In 1968, Dionne Warwick had never been to San Jose, Calif., and didn’t think much of the song. But after the singer recorded “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and the song became a hit, the 73-year-old says with a laugh that she “cried all the way to the bank.” The catchy tune penned by the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David would become her biggest international seller and won Warwick her first Grammy Award in 1968. On Friday, Warwick went back to San Jose to be dubbed the city’s “global ambassador of goodwill.” She also sang the song as part of a Sister Cities International conference. Warwick said that while for years she didn’t like singing it, recasting the song as a duet with Celia Cruz has given it new life. “I’m having a lot of fun with it now,” she said. Warwick said she first recorded the song as a favor to her friend and songwriter David, who wrote the lyrics after developing an affinity for the town while he was stationed there in the Navy. When the song became a hit, Warwick said she figured she’d better visit San Jose, which was then a farming community that produced prunes, grapes and apricots. “It was a little country town. But one of the most beautiful things I saw when I was there for the first time was their rose garden,” she said. “It’s a thriving city now,” Warwick said.
Actor Michael Jace, who has been charged in the death of his wife, has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The decision Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court means the case will proceed to trial without an initial presentation of evidence to a judge. The actor’s attorney, Jason Sias, said outside court that the case is still under investigation and that the defense will be presented at trial. Jace is accused of shooting his wife, April Jace, in their Los Angeles home on May 19. He pleaded innocent during his June arraignment. The 49-year-old actor played a police officer on The Shield, appeared on Southland and had small roles in movies such as Boogie Nights and Forrest Gump.
