Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston (1985) - Lp

Whitney Houston is the debut studio album by American contemporary R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston. It was released on February 14, 1985, by Arista Records.
The album initially had a slow commercial response, but began getting more popular in the summer of 1985.
It eventually topped the Billboard 200 for 14 weeks in 1986, generating three number-one singles — "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All" (a cover of "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson) — on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which made it both the first debut album and the first album by a solo female artist to produce three number-one singles.
As big a hit as it was -- and it was a multi-platinum blockbuster, spinning off several chart-toppers -- it’s not easy to think of Whitney Houston’s 1985 debut as the dawning of a new era, but it was. Arriving in the thick of MTV, when the slick sounds of yacht-soul were fading, Whitney Houston is the foundation of diva-pop, straddling clean, cheery R&B and big ballads designed with the adult contemporary audience in mind.
Houston’s background lay in the former -- actually, it was even riskier, encompassing a stint with the experimental Bill Laswell outfit Material -- and her benefactor Clive Davis knew all about selling records to the masses.
Appealing as this album is, Davis may never have imagined how Whitney Houston would shift tastes, pushing toward skyscraping ballads where the singer’s affectations, not the songs, were paramount -- a move that later led to hollow records, but on Whitney Houston the songs were as important as the immaculate productions.


Certainly, the showstopping “Greatest Love of All” provided the blueprint for decades of divas, but it’s the only overblown moment here, with the rest of the ballads -- notably “Saving All My Love for You” and “You Give Good Love” -- burning slowly and seductively, but what really impresses some 20-plus years on are the lighter tracks, particularly the breakthrough single “How Will I Know” and the unheralded “Thinking About You,” a dance/R&B hit co-written by Kashif that remains one of Whitney’s purest pop pleasures.
These joyful, rhythmic moments faded away from Houston’s later work -- and also rarely surfaced on the records of those who followed her -- but their presence on this debut turns this into a fully rounded record, the rare debut that manages to telegraph every aspect of an artist's career in a mere ten songs.

Side A
A1. How Will I Know  (4:28)
A2. All At Once  (4:26)
A3. Take Good Care Of My Heart  (Vocals [Duet] – Jermaine Jackson) (4:13)
A4. Greatest Love Of All  (4:55)
A5. Hold Me   (Vocals [Duet] – Teddy Pendergrass)  (6:00)

Side B
B1. You Give Good Love  (4:33)
B2. Thinking About You  (5:27)
B3. Someone For Me  (4:57)
B4. Saving All My Love For You  (Soloist, Saxophone – Tom Scott)  (3:57)
B5. Nobody Loves Me Like You Do   (Vocals [Duet] – Jermaine Jackson)  (3:46)

Companies, etc.

• Record Company – Ariola Eurodisc GmbH
• Phonographic Copyright (p) – Arista Records, Inc.
• Copyright (c) – Arista Records, Inc.
• Published By – Irving Music
• Published By – Almo Music Corp.
• Published By – March 9 Music
• Published By – Prince Street Music
• Published By – April Music Inc.
• Published By – And New And Used Music
• Published By – Peso Music
• Published By – Golden Torch Music Corp.
• Published By – Gold Horizon Music Corp.
• Published By – DeCreed Music Publishing Company
• Published By – Music Corporation Of America, Inc.
• Published By – Kashif Music
• Published By – The New Music Group
• Published By – MCA Music
• Published By – Warner Bros. Music
• Published By – Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc.
• Published By – Ensign Music Corp.
• Distributed By – Ariola Group Of Companies
• Distributed By – RCA/Ariola-Ariola/RCA
• Printed By – TOPAC
• Pressed By – Sonopress

Production

•  Art Direction – Donn Davenport, Donn Davenport
•  Executive-Producer – Clive Davis
•  Liner Notes – Whitney, Whitney
•  Management [Management & Direction] – Tara Productions
•  Mastered By – Guido Di Toma
•  Other [Bathing Suit By] – Norma Kamali
•  Other [Fashion Stylist] – Tiagi Lambert
•  Other [Gown By] – Giobanne De Maura
•  Other [Hair] – Jeffrey Woodley
•  Other [Makeup] – Quietfire
•  Photography By – Gary Gross
•  Producer – Narada Michael Walden, Michael Masser, Jermaine Jackson, Kashif
•  Engineer – Michael Mancini, Russell Schmitt, Mike Barbiero, Michael O'Reilly
•  Mixed By – Bill Schnee, Billy Bottrell, Michael O'Reilly, Mike Barbiero
•  Arranged By – Kashif, Narada Michael Walden

Musician [The Players]
Bashiri Johnson (tracks: B1, B2)
Cissy Houston (tracks: A1)
Corrado Rustici (tracks: A1)
Dann Huff (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
David Williams (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Debbie Thomas (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Ed Greene (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Ernie Watts (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Ready Freddie Washington* (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Greg Phillinghanes (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Ira Siegal (tracks: B1, B2)
J.T. Lewis (tracks: B1, B2)
Jermaine Jackson (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
John Barnes (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
John Robinson  (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Julia Waters (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Kashif (tracks: B1, B2)
LaLa (tracks: B1, B2)
Lou Shelton (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Mary Canty (tracks: A1)
Maxine Waters (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Narada Michael Walden (tracks: A1)
Nathan East (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Nathan East (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Oren Waters (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Paul Jackson, Jr. (tracks: A2 to A5, B3 to B5)
Preston Glass (tracks: A1)
Randy Jackson (tracks: A1)
Randy Kerber (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Richard Marx (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Robbie Buchanan (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B4)
Roy Wooten (tracks: B1, B2)
Premik Russell Tubbs (tracks: A1)
Steve Rucker (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Tim May (tracks: A3, B3, B5)
Yogi Lee (tracks: B1, B2)
Yvonne Lewis (tracks: A1)       

Notes

Released: 1985  

Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul, Pop 

Style: Contemporary R&B, Dance-pop, Soul, Synth-pop 

Length: 

Label - Arista Records