Whitney Houston
About This Episode
Forty years ago, Whitney Houston released her debut album that introduced the world to one of the most legendary voices of all time. With chart-topping hits like *”Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All,” this album wasn’t just a success, it was a cultural moment. In this episode, we walk through the album track by track and explore how Whitney’s powerhouse vocals set the stage for a career that would change pop and R&B forever.
(May contain some explicit language.)
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Show Notes
- Whitney Houston’s Debut Album: Classic Track-by-Track Review | Billboard » bit.ly/4i9GwnW
- Whitney Houston – Rolling Stone » bit.ly/4kcXfZw
- Whiney Houston Official Site » www.whitneyhouston.com/
- Whitney Houston | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame » bit.ly/3QBnrPO
- 15+ Facts About Whitney Houston, One of the Most Successful Female Artists of All Time » bit.ly/4h3AtAu
- Whitney Houston – Songs, Daughter & Death » bit.ly/4bfvoDM
- Email the show » podcast@genxgrownup.com
- Visit us on YouTube » GenXGrownUp.com/yt
Transcript
| Jon | Welcome back Gen X Grown Up podcast listeners to this backtrack edition of the Gen X Grown Up podcast. I am John joining me as always. Of course is Mo. Hey man, how’s it going? |
| Mo | Going great, man. |
| Jon | To me for a little go great man. |
| Mo | You asked me a question. |
| Jon | Would not be it. I know you did. Would not be a show without George. Hey George. |
| George | Hey, how’s it going, guys? |
| Jon | In this episode, 40 years ago now, Whitney Houston released her debut album to introduce the world to one of the most legendary voices of all time. With chart topping hits like Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know, and of course, Greatest Love of All, this album wasn’t just a success, it was a cultural moment. For this episode, we walked through the album track by track and explore how Whitney’s powerhouse vocals set the stage for a career that would change pop and R and&B forever. |
| Jon | And yeah, as a debut album, you just can’t get much bigger than a debut album like this. |
| Mo | e Yeah. |
| Jon | wasnt I don’t think it was our best album, but man, did it set the stage yeah for what was to come. And as we do with our musical backtracks, we’re going to walk through this album track by track, as I said, and kind of deconstruct each track on the album and remember what it was like and or share our thoughts about it before we get into that, though. |
| Jon | A little good business to take care of here at the top of the show, the fourth listener email. We have another fourth listener who’s working his way through the back catalog, Jimmy B. |
| Jon | He’s been writing this regularly. |
| Mo | Cool. |
| Jon | We have quite a few emails you’ll hear in coming weeks from him. But Jimmy’s email, he dropped this just the other day, was After School TV, the topic of the email. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah, a little time backtrack, that’s right. |
| Mo | That’s a while back, right? |
| Jon | Here’s what Jimmy says. I have been binging your show now. I am in February 2018 and just heard the February 2018. And I was just heard the episode After School TV. |
| Jon | I have a lot of favorite memories on this. We had here in Dallas channel 11. I walked to school one and a half miles and I would run home every day to catch the shows on 11. This was my introduction to anime. |
| Jon | They had battle of the planets and star blazers on it three. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. Yep. |
| Jon | And I love those shows. Then after those, we would have the banana splits. Oh, love that dumb show would come on. Then probably Gilligan’s Island and some other show like the Brady Bunch or the Partridge Family. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | It sounds like an afternoon lineup. Perfect. Yeah, Jimmy. |
| Mo | Yep. |
| Jon | Then for the cherry on top, the next hour was either Wonder Woman or Buck Rogers. Mm, Channel 11 knew what they were doing. |
| Mo | Yes. Mm hmm. |
| Jon | After that, the shows would get more adult. And then the one I remember the most was Adam 12. |
| Mo | And I’m told that as well. |
| Jon | Yeah, I still watch Adam 12, which is by the way, a spin-off from Dragnet. |
| Mo | Yep. |
| Jon | I don’t know if you knew that or not, but it spun off for there, yeah. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | So yeah, After School TV sparked all these memories for Jimmy. We know you’re working your way through the back catalog, Jimmy. Good luck. Got a ways to go. He says, look forward to finally catching up. |
| Jon | Just a few more years to go, Jimmy. |
| Mo | We’ll do our best to keep ahead of you. |
| Jon | Yeah, if you catch us, then what? Then what do you do? You have to re-list them. Go back and start again. We appreciate that you dropped us a line. We’re happy that we sparked those memories for you, Jimmy. Fourth listener, if you would like your email featured here on the show, it is dropdeadeasy. All you have to do is send an email to podcast at genxgrownup.com. We read every single one of most of them, just like Jimmy’s. We’ll eventually make the show. |
| Jon | All right, it is time to walk our way through Whitney Houston, the debut album by no other than Whitney Houston. We’re going to get started right after this quick break. |
| Jon | I alluded to, or maybe outright said at the beginning of the show, 40th anniversary of this album, 40 years. |
| Mo | Wow. |
| Jon | Whitney Houston, her debut album, self-titled, dropped February 14th, 1985. See, I was a a sophomore in high school, I guess. |
| Mo | That was a senior high school. |
| Jon | Mo was probably… ah just wrap it up high school. George is wrapping up middle school. Yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | And this album, I think we all know this album. we I’m sure we might have to listen to it, but nobody was surprised what’s on this album. It was part of our youth growing up. And as I was prepping for it, ah you go back and look and there are a huge number of re-releases and anniversary and deluxe editions and remasters of this album. |
| Mo | oh yeah |
| Jon | And I said earlier, I’m not sure it’s her best body of work, but it is such a watershed moment for her as an artist. I think it gets so so much attention. And we’ll talk a little bit more about as we go through and start walking through the tracks, how they have a variety of different origin stories and maybe they’re written for other artists and made their way to this album. It’s really quite a story. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, ah she was born Whitney Elizabeth Houston, believe it or not, ah August 9, 1963. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | And let me tell you, I mean, if there was ever a genetic whatever to make a singer, she had it. um You know, I mean, she began singing at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey as a child, and she was a background vocalist while in high school. |
| Mo | But her mother, whose name is Sissy, was actually a Grammy winning gospel singer. um Her cousin was Diane Warwick. You know, um, Darlene Love, who I don’t know, not many people know who she is, but she was actually the wife and Lethal Weapon, uh, Murtok’s wife, but she was also like a Grammy winning singer and performer, you know, and they even knew like through the gospel music scene, they knew Aretha Franklin was like her honorary aunt. |
| Jon | OK. |
| George | Oh, yeah. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | Oh, |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | Like she wasn’t a blood relative, but they, she was with her like the entire time. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | oh yeah. |
| Jon | Right. That’s some royalty. Wow. |
| Mo | I mean, it’s, it’s just crazy. |
| Jon | Lineage. |
| Mo | Like how could she not be a great singer? |
| Jon | Mm hmm. Yeah. |
| George | ah i mean Rolling Stone certainly agrees in their 2023 list. They listed her as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | I would probably put her in the top five. |
| Mo | Uh, yeah, I’m with you. |
| George | She’s one of those amazing voices to this day. |
| Jon | Right up there. |
