"Dedicated to the One I Love" by Bernadette Peters

Song#:  0699
Date:  08/08/1981
Debut:  87
Peak:  65
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Peters' self-titled debut album got a boost thanks to the surprise minor hit "Gee Whiz" (#31, 1980). A follow-up album, "Now Playing," was issued the following year and this first single saw a little chart action, but nothing close to her first hit. It would be her song last to reach the chart and her last solo album until 1996 when she released the Grammy nominated "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." She would release two further albums, a live set and a Rodgers & Hammerstein-themed disc, both of which would also receive Grammy nods.

ReduxReview:  Peters keeps her version planted firmly in the doo-wop roots of the original (see below) and she kind of comes off like a Bette Midler-lite. Midler was made for material like this but I don't think it was Peters' forte. She can sell standards and b'way like nobody's business, but this genre is not a great fit. And frankly, I don't think anyone can surpass the brilliance of the Mamas & Papas version.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  This is a remake of a song originally recorded by the "5" Royales in 1957. Their single didn't chart but a version by The Shirelles initially hit the chart in 1959 reaching #83. But after The Shirelles hit #1 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," the single was reissued and it reached #3 in 1961. The "5" Royales version was reissued the same year reaching #81. But the biggest chart version was the 1967 #2 hit by the Mamas & the Papas. The Temprees scratched the chart in 1972 with their single (#93), so that made Peters the fifth artist to chart the song.

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