100 ESSENTIAL WHITNEY HOUSTON SONGS. Today: #5-1. This concludes the countdown.
Caffè Lattè
presents:
THE 100 MOST
ESSENTIAL SONGS BY
WHITNEY
HOUSTON
It’s 10 years since Whitney
Houston passed away. Here are 100 choice tracks from her catalogue that demonstrate
why she is still revered as a vocal powerhouse:
Check out the playlist on
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0az3MloF4nqCKm6xQuS3Zk?si=caae004db4b34c65
W5H
ONE MOMENT
IN TIME
Album: Whitney The Greatest
Hits
Albert
Hammond, a respected songwriter best remembered for “It Never Rains In Southern
California” penned “One Moment In Time” with John Bettis who co-wrote many
hits for The Carpenters. Clive Davis had the rights to an album to mark the 1988
Summer Olympic Games. Held that year in Seoul, South Korea, Whitney’s song was
featured the TV telecast. Narada Michael Walden produced her inspiring anthem.
In America,
the single reached #1 AC, #5 Pop and #22 R&B. The disc also topped the
British chart and was a major hit across Europe.
W4H
GREATEST
LOVE OF ALL
Album: Whitney Houston
Michael
Masser and Linda Creed co-wrote “Greatest Love Of All”. The original version was
recorded by George Benson and featured in the 1977 autobiographical film about
-and starring- Muhammed Ali entitled ‘The Greatest’.
Masser
produced Whitney’s remake. Initially, the track was used as the B-side of “You
Give Good Love”. Once issued as an A-side, “Greatest Love Of All” reached the
Pop and AC chart summit and climbed to #3 R&B (the latter was the same peak
the original achieved). The single topped the Canadian and Australian charts as
well as going Top 10 in Britain.
W3H
I WANNA
DANCE WITH SOMEBODY
(WHO LOVES
ME)
Album: Whitney
After the
overwhelming success of Whitney’s debut album, Arista President Clive Davis was
keen to stick with the formula when planning her follow-up LP. He approached
some of the same songwriters to contribute songs for ‘Whitney’. The writers of “How
Will I Know”, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, first offered “Waiting For A
Star To Fall”. That song was rejected (although it did become a hit for the
writers when they released it as Boy Meets Girl in 1988).
Next, the
writers came up with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. After producer Narada Michael
Walden reshaped its musical style, the track was released as the lead single
from ‘Whitney’.
If “How Will
I Know” proved Whitney could be a pop crossover success, “I Wanna Dance With
Somebody” surpassed even that single’s popularity. The hit, one of her
signature songs, reached #1 in America, Britain, Europe, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa.
W2H
HOW WILL I
KNOW
Album: Whitney Houston
“How Will I
Know” was first offered to Janet Jackson. In fact, George Merrill and Shannon
Rubicam had created the song with her in mind. Meanwhile, tracks were being
gathered for Whitney’s debut album. The project needed a pop crossover song and,
after some coaxing, Narada Michael Walden agreed to produce the cut. He took
time out of working on Aretha Franklin’s ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who’ LP in order to
work on what would become another of Whitney’s smash hits. Cissy Houston
contributed background vocals. Walden made some changes to the original lyrics.
The single
reached #1 in America and Canada. In the former territory, the disc topped the
Pop, Soul and AC charts. It also made the Top 5 in the UK, Australia and
Scandinavia.
W1H
I WILL
ALWAYS LOVE YOU
Album: The Bodyguard {Soundtrack}
Whitney had
already mastered soul, adult contemporary, pop, hip hop, dance and gospel by
the time she recorded the song most closely associated with her. Although it
had already been a Country Chart smash for its songwriter Dolly Parton and had
also been previously featured in another film (‘The Best Little Whorehouse In
Texas’), the 1992 cover version transformed the song into a vocal masterwork. Whitney’s
rendition became the new yardstick for vocalists wishing to prove their mettle.
The remake
was used effectively in the film ‘The Bodyguard’ which starred Whitney in her
acting debut. David Foster produced and arranged the cut which won the Record
of the Year Grammy Award.
Its 14-week
reign atop the US Billboard Hot 100 was record-breaking. The single also
reached #1 in Britain, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
