer Holliday, Whitney Houston, Alan Jackson, Kenny G, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, Milli Vanilli, Jeffrey Osborne, Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Lisa Stansfield, The Four Tops, and Dionne Warwick. "That's What Friends Are For" was the finale song sung by Warwick and cousin Houston before being joined on the stage by the other guests of the event. Over $2.5 million was raised that night for the Arista Foundation which gave the proceeds to various AIDS organizations.
[edit] Other versions
- Other recordings are Shirley Bassey (1991) and Helen Reddy (for The Burt Bacharach Album: Broadway Sings the Best of Burt Bacharach in 1998).
- In the UK on the 16th December 2006, the major television network ITV aired the final of that year's series of The X-Factor, where all hopeful contestants who made it to the aired episodes performed this song live to an audience of several million.
- There was a rendition of That's What Friends Are For Performed By Bill Thompson & Friends in 2006 (consisting of Bill Thompson, Allie Noble,& The Little Einsteins).
- In 2007 on It Takes Two in Australia, All Saints' Jolene Anderson and her partner David Campbell sang this song and were TV viewer's favorite couple and they won the competition.
- In the animated Dreamworks film Shrek the Third, the background music of this song is heard during a heartfelt conversation between two main characters.
- Christian preteen sensation PureNRG did an energetic cover of this song on their debut album Here We Go Again
- Long Island ska punk band ASOB covered this song on their 1998 album Built To Fail.
- Marillion recorded a version for their 2006 fan club Christmas album 'The Jingle Book'
- In the game The Simpsons Game, the song is featured in one of the episodes, where Marge and Lisa, are saving the video game puragatory, by saving the game Grand Theft Scratchy, by turning bad buildings mainly inspired from Grand Theft Auto, into nice buildings, the song starts to play, when the radio station is transformed into a happy radio station.
- Singer Mijares covered it in his 2009 Spanish album Vivir Así under the title of "Para ti yo estoy", a trio with Daniela Romo & Pandora.
[edit] References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 610.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1986
- ^ Billboard, December 27, 1986
| Preceded by "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie | Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 18, 1986- February 8, 1986 | Succeeded by "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston |
| Preceded by "Careless Whisper" by Wham! featuring George Michael | Billboard Hot 100 Number one single of the year 1986 | Succeeded by "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles |
| Preceded by "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie | Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one single January 25 - February 8, 1986 | Succeeded by "Do Me, Baby" by Meli'sa Morgan |
| Preceded by "A Good Heart" by Feargal Sharkey | Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single March 3, 1986 | Succeeded by "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" by Billy Ocean |
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