Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin "The Last Unbroken Heart"

Miami Vice only aired for five seasons, yet the crime drama spawned three separate soundtracks of music. Unlike most television shows that aired songs made for the program, Miami Vice paid nearly $10,000 to use popular music within the show. Miami Vice II contained the Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin ballad "The Last Unbroken Heart" in 1987. 

Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald "On My Own"

"On My Own" provides another example of a duet performed by two artists who were not in the same room together. Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald separately recorded their tracks for the chart-topping duet and the accompanying music video. These actions appear justified given the title of the song is "On My Own"...

Patti LaBelle - "If You Asked Me To"

Three years before Celine Dion's version of "If You Asked Me To" made her a household name, Patti LaBelle recorded the song as part of the License to Kill Soundtrack.  The original ballad peaked at #11 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1989.  Dion's version (which sounded very similar to LaBelle's) went to #1 in 1992.

Toto - "I'll Be Over You"

When it's 1980-something and you needed some backing vocals to your Adult Contemporary song, who ya gonna call?  MICHAEL McDONALD!  Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, and even James Ingram (Mr. Ya Mo Be There) picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Michael McDonald when their song needed some smooth vocals.  Thankfully, someone passed Michael's phone number to Toto and they speed dialed him in 1986 for some help on "I'll Be Over You".  Obviously, the song shot to #1 and became their second #1 Adult Contemporary hit.