| George | I still remember Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl after 9-11 was arguably the greatest Star Spangled Banner ever sung. |
| Mo | Oh my God. |
| Jon | Right. |
| Mo | Oof. |
| George | um She’s got some Guinness World Records to her name as well, highest earning posthumous female celebrity. |
| Jon | Oh that’s too bad. |
| George | um After her death her assets amounted to about 250 million that she earned over a 25 year career. |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| George | And she was one of the first black women to ever appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. So even before this album was released, she was already ah in the zeitgeist a little bit. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, and she was gorgeous. |
| Jon | Yeah, she was part of pop culture and she was already in front of the public eye. And so that that really served her well as she moved into being an artist like that, who I think she was kind of like music executives kind of found her and brought her to it, but she didn’t like, it wasn’t nepotism, it just wasn’t her background or her family. |
| Jon | She had some raw, amazing talent. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | ah She started her career doing background vocals. She got a lot of praise from that. and Her early solo work went on her first big success doing duets with Teddy Pendergrass and Jermaine Jackson. |
| Mo | The lesser known Jackson. |
| Jon | ye And then yeah right then on her own, she signed her first first deal at 19 years old with Arista Records. |
| Mo | ah |
| Jon | 19 can you imagine just got out of high school or just whatever she did finish school whatever her education and like I don’t even know I’m still a kid at 19 I can’t imagine that kind of responsibility and that kind of weight but I mean she carried it her first two albums including this one we’re talking about this episode Whitney Houston 1985 and then her follow-up just lopped off the Houston Whitney in 1987 |
| Mo | Yeah. Mm hmm. |
| Jon | Both reached number one her first two albums out of the gate number one of the Billboard top 200 and are still among the best-selling Albums of all time and in fact, she’s the only artist to have seven consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 just get it’s No wonder no wonder her she had such a huge earning potential that even posthumously. |
| Mo | Crazy. |
| Jon | She was still banking |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. I mean, and then she decided to branch out and started making some movies, some better than others, admittedly. |
| Jon | e Yeah. |
| Mo | But everyones but but but everyone knows the Bodyguard. um I actually like enjoyed that movie. |
| Jon | Yeah, the big one. |
| Mo | I thought it was a really good movie. I thought she did a great job in it. And its soundtrack won the Grammy Award for the Album of the Year and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | Still? |
| Mo | And of course, yeah. |
| Jon | Wow. Okay. |
| Mo | And the lead single, I Will Always Love You, which actually was written by Dolly Parton. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | um |
| George | and sung by dollar burn. |
| Mo | And so they thought she has also does a beautiful version of it. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | um That also won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling female single in history at the time. i mean it was I mean, she was just, you know, just grew for success and really took and just rocketed. |
| Jon | Damn. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | It’s lightning kept striking. |
| Mo | um Yeah. |
| Jon | It’s like she could do no wrong. Everything she did was a winner. I mean, mean do mean well yeah i said maybe not every one of them, but damn near every one of them. You just heard the numbers. |
| Mo | Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, though, and maybe it was because she got so young, I don’t know, but she definitely made some bad choices. Let’s just leave it at that. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | Sure. |
| Mo | And so she wound up dying. She died on March 22nd in 2012. And they said the cause of death was a heart attack likely due to her drug use. You know, and she was 48 when she died. |
| George | Mm. |
| Mo | I mean, and that’s it. I hate hearing these stories because all the stuff that we have missed out on |
| Jon | Right. The things she would have done between then and now, right? |
| Mo | Yeah. Mm hmm. |
| Jon | The the intervening 13, 14 years or whatever. |
| George | Yep. |
| Jon | Yeah, we lost all of that. |
| Mo | Yeah, so is a shame. |
| George | I mean, and you know it’s not just all the statistics about her that’s impressive. This album in particular has a lot of interesting trivia behind it. ah It took a year and a half to get all the songs together for the album. |
| George | um Took her another two years to do the recording. Like John said, she signed her first ah contract at 19, took her several years to get the recording. It was end up being released on February 14th, like we said, of 85. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | um ah They were going to spend $200,000 to produce the album. It ended up costing $400,000. |
| Mo | Oh, geez. |
| Jon | Wow. |
| George | So they went double on their budget, but I’m sure they made a fair amount of that back over time. |
| Jon | Right, they made it back, right? |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, I think it probably. |
| George | ah Yeah. |
| Jon | I wonder if it’s because it took so much longer than they expected, probably you had to pay everybody all the yeah maybe. |
| George | And. Who knows? I mean, you know, it’s kind of like Hollywood math, right? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Every time there’s some accounting on a film, who knows how much stuff really caused like $5 million dollars for a golden hammer or whatever. |
| Mo | a Good point. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. Yeah. |
| George | ah But the album did hit the Billboard 200, like John said, and it was at the top for 14 weeks. |
| Mo | yes No. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Damn. |
| George | I mean, just, just crazy amount of stamina that I’m having. You know, you’re not going to see that kind of stuff in today’s modern age because we don’t do the same kind of releases and everything. |
| Jon | Not not quite like that. |
| George | It’s all streaming this side or the other, but incredible accomplishments. |
| Jon | Yep. Time has changed. |
| Jon | Yeah, and it wasn’t just in the US, like around the world. It topped the charts in, you said in the US, s Georgia, and stayed there for a long time. |
| George | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden, peaked at number two in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland. So it’s not just a phenomenon of the States. |
| George | The fuck what was wrong with those guys? |
| Jon | Why number two, guys? What are you doing? They got some, what are they doing in Germany? Got some, I’m not gonna guess what kind of songs they’re putting in number one, I don’t know. The album had three single, |
| Jon | The album had three number one singles, saving all my love for you, how will I know, and the greatest love of all, which made it both the first debut album and the first album by a solo female artists to produce three number one singles in the United States. |
| Mo | That’s craziness. |
| Jon | just So many number ones, so many as somebody just notable achievements and accomplishments by a young woman that was just fresh to the industry. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, I mean, it was certified. I mean, I didn’t know this was even a thing. um It was certified diamond for having over 10 million units sold by 1999. |
| Jon | Diamond. |
| Mo | 10 million. I mean, that’s back when he bought albums, right? |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Mo | um And later there went 14 times platinum ah by recording it. but I’m sorry. And later was 14 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association in 2023. It just kept selling. |
| Mo | It’s just an amazing album. Just kept going. As we said before, it’s the best selling debut by Soul Artist as one is as well as one of the best selling albums of all time. Had sales of over 25 million copies worldwide. |
