Love Power – Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#12) & R&B (#5); 1987

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Dionne Warwick was no stranger to dueting on disc. In 1977 her name appeared next to that of Isaac “Shaft” Hayes. Five years later she and Johnny Mathis collaborated on Friends In Love, then she joined Luther Vandross (How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye) and Glenn Jones (Finder Of Lost Loves) in 1985.

While these records performed well, her biggest collaborative success came in 1987 when she teamed up with Jeffrey Osborne. Osborne already had nine Top 15 R&B singles to his credit, including the pop crossover hit You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song) (#13 Pop & #2 R&B; 1986), when he and Dionne released Love Power.

Lover Power‘s composers, Burt Bacharach, who had penned Dionne’s classic 1960’s singles with Hal David, and Carole Bayer Sager, also a very successful songwriter, had already given Dionne her first chart topper ever in 1986, That’s What Friends Are For. Love Power was another strong effort and Dionne’s highest charting duet.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

  • Burt Bacharach
  • Carole Bayer Sager

Lyrics Written by:

  • Burt Bacharach
  • Carole Bayer Sager

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Ed Osborne

Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).