Dial the Number (WH deluxe version)
 

I have never been a fan of Stevie's back up singers on her albums. I can tolerate them at the concerts but I prefer when she is more prominent on the harmonies if it's not Christine or Lindsey. When THIS song comes on in a shuffle I cringe. I can't stand Sharon's voice. Does anybody out there feel this way?

The best version IMO is the TOSOTM outtake. I love this song for the "we can see the dreams before they see us" line if nothing else. I even think Kenny G is really good on it. The thing that you will like the most is little to no backing vocals on these takes. I love the girls vocals. I was listening to The Dealer Bella Donna outtake and noticed how loud the girls vocals are in the mix. They're like that on Listen to the Rain too but it works. Maybe it's the same with this version. I'll have to listen to it again now.

Agree. I’ve never been a fan of their singing either.
But I tolerate them too.
I’ve always found their voices to be shrill and not really great
matches for Stevie. But it comes with the whole package.

Stevie double tracked with her own harmony is sublime.

As background only
 

I like them as backup singers because their voices don't compete with Stevie's voice. Neither Lori nor Sharon is strong enough vocally, IMO, to be a really good lead singer. But that's why they are so good at backup!

The Wild Heart outtake of Dial The Number isn't my favorite. The way Stevie and the girls sing two different lines at some points (You have one, maybe two days/ Two, maybe three days/ What would I do?) always slightly bothers me simply because when I sing along I never know what line to sing! I much prefer the TOSOTM version because Dial The Number seems more like a slow, melancholy almost power-ballad to me, as opposed to TWH version where its much faster paced.