| George | and |
| Mo | 25 million. |
| Jon | yeah |
| Mo | I know I bought at least twice. |
| Jon | Yeah, well I bought, I got a cassette. |
| George | Even if they sold those albums for a buck apiece, they made their money back. |
| Mo | yeah that’s straight You’re right. A buck apiece. |
| Jon | All right. No kidding. I know I bought on cassette. I know that I had it on CD at least. That might be the last time that I bought it, but yeah, at least twice I bought it. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah, sure enough. All right. That sets the stage. So when we get back from this quick break, we’re going to start, we’re going to drop the needle on side one. So kids records used to have two sides, right? |
| Jon | So we’re doing that two segments. You’re going to go through side one, five tracks per side. I’m going to go through all of these songs from Whitney Houston’s debut album. Getting into that right after this. |
| George | All right, there’s no better place to start on side one than with track number one. This is one of the most ah melodic ballads in history, in my opinion. |
| George | Whitney Houston’s voice is unmatched. And given that this was the first introduction to her voice, I don’t think we could have had a better one when it comes to you give good love. |
| Jon | Perfect. |
| Jon | Okay. Do you say you’d have much more about it? I could jump in here if you don’t have anything else. |
| George | Yeah, that’s fine. |
| Jon | or Okay, all right. |
| George | Yeah, I don’t care. |
| Jon | i don’t You said you’d have a lot to say about it, so I have some stuff, so okay, good. All right. |
| Jon | Yeah, just in the first few seconds, you just hear that, that that voice, you’re like, oh, this is what we’re in for, you know is this voice. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | this was This was written by a New York songwriter named Lala, wrote it for Roberta Flack. Sent it to Roberta Flack, got frustrated waiting to hear back, so she performed it live for Houston and her producer. |
| Jon | They said by the end of her demo, Houston was singing along with it. It was definitely gonna be for her. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | And so after that, she just owned it. |
| Mo | Yeah, |
| Mo | yeah it was like definitely one of the ah What does he call it? Like date songs, I guess you say. Even though if you listen to the words, you know, but, you know, we’re listening to you out with your girlfriend, whatever. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm, sure. |
| Mo | This was a song that you definitely wanted to play. |
| George | Yeah. I mean, I was in middle school and this was one of the songs, the whole album kind of has that vibe a little bit to it, but this was one of those songs that would bring out the romantic, like the, you know, like there’s just the never ending, like singing, you know, to yourself, hoping that the girl is going to hear you or something like that. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | I mean, or sing the song to you. It’s it’s just a beautiful song. And I, Again, I really don’t give a shit which Whitney Houston album we do. It’s going to be the same comments every time. |
| George | Like we could just record one of us just saying the same thing over and over again. Greatest female singer of all time. |
| Jon | Yeah, yeah. |
| George | That’s it. |
| Jon | Well, the whole album as we go through this is it’s about finding, getting, making, keeping and losing love. Like it’s all these are love songs in one form or fashion as you go through these. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | ah This particular one was nominated for Grammy Awards in two categories. Best R and&B song and best R and&B vocal performance, female. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | Whitney didn’t win either of them. She lost to Aretha Franklin, who took both both prizes for Freeway of Love. |
| Mo | All right. All right. If you’re going to lose somebody. yeah Yeah, that’s so bad. |
| Jon | If you’re going to lose, I guess losing to Aretha, not so bad, but yeah. |
| George | I mean, it stayed in the family. She was our honorary and so. |
| Jon | There you go. |
| Mo | That’s true. There you go. |
| Jon | That’s right. There you go. Mo, you want to move us along to the next track on side one? |
| Mo | Yeah, the next one, number two on side one was thinking about you. |
| George | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | So this song, I like it. It was very poppy. is’s It’s a very, you know, very pop. |
| Jon | Very poppy. I like that feel. Yeah. |
| Mo | But yeah, as I said, that’s what people kind of the appeal was. It was very 80s, very poppy. um It reached number 10 eventually was the highest it ever got. But again, you know, it spent something like 15 weeks in a chart. |
| Mo | So definitely a solid song. |
| Jon | Sometimes I like trying to dig into the lyrics of these because I listened to all these songs growing up especially you know in high school and college because it was big then. And so I like now preparing for this, I like read the lyrics to try to understand what it is. I know they’re all love songs. This one to me, I interpret as it’s like the early stages of a relationship where there’s like. |
| Jon | There’s like nothing you can think about except that object of your affection. She’s obsessed, you know? I’ve just been thinking about you and I can’t get you off my mind and that’s all I can think about, that obsession, that early, the spark is just just so hot, burns so brightly. |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | And she does a great job with this pop kind of delivery that just kind of makes it this little dance song that’s about that very thing. |
| Mo | Yeah, it actually did really well in the dance, the club mix versions and stuff. |
| Jon | Did it? |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, it definitely did. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | It was definitely I think it reached number. of um Sorry. ah Yeah, it reached number 24 on the dance mix album, so it is a super, super popular song. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | Oh, with that with that beat, I could see that. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | Yeah, absolutely. |
| Jon | Of course, yeah. All right, so shall we move along? What’s the next one? Ah, track number three. This interesting delivery with this, I think, especially going through the first side of this, very different sorts of songs as we go through. |
| Jon | We had the very melodic, we had the war poppy, and then we have this really interesting kind of staccato delivery on someone for me. |
| Mo | Mm hmm |
| Jon | Where’s my notes? There we go. Yeah, OK, I could jump back in here. |
| Jon | Yeah, that just kind of that someone for me, that little course in there is just another very different delivery, another way that she uses that amazing voice in a way that’s almost like an instrument sometimes and not, you know, just not vocals. |
| Mo | he |
| Jon | I hear this one and it’s. Again, it’s another kind of love song. This one is not already having love or wanting love. It’s like she’s sitting around the house daydreaming about, well, I’d like to go out, maybe have some fun at a party. Maybe I’ll meet that somebody special. I’d like to, I’d like a chance to go out and find love. And that’s what she’s saying in here. And it delivers in such a way that you’re like, yeah, yeah, maybe I’ll do that. maybe Sounds like fun. |
| Mo | way um as I went back and I looked at all the reviews. I looked at a lot of the reviews of this album when it first came out and pretty much they all pretty much said the same thing. They said most of these songs were very Uh, simple melody wise. |
| George | Sure. |
| Mo | And they said, they said that, but it was her voice that suddenly took this very simple song and just made it amazing. |
| Jon | I’d agree. |
| Mo | They said, anybody else singing this, it would be crappy album. You know, but her sing it really just elevated it. |
| George | I mean |
| George | Whitney Houston is the definition of the phrase. She could sing the phone book and I’d buy it, right? |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | ah Yeah, absolutely. |
