🎶When the Boys Cover Whitney Houston
More fellas covered the legendary singer known as "The Voice" than you might imagine! Gone too soon at 48, just a dozen years ago, some guys were bold and daring, others suitably mellow. All are fun!
Big Picture: Just the #1s, 1985-1988
Hearing one cover by an all-male band was a fluke, but when I discovered that another all-male band had covered another Whitney Houston song, my ever-curious musical mind had to wonder: “Just how many more are out there?” The answer is a resounding, “Lots”!
We’re dipping our collective toes into the cover pool here, but, the plan is to go beyond a couple of songs, and at least complete our deep-dive of covers of her #1 songs in subsequent articles! After all, Ms. Houston was swimming in a beautifully deep pool of magnificent hits!
One thing I noticed right off the bat were the career dynamics that quickly became apparent after Whitney’s first solo hit…1985’s “You Give Good Love,” which peaked at #3 (all chart positions will be based on their placement on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the US). Her first single release, “Hold Me,” a duet with Teddy Pendergrass, only got to #46, in the summer of ‘84.
Everyone, by the time the pen nib scribbled names on the contact, was well aware of the generational talent that stood poised to record multiple hits…almost assuredly.
Her family legacy included a stunning chorus of accomplished professional singers, including her mother, Grammy-winner, Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick, and her sister, Dee Dee, distant cousin, opera singer Leontyne Price, with all joining “honorary aunt,” Aretha Franklin, and Whitney’s godmother, Darlene Love!
Houston Recipe: Carefully-Plotted Strategy & Blind Luck
Another easy-to-spot dynamic regarding Ms. Houston’s career was just how hands-on involved label chief, Clive Davis became…and, wanted to become, right outta the gate. He knew he had a generational talent on his hands, and he wanted to be the Tom Parker to her Elvis, the Peter Grant to her Led Zep. You get the drift: He wanted to be the one to hand-craft her career…his cross-over, massive Manilow for the ‘80s and beyond.
“Houston signed a management deal with Gene Harvey (