Joe Cocker Alex Sadkin. In 1982, at the behest of producer Stewart Levine, Cocker recorded the duet "Up Where We Belong" with Jennifer Warnes for the soundtrack of the 1982 film "An Officer and a Gentleman". The song was an international hit, reaching number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo. The duet also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Cocker and Warnes performed the song at the awards ceremony. Several days later, he was invited to perform "You Are So Beautiful" with Ray Charles in a television
Up Where We Belong label also had reservations about the number of slow ballads included on the new project. Another producer was brought in to give the album a different tone, and the result was the 1984 release "Civilized Man". Peaking at number 133 on the "Billboard" 200, it was his lowest charting studio album in the US at that point. Capitol had been responsible for rejuvenating the careers of Tina Turner and Heart in the mid-80s, so a push was on to do so for their new client with his next project, the 1986 album "Cocker". Capitol's vice president of a&r, Don Grierson,