| George | Like her in the female side, Freddie Mercury in the male side, those two voices just, they, they ascend any anything that you wrap around their tones. |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| George | Like words, like it doesn’t matter. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | Let them sing. It’s just a damn shame. We lost her so early. Just like Freddie, we lost him early too, you know, but yeah, at least we got what we got. |
| Mo | yeah yeah yeah |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. i And I feel that way about this album. I don’t want to i don’t want to denigrate the album or is there anything wrong with it? It’s not my favorite Whitney Houston performance. It’s not my favorite collection of songs. |
| Jon | You said she could sing whatever. It would be great. If I’m in the mood to hear something Whitney Houston has done, I’ll listen to some of her later work because then you have better songwriting. |
| Mo | Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Jon | and that same voice that’s just as powerful, if not more mature and more powerful and has more experience and worldliness behind it. I think she only got better over time, except for a little dip in the middle maybe of her career, but if she came over that better on the other side. And I think, look, they were looking for songs for this. One was, Roberta Flack didn’t want it. They shipped it to her kind of thing. Some of these were recorded elsewhere and they ended up making for a great album, even though as you said Mo, no one thing here is really, I only have two songs I really seek out and listen to, but all of it is very listenable even 40 years later, despite the simplicity, it’s because of Houston. You need help into that? |
| George | I didn’t know how we were doing it. Do you want to the previous person to move the next person in, or do you want the person just to take over? |
| Jon | I absolutely can’t, I should have, yeah, I yeah i will, yeah. |
| George | Because I can do any of the one. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | So let’s move it right along then we’re on the back end of this first half, the next track, George, what do we got? |
| George | Yeah. Uh, so the next one is kind of in the same vein of like some of the police’s songs back in the day where they would have lyrics that you may not have paid attention to when you were first listening to the song. |
| George | But once you did, you were like, what the hell are they saying? |
| Jon | Yep. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | Uh, this one definitely has that kind of vibe to it. It’s saving all my love for you. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | Now, this song, it’s one of my favorites. It’s the first number one song on the album, at least in order of the tracks, not necessarily in order of release, because I don’t remember which single got released first, but saving all my love for you was one of the number ones John mentioned it earlier. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | ah it’s It’s a beautiful song. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | But one of the comments that I made when we’re prepping and talking and listening and reminding ourselves of the songs, I’m like, yeah, she’s basically just like stealing some other person’s man at this point. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | She’s saving her love for this guy, no matter, you know, you’ve got your family and they need you there. But when you’re ready, come to the hotel room and we’ll get busy. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | ah |
| George | That’s kind of what the song is. But she sings it so beautifully with such precise melody. |
| Jon | You’re right. |
| Mo | Oh, I know. |
| George | I don’t care that she might be breaking up this family, to be honest with you. I mean, fuck it. I think she might deserve the guy. |
| Jon | You’re right, it it was indeed, it was the first of her seven consecutive number ones. It also topped the R and&B and adult contemporary charts. And it was her first number one hit in the UK. So I’ll cross there. And it’s really, like when I first listened to it, I thought, |
| Jon | and I first listened to it. When I first listened closely to the lyrics, right? I’m like, Oh, it’s unrequited love. You know, Oh, you’ve got your family. Maybe I wasn’t thinking you’re cheating, right? Like, Oh, you had to go home for the holidays. Your family needs you kind of the, Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It really is. In fact, um, let’s see. The thing that I had. |
| Jon | I didn’t, I did write this down. shit Okay. In fact, it’s a really sad song about this mistress singing about a love she can’t have because he’s already married and taken. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | And Houston’s mom was not sure she wanted her daughter singing, a 19-year-old or 20, whatever 21, that singing about adultery because they came out of the church singing gospel. |
| Mo | That’s it. Yeah. Mm hmm. |
| George | Mmhmm. |
| Jon | And I got to think maybe it was because it was delivered so beautifully that it’s almost like a stealth cheating song. It’s not really about the cheating. It’s about, I’m not cheating or I’m not cheating right now, even though I want to kind of cheating, but it is so melodically beautiful. It’s like her voice carries you through that. Like you said, might as well be the phone book. It doesn’t matter that it’s kind of dark and sad really. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | You’re going to have to move him on because you were doing the rest of that. |
| Jon | No problem, because I just talked. Yeah, I was making sure nobody else had any words, no problem. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | yeah Yeah. |
| George | It doesn’t make sense for me to jump in and say. |
| Jon | Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. okay Now, the next track, Mo, isn’t so sad. It’s a lot, now now the love is requited, right? |
| Mo | No. |
| Mo | Yep. The next one, the last song on side one was nobody loves me like you do with drain Jackson. |
| Mo | So in my research of this one, this was funny. This song actually was a first saying on the soap opera as the world turns. |
| George | yeah |
| Mo | But James Dunn, he was the one who wrote it. He actually performed it on the soap opera. But then Jim Ray Jackson and then unknown Whitney Houston decided they would also they would kind of do a cut of it themselves. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | And again, I think they well, I never considered Jermaine Jackson to be the amazing vocalist personally. But he was OK. |
| Jon | He’s all right, serviceable. |
| Mo | He was OK. He was OK. |
| Jon | He’s a Jackson. |
| Mo | Don’t get me wrong. |
| Jon | He came to natural. |
| Mo | You know, but seeing with her, though, She just was such a professional too. I think she was able to make her voice work with his. this Just really, really well. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | I don’t know if it was even her professionalism that allowed that. I think it was just an innate ability that she had. |
| Mo | e |
| George | She could do virtually anything with her voice just by instinct alone. It was just started at such a young age with her in the church. |
| Jon | like a chabeleon |
| George | And then, you know, as she progressed up to being a background singer, like we talked about earlier, all of those qualities, singing in a church choir, being a background singer, that lends itself to you being able to marry yourself vocally with another person’s voice, even in the moment on the fly. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm You’re right Yeah |
| George | And she’s just the greatest female singer of all. There’s no way she couldn’t have done it and she did it probably better than most. |
| Jon | It’s like a chameleon. You can almost follow this narrative through the album. you know It’s like, okay, I want someone for me and someone for you. And then by the time you get down here to the last track on side one, I found them. i So I found the love I wanted, I acquired them, and they’re great. And everything about you, you and it’s I was kind of, as I listened through this, through the whole album as a single piece, you can kind of substitute the word sex for love anywhere you want. |
