Whitney Houston

by Whitney Houston

Overview

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. [The 2010 25th anniversary edition of Whitney Houston is expanded with five bonus tracks -- remixes of "Thinking About You," "Someone for Me," "How Will I Know," a live version of "Greatest Love of All" from 1990, and a superfluous a cappella mix of "How Will I Know" -- and a bonus DVD containing music videos from the album, new interviews, and -- best of all -- Whitney's star-making 1983 performance on The Merv Griffin Show.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2024
Label:	Mobile Fidelity
UPC:	0196588114427
Rank:	18069

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Whitney Houston   Primary Artist,Vocals
Clive Davis   Primary Artist
Narada Michael Walden   Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Kenny G   Guest Artist
Marcus Miller   Guest Artist
Paul Jackson, Jr.   Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Kashif   Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Roy Ayers   Guest Artist
Cissy Houston   Guest Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Stuart Orme   Director
Michael Lindsay-Hogg   Director
Peter Israelson   Director
John "J.R." Robinson   Drums
Glen Hoffman   Director
John Robinson   Drums,Featured Artist
Timothy May   Featured Artist,Guitar
Yvonne Lewis   Vocals,Featured Artist
Ed Greene   Drums,Featured Artist
Robbie Buchanan   Keyboards,Featured Artist
Maxine Willard Waters   Vocals,Featured Artist
Oren Waters   Vocals,Featured Artist
Tom Scott   Soloist,Saxophone
Lala   Featured Artist
Lou Shelton   Featured Artist
Ray Wooten   Featured Artist
Premik Russell Tubbs   Featured Artist
Julia Tillman Waters   Vocals
Yogi Lee   Featured Artist
Ernie Watts   Saxophone,Featured Artist
John Barnes   Clarinet,Featured Artist
David Williams   Guitar,Featured Artist
Julia Waters   Featured Artist
Nathan East   Bass,Featured Artist
Jermaine Jackson   Vocals,Featured Artist
Randy Jackson   Featured Artist
Richard Marx   Featured Artist
Preston Glass   Featured Artist
Dann Huff   Guitar,Featured Artist
Teddy Pendergrass   Vocals,Featured Artist
Randy Kerber   Keyboards,Featured Artist
Steve Rucker   Featured Artist
Ira Siegel   Guitar,Featured Artist
J.T. Lewis   Featured Artist
La La   Vocals (Background)
Corrado Rustici   Featured Artist
Bashiri Johnson   Percussion,Featured Artist
"Ready" Freddie Washington   Featured Artist
Greg Phillinganes   Featured Artist
Debbie Thomas   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Freddie Washington   Composer
Frank Hilton   Producer
David Williams   Performer,Performer
Adam Thomas   Editing
Arlene Phillips   Choreographer
John "Jellybean" Benitez   Remixing
Jeffrey Woodley   Hair Stylist
Pamela Phillips   Composer
Ray Wooten   Performer
Pamela Phillips-Oland   Composer
Karen Bellone   Producer
Tony Faske   Producer
Tiagi Lambert   Stylist,Fashion Stylist
Lala Brothers   Composer
Brenda Gorsky   Coordination
John Barnes   Performer,Performer
Maxine Waters   Musician,Performer
Donn Davenport   Art Direction
Raymond Jones   Composer
Alan Coulthard   Remixing
Beatrice Cardile   Interviewer
Ira Siegal   Musician,Performer
James P. Dunne   Composer
Peter McCann   Composer
Alan Light   Interviewer
Timothy May   Musician,Performer
Brian Grant   Direction
Gerry Goffin   Composer
Yvonne Lewis   Musician,Performer
Michael Hutchinson   Engineer
Clive Davis   Interviewee,Executive Producer
David E. Williams   Performer
Ed Greene   Musician,Performer
James Patrick Dunne   Composer
Whitney Houston   Interviewee
John Robinson   Performer,Performer
Louie Shelton   Performer
Robbie Buchanan   Musician,Performer
Linda Creed   Composer
Oren Waters   Musician,Performer
Henry Krieger   Composer
Bruce Forest   Remixing
Lou Shelton   Musician,Performer
Russell Schmitt   Engineer
Abbey Konowitch   Executive Producer
Steven Saporta   Executive Producer
Premik Russell Tubbs   Musician,Performer
Jeffrey Woodly   Hair Stylist
Tom Eyen   Composer
Michael Mancini   Engineer
Norma Kamali   Wardrobe
Mary Canty   Musician
Yogi Lee   Musician,Performer
Ernie Watts   Musician,Performer
Pete McCann   Composer
Julia Waters   Musician,Performer
Narada Michael Walden   Arranger,Composer,Musician,Producer,Performer
Jeffrey Osborne   Composer
Nathan East   Musician,Performer
Jermaine Jackson   Duet,Musician,Producer,Performer
Tim Waddell   Editing
Toni Yardley   Producer
Tony Common   Design
Richard Marx   Musician,Performer
Preston Glass   Musician,Performer
Kashif   Arranger,Composer,Musician,Producer,Performer
Michael O'Reilly   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Roy Wooten   Musician
Michael Barbiero   Mixing,Engineer
Michael Masser   Composer,Producer
George Merrill   Composer
Dann Huff   Musician,Performer
Teddy Pendergrass   Performer
Paul Jackson, Jr.   Musician,Performer
Steve Dorff   Composer
Randy Kerber   Musician,Performer
Steve Rucker   Musician,Performer
Bill Bottrell   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Bill Schnee   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Maxine Willard Waters   Performer
Randy Jackson   Performer
Cissy Houston   Musician,Performer
J.T. Lewis   Musician,Performer
La La   Composer
Corrado Rustici   Musician,Performer
Lala   Composer,Performer
Bashiri Johnson   Musician,Performer
"Ready" Freddie Washington   Musician,Performer
Greg Phillinganes   Musician,Performer
Fernando Kral   Assistant Engineer
Shannon Rubicam   Composer
Charlie Smalls   Composer
John "4 Daddman" Robinson   Performer
Debbie Thomas   Musician,Performer
Freddy Washington   Composer