| Jon | It’s kind of suggested. |
| George | Sure. |
| Mo | yes |
| Jon | You give good love? Well, you give good sex is what we’re talking about. savin Saving all my love for you? |
| Mo | for you |
| Jon | Well, yeah, because it’s all three. Nobody gives me sex like you do. And I even read a couple of things that I was reading that there was some concern from her family because so much of this was kind of loaded language for sexual and sexual interaction, sexual engagement, sexual contact, but because it was sung so pure and so in in this gospel voice, it ended up kind of almost, and Whitney Houston herself said in something I read that if you want to interpret it that way, that’s not, in what it’s in my heart when I’m singing it, I’m singing just about love. |
| Mo | Yes. Yeah. |
| Jon | You want it to be about sex? That’s up to you. It’s on you. |
| Mo | Yeah, especially with this first album, she still had that very um church pure image. |
| Jon | here |
| Mo | You know, like you said, teen model, I mean, absolutely dropped it, gorgeous. |
| Jon | yeah |
| Mo | But, you know, and said you hear it and these say you look at the words, you know what it is. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| Mo | But when she sings it, my head doesn’t go there. Like that’s not where my brain goes when I hear the song when she sings it. |
| George | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | Yeah, you kind of have to think about it, don’t you? |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | You gotta go, hmm, yeah, yep. |
| Mo | You know, you know, it just seems a lot more innocent. |
| George | Yeah, now, if Madonna had sung it. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah, totally different story. |
| Jon | She’d have just said sex, saving most sex for you, right? |
| Mo | Yeah, that’s true. |
| Jon | She wouldn’t have been a secret. |
| Mo | Actually, I’ll use a different word. |
| Jon | We’re moving along now to side two of the album, if you had the album or track six, if you had the CD of which I’m sure I bought at least one of each at some point in the history of buying records in my past. But this one is ah another, it’s a love song. So many of these, they’re love songs, they’re all love songs. This is How Will I Know? |
| Jon | Okay. Now this is another one didn’t come straight to Whitney Houston. This was written for Janet Jackson. |
| Mo | Yeah, crazy. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | delivered to her, she passed on it. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Cause she was currently working on the album control and it just didn’t fit with the vibe. |
| George | Oh, yeah, that wouldn’t have fit. |
| Jon | Like that new Jack kind of vibe that she was working on at the time, like just didn’t fit. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | So passed it on. And it’s really, it’s a very innocent song. It’s like trying to decide if the boy she likes will ever like her back. How will I know if he really cares about me? |
| George | Yep. |
| Jon | And I think it went really well with her wholesome image, especially that she had at this point early in her career. yeah |
| Mo | Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. And I think this um really helped propel her and make her popular because it was like I think her first big popular music video that she did was for this song. |
| George | Yeah. I mean, you’re, you’re basically taking the wind out of my sails for the next segment because that was the thing that I was going to, no, no, no, it’s fine. |
| Mo | um |
| Jon | Oh, no. |
| Mo | Oh. Oh, well, i’ll bet we can back that up. oh I can take that up. No, I have no problem with that. |
| George | yeah We can bring it up like multiple times because it’s Whitney Houston. |
| Mo | No. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | You could just talk about her forever. Uh, you’re right. |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| George | The video is what I remember the most about this song more than the song itself. |
| Mo | e |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | Sometimes. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Really? Yeah. So what was remind me of the video? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | What was the idea to talk more about later? |
| Mo | She’s dancing. |
| George | So the video is her in a gray dress with her hair in an Afro frizz with little, um, bows in each side at the top. |
| Jon | Bingo, got it, yep. |
| George | And then she’s dancing around in a corridor with other dancers. |
| Mo | As video screens, too, are there? |
| George | And there’s a whole bunch of like art on the glass walls. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm, yep. |
| George | That’s kind of like, uh, just thrown and splashed up there. Like you might see on a tie dye t-shirt kind of thing. |
| Jon | it’s It’s burned to my retinas now. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | as as soon as As soon as you got to the frizzy hair and the bows, I’m like, yeah, yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | I also learned, it’s interesting, backing vocals on this song, Whitney’s mother, Sissy Houston. |
| Mo | Oh, that’s a little support. |
| George | yeah |
| Jon | Yeah, so bringing the family in too. Yeah, right. This was a big hit. I didn’t jot down where it hit, but I’m sure this was one of the singles, but this was everywhere. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | It had its own video and everything. And it’s another pop song. It reminds me a lot of, ah what was it, to Thinking About You on side one. |
| George | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | It’s a good dance song. It’s a good pop hit kind of thing. And it was it was one of, it probably, maybe my third favorite. I gotta build a top 10 on this. They’re all in my list of favorites. |
| Mo | Yeah, just quickly look it up is actually her second number one hit was this one. |
| Jon | There you go. There you go. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Makes sense. All right. Well, let’s move along from how will I know, George, what is next on side two? |
| George | Yeah, side ah song seven side two or song two side two. I don’t know how ever you want to phrase it, but ah it’s definitely going to take the speed a little bit down from ah that last one. |
| Jon | Sure. |
| George | This is a much slower song all at once. |
| Jon | Oh. |
| George | This song is one that I know a lot of people um and John we talked about it during the break They don’t find this song as one of their favorites from the album um I’m not gonna say it’s my favorite from the album because I’ve kind of already alluded to which one is my favorite from the album ah but |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | c |
| George | It’s definitely ah a really solid song and I think this is the first time on the album that we hear her voice start to become slightly more adult. Like there’s just a slight adult tone to the song. |
| Mo | e |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | Okay, yeah, I can hear that. |
| George | um It’s got a little bit more um melancholy in it, I think. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | And I don’t know why it just, it feels like a slight departure, even though it’s on the same track having to do with love and romance and, you know, matters of the heart, that kind of stuff. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | But it’s just got that melancholy feel, which is appropriate for the lyrics. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | And I think it’s a solid effort. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | I think had she recorded this four years later, it probably would have been a breakaway hit. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | e |
| Jon | Yeah, I found it to be it’s look it’s a lost love is what it is you’re lamenting. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | a It’s a cry in your pillow song is what it is. |
| Mo | he see |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | My earth crashed around me. And I find the We talked about the the simplicity of this album. And it’s, it’s one of those things like we all went through this at some point in our life, it’s a song of losing young love, right? That other person is everything to you. And then when the breakup happens, like you see the walls closing, and you think you’re never going to recover. And that’s really like, she sings in this about all at once, everything came crashing down, a paraphrasing, but all at once, I lost everything I ever had, and we’ll ever be the same again. And it’s, it’s a little |
| Jon | Like the lyrics and the songwriting feels a little immature and young to me, which is OK for her at this point in her career. But like an older, more experienced person doesn’t have that same kind of crashing feeling in a breakup because you’ve had a few and you’ve lived through it a bit. And I think that’s probably why it’s especially as I’m older, it’s one of my least favorite on the album, which is not being too bad. It’s still on this album, so it’s pretty damn good. |
| Mo | Yeah, it was funny how this song actually did better overseas in Europe than it did in the United States. |
| Jon | Oh. |
| George | Ah. |
| Mo | And one of the reasons they think it was like this was not released as a single in the United States. And for kids out there who don’t know how the records were promoted back then, back in the day before an album came out, they released certain songs as singles ahead of the album just to kind of raise, you know, get everyone excited. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. Right ahead of the album, right? Yeah. |
| Mo | And when the whole album came out, you’re like, oh my God. But they did release as a single in Europe. so Over in Europe, it actually was like one of the big hits over in Europe, whereas the United States, it kind of did, eh. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. Let’s see, anything else on this? I think it’s not good. |
| Jon | Okay, Mo, you want to ah you you’re doing the next one. All right. |
| Mo | Yeah, George, can you toss me? |
| George | uh it’s kind of hard to get back into it from there um let me let me figure something out okay um right here we go five four three you know it’s it’s great that these songs had a life not just in the us but overseas and i think it’s important because all of these songs are |
| Jon | Well, know it would it’ll feel weird. Yeah. Let me see. I had. |
| Mo | All right. |
| Jon | Yeah, I’m trying to find a way in. |
| George | They need to have a life because they represent Whitney Houston, his first debut album like we talked about, but they all represent a time in her life. It’s certainly ah important that they got the recognition they deserve, even if it wasn’t in the US. |
| George | s But Mo, what about this next song? Did it get as much recognition as the last one or was this one kind of a meh? |
| Mo | No, not yeah, not really. Um, the next song, number eight on side two or number three on side two, I’m confused like George. I’m not sure exactly how to say these things, but it was the song was take good care of my heart. Another duet with Jermaine Jackson. |
| Jon | Nicely done, George. Thank you. |
| Mo | Yes. Thank you, George. So, you know, this song is about first love, you know, people falling hard for each other, all that stuff. So it’s very young. Um, to be honest, this is actually one of my least favorite. |
| Mo | I mean, they’re all great song, but this is one of my least favorite on this side. Um, just because I don’t know, it just didn’t, didn’t, just didn’t do it for me. Maybe it was Jermaine Jackson actually didn’t do it for me quite honestly, you know, but it’s another case of them not, this was not a single in United States. |
| Jon | his fault? |
| Mo | Um, so it was a song that they wondered, like, you know, it was again, like not giving a lot of promotion and all that stuff. |
| Jon | Mm. |
| Mo | And again, I guess whoever promoted the album in the United States didn’t think it would help sales. So it didn’t happen. |
| Jon | Yeah, it is. You said about first love and it’s these two have fallen hard for one another. And the nice imagery that they put in there is like, you’re the one that’s opened up my heart, but now I’m vulnerable because you’re the one who can break my heart because now you have the control or the ability to do this. |
| Jon | And this is the second that you mentioned, the second duet with Jermaine Jackson. I read that Whitney was having an affair with Jermaine Jackson around the time of the recording of this album. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | I mean, Jackson was married to Hazel Gordy, son of Barry Gordy, the head of the studio. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | hu Not really, it’s it’s his son. |
| Mo | Boy, that shoot yourself in the foot. |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | Who the fuck knows Barry Gordy’s son? Nobody gives a shit about him. |
| Jon | but |
| George | It’s Whitney Houston. Come on. |
| Mo | What’s up with Jermaine Jackson’s career? He’s shooting himself in the foot. |
| Jon | Oh, oh, oh, yeah whatever. |
| George | Oh, well, did he have a career after the five in this album? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | I don’t think so. I don’t think so. |
| Jon | Well, maybe not. |
| George | I mean, I don’t think it was because of that, though. |
| Jon | but Maybe not, maybe that’s what it was. But yeah, its so it’s it is that that young love thing, but it also, now that I know about that affair, I’m like, oh, what about that cheating song from side one? |
| Jon | Maybe that kind of plays into this too, you know? |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | I don’t know. |
| George | Well, thankfully, we get to ah get rid of the Jermaine Jackson duets at this point. So and we we move off of a mass song to John, you may have gotten lucky with the rotation here and gotten what is arguably the most famous song from the album and one of the most famous from her career. |
| Jon | It was accidental. yeah Yeah, I mean, there’s no point in trying to conceal what might it be, what might be the great album, right? |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| Jon | So we are talking about the huge power ballad, greatest love of all. |
| Jon | Yeah, okay. Three, two, |
| Jon | I talked about how this whole album was about ah finding and keeping and losing and making love and all that kind of stuff. This song for me is a departure from that because it’s not really ah about relationship love. it is totally It even says the greatest love of all is not all those other things, right? It’s about learning to love yourself, teach the children. It’s this kumbaya kind of. and The sentiment in it is amazing. The lyrics in it are evocative of what they’re talking about. It’s so good and so well done that it almost doesn’t fit on this album for me. It is so much better for me above and beyond any other track on this album. Is it just me or do you guys feel something like that? |
| George | I think it is an incredible song. um However, I don’t know that it’s the greatest version of this song. I know sacrilege, right? |
| Jon | Oh, ah maybe. |
| George | But I kind of got to go with sexual chocolate on this one. |
| Mo | Oh my god. |
| George | I mean, really? Are you going to have a better version than sexual chocolates version of greatest love of all? |
| Jon | That boy’s good. |
| Mo | Oh my god. |
| Mo | The funny thing about this song is that actually I had heard the song before her version because my my dad was big George Benson fan. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | So, you know, in 77 George Benson recorded the song and he did it it went number two in the charts. |
| George | Mm. |
| Mo | It did really well. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | You know, it was very popular song. But her version was just so much better. I mean, |
| George | Yeah, well. |
| Mo | Yeah, I mean, I mean, George because George, but he’s no slouch. You know, I mean, he’s way better. Jermaine Jackson. Let’s start that. |
| Mo | But, you know, but I mean, I said I loved his version. My dad loved his version. Then he heard her version. He was like, Oh, screw that. |
| Jon | Oh, well. Mm hmm. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | ah You know. |
| Jon | Yeah. And we were also talking a little bit in the break when actually the breaks we actually record and we give it up to our patrons as bonus content. So if you want to hear these conversations we’re talking about, you can pop over there. |
| Jon | But the we were talking a little bit about how this is one of those songs that is played at graduations and proms and it just |
| Mo | Mhm. |
| Jon | Everybody loved it, right? For different reasons. Some people listened to it and didn’t even listen to the lyrics and know what it’s talking about, self-love. It’s just the greatest love of all. And that could be your boyfriend or girlfriend, because often we didn’t listen to the lyrics that deep to know. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | Sure. |
| Jon | But then the more you listen to it, the more you’re like, man, this fits for for for higher education, you know, teach the teach the children their our future, let them lead the way, all that is in there. It’s like, oh, you’re tearing up a little bit because the children of their future do it for the kids, you know, kind of thing. |
| Jon | and It made its way to all of those events because it, unlike other songs in this album, like I said, it doesn’t quite fit to me because those others could be misinterpreted or interpreted rightfully as as lustful or about sex or things. And this is just absolutely squeaky clean as as just pure and honest as you can get. |
| Mo | Oh, do you want me to toss the next one? Are you good? |
| Jon | I was, you wanted to say something, you had your hand up. |
| Mo | Yeah, I’ll toss. Oh, no, I didn’t. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | I was going to say I had a way of tossing it. So I was asking. |
| Jon | Oh, I can get right to George then. So yeah. |
| Jon | Okay. All right. |
| Mo | So, yeah, I mean, it really was. And let me tell you, as much as I dislike my song because Jermaine Jackson, the last song on this album has another duet. But man, what a difference. |
| George | Yeah. You know, as a matter of fact, that was exactly the intro I was going to lead in with there. So thanks for burying my lead Mo. Appreciate that shit. |
| Jon | i just He’s just stealing all your thunder in this episode. |
| Mo | Wow, what the hell? |
| George | Uh, I’ll just go back over and say, you know, while the last song was the final number one out or number one single from this album, this next song was arguably, well, not arguably was the better duet of all the duets on the album. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah, yeah. |
| Mo | Oh, absolutely. |
| George | And that’s hold me along with Teddy Pendergrass. |
| Jon | Easy. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | Teddy. |
| George | I mean, again, it’s Whitney Houston, greatest female vocalist of all time. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | Fuck you, Mariah. I’m sorry, but that’s just the truth. ah But she gets finally a partner on this album and you kind of got to wonder like, did they go through the other songs and then, you know, whatever happened in Motown, Barry Gordy, whoever produced this album or somebody said, let’s give her a real singer to partner with and see what she can do. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | she |
| George | And Teddy Pendergrass, John, you mentioned at one point when we were talking about, uh, just some of our sets and everything, this might’ve happened after he had that horrible accident where he was paralyzed. |
| Jon | I think so. Yeah. |
| George | You can’t tell from his voice though. Holy shit. |
| Jon | Oh, no, he still got the pipes. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| George | The man is just fucking butter. |
| Jon | Right. Right. |
| George | He’s just so smooth. |
| Jon | and He had but he’d been out of the game for a little bit, but he still had those pipes. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah, it was. I think I read This was her first recording, actually, of that two and a half years or whatever. |
| George | Oh, wow. |
| Jon | Can you believe that? |
| Mo | Wow. |
| Jon | Her first recording on her new Arista contract was with Teddy frickin’ Pendergrass. |
| George | Hmm. Yeah. |
| Jon | They released it all the way back, as Mo said with singles, May of 1984, and that gave her her first taste of success, because it it became a top five R and&B hit on that advanced single. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | And it’s it’s a lovemaking song. it’s this She’s singing of her attraction, honest and pure nature of this guy. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Wanna fill the night with pleasure. Hold me, touch me, make me your woman. I mean, it’s it’s Teddy in a lovemaking song. You can’t go wrong. |
| Mo | Yeah, if there’s something bad about this song, I have to say is that this song was actually released before the album. |
| Jon | hu Oh, really? |
| Mo | And because it released before the album, she was ineligible for new artist. |
| George | Right. |
| Mo | Yes. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | How does that work? |
| Mo | She was because she had, she had, she was, she was unnamed on another album before this one came out. |
| Jon | Because she’d already. |
| Jon | In eighty four. |
| George | Oh, wait, this was on a different album before this album. |
| Jon | Oh. |
| Mo | Yes. |
| Jon | Yeah, so this was on. |
| Mo | It was on petty tender guesses album. |
| Jon | Yeah, it’s ti Teddy Pendergrass’s eighth album Love Language. This was on that album. |
| Mo | Right. And she was credited on it. |
| George | Ah. |
| Jon | It got released there, too. |
| Mo | And because she was credited on it, she could not win for best new artists. |
| Jon | Yeah. So she lost the new. Oh, whoops. |
| George | fucking award ceremony bullshit rules. Fuck you people. |
| Jon | Technicality. |
| Mo | Technicalities. |
| George | Whitney Houston is not the greatest brand new artist of 85. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | I know I I is bullshit for sure, but technical. |
| George | You kiss my ass. |
| Mo | She didn’t win. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | yeah All right, this is a good album. We talk about all of its little shortcomings, but aside from that, Houston elevates it in a way that launched her career as an amazing vocalist and rock, R and&B, everything. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | so As we often do in these musical backtracks, we get back from this quick break. We’re going to each champion a track. You might have already figured out what our tracks are. If you listen to the last couple of segments, which one we think is our favorite on the album. We’ll see who you agree with. Stick around. We’ll be right back. |
| Jon | All right. We’re back from that quick break. And as promised, we have each selected our favorite track from the album. Why it’s our favorite track remains to be seen. You probably might already know if you’ve been listening throughout this, but Mo, let’s start with you. Let’s make it official champion. Your favorite track from Whitney Houston’s debut album. |
| Mo | And for me, I guess I went with a song that when I first heard it just kind of took me back to 85, like just give me the most memories of back at that time. And that was You Give Good Love, the first song on the album. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. OK. |
| Mo | um Maybe it’s because, you know, my brother had this album. and I think did I have some probably. um And so, you know, albums back in the day when you play it, this first song is going to play every single time. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | So, you know, and it to me, it’s just it’s just the memories of it, honestly, like I don’t necessari necessarily think it’s the best song on the album. But for me, it has the most the most positive memories for me and the most feeling when I hear it. |
| Jon | OK. okay |
| Mo | Yep. |
| Jon | but Valid pick, there are no wrong answers, I don’t think. So, ah let’s move along. George, I think you’ve pretty tipped your hand pretty early on. What’s your favorite from this album? |
| George | Sure. Yeah, um I think this next song, A, is the best upbeat song on the album, in my opinion. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | We’ll argue that. |
| George | B, it’s the best music video from the album. |
| Mo | Can’t argue that one. |
| George | And C, it’s probably the reason that Warren stole this album to give to his girlfriend in the movie Empire Records. And that is the song, How Will I Know? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | ah it’s It’s an incredible song. It’s a lot of fun. That music video, we discussed it a little bit so that John could remember. And all you have to do is give a couple of descriptives of the visuals of either how she was dressed or her hair, or maybe the set itself. |
| George | But it’s a very simplistic music video. It’s really just a camera following her around kind of Bobby Brown style, which, you know, has another link later on ah in her life, unfortunately. |
| Jon | Speaking of. |
| George | But I really think this song, um it just kind of makes me happy every time I hear it. It’s not it’s not that she’s like singing it in like, how will I know like she’s nervous or has anxiety or is worried about it? |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | It’s just like, hey, mom, dad, how will I know when I’m in love like a little like five year old asking a very innocent question about love as she might know it at that point but then there’s just enough of that like she’s 19 20 21 when she’s recording this that made me feel like |
| Mo | easy easy Yeah. |
| Jon | Mmhmm. Yeah. Mmhmm. |
| George | something in high school because I was you know like we said I was ah when this album came out um I was finishing up middle school when it got really popular I was in high school so I’m right at that age when all of those questions and feelings are super super important to you whether you’re a boy or a girl whether you’re hetero or homo it doesn’t matter ah all of the songs in this album have that feel to it and this song in particular |
| Jon | Mmhmm. |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| George | just kind of gives you the right to ask that question. |
| Mo | Yeah. I don’t know if you guys, like you mentioned earlier, John, that there’s like multiple versions of this album will come out. Um, have you guys, do you, I don’t know if you heard the deluxe anniversary edition, but do yourself a favor. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | I don’t think so. OK. |
| Mo | They have a version of this song where she sings at acapella. |
| George | Oh. |
| Jon | Oh, really? |
| Mo | Yes. So it’s, it’s worth listening to just for that. |
| Jon | Interesting. There’s a reason to go check it out. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | Cause just hearing her just belt this song out with no instrumentation at all. |
| Jon | Huh. |
| Mo | It’s just her singing. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm, right. |
| Mo | Holy crap. |
| Jon | And this is way before auto-tune. This is natural talent, right? This is… |
| Mo | before auto zoom. |
| George | Oh yeah. Yeah. Fuck auto tune. No, this was, I mean, don’t get me wrong. T pain is from my hometown and I love the guy, but can’t hold a candle to Whitney. I’m sorry. And he would agree. |
| George | I think, uh, so Mo is given his champion track. |
| Jon | ah |
| Mo | Oh, man. |
| George | I’ve given mine, John, you are legally obligated to select the next track as your favorite based on the song and the album. |
| Jon | yep yep. All right. |
| Mo | Wait, wait, wait, huh? Which which one do you think he’s going to pick? |
| George | yeah |
| Jon | Yeah, and we talked about this two weeks ago when we were planning to record, right? Hey, here’s the one I want to pick, but it’s the one everybody wants to pick. Is anybody dying to talk about it? And my pick, of course, is Greatest Love of All. And it’s for all the reasons that I kind of talked about in the last segment when we were listening to it, and that was, |
| Jon | It feels more elevated, more mature, more worldwide than all of the other songs on this album. And not too long ago, I already liked this song, but I super like it after I learned more about its origin. |
| Jon | Now, George, now Mo, you mentioned a second ago that George Benson recorded this back in 1977. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | It was written by a songwriting duo named Master and Creed. They wrote it. George Benson performed it. It was for the soundtrack of the film biography of Muhammad Ali called The Greatest. |
| George | Oh. |
| Jon | If you take this song and listen to it in context to the career of Muhammad Ali, I just got chills thinking about it. It’s even more powerful. Whether I fail or I succeed, at least I lived as I believed. |
| Jon | No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity. |
| George | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | It was powerful as Whitney Houston being an up and coming artist. When I think about how it was originally written to represent the life and the the ethos and the philosophy of Muhammad Ali as he was working way his way up through the ranks, it adds a layer of how much I love this song on top of how much I already liked it as being what I think is the best song on the album in the first place. |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | So yeah, yeah as you run it through your head, you’re like, oh yeah, oh yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| George | And it is the only song on the album to get the sexual chocolate treatment. So that in and of itself makes it the greatest song on the album. |
| Mo | Oh my God. |
| Jon | ah |
| Mo | And I’ll also bring this up that if you do get that deluxe anniversary edition, they have a version of her singing it live, Radio City Music Hall. |
| Jon | Oh, nice. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Mo | That that is one of these things you go back in a Wayback machine and go see a concert, you know, and I would have loved to see her perform live. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Jon | That’d be one to see. Yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | No kidding. Yeah. ah So look, we’ve run through the album. We’ve gone through our favorites. It may not be the best Whitney Houston album, but by gosh, I’ve said it several times, it is the album that launched the career of arguably the best female vocalist that we have ever had on the planet. We could argue that all day and you could pick somebody else. George Artie was dissing Mariah Carey. That’s okay. |
| Jon | but |
| George | you could You can pick whoever you want. |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | It’s okay to be wrong. |
| Jon | It’s okay to be wrong. |
| George | Fuck you. |
| Mo | Yeah, absolutely. |
| Jon | I knows i knew we were gonna say that. |
| George | Whitney Houston, greatest female vocalist of all time. |
| Jon | I knew you were. ah so Fourth listener, we hope you enjoyed this walk through Whitney Houston, but Whitney’s debut album. Drop us an email podcast at Gen X growing up. Let us know your memories of this song. Maybe you had a first dance or a first love or something or your first breakup to this. I’m sure a lot of people did. |
| Jon | Well requested, I’m sure, on the radio. Before we jump out of this episode, I do want to take a second toward the ant here to thank two more super generous people who have become patrons, financial supporters of Gen X grown up, literally making this episode and future ones possible. I want to thank you, Darren H. |
| Jon | and Renee W. Both of these fine folks went over to patreon dot.com slash Gen X grown up, opened up their wallets and their hearts and said, we know you give it away for free guys. |
| Mo | Awesome. |
| Jon | We want to support what you do. ah Darren, Renee, thank you so much for your support. You’re joining a roster of other amazing people that are generous and take care of us. Make sure we keep doing what we do. |
| Jon | That then is going to wrap it up for this backtrack edition of the Gen X grown up podcast. Don’t worry. We have another back trap coming in two weeks. Don’t worry, we have another backtrack coming in two weeks, regular edition of the show next week. |
| Jon | Until then, I am John George. Thank you so much for being here, man. |
| George | Yes, sir. |
| Jon | Mo, you know, I appreciate you. |
| Mo | Always fun, man. |
| Jon | Force Lister, you we appreciate most of all, though we can’t wait to talk to you again next time. but Bye-bye. |
| George | See you guys. |
| Mo | Take care, everybody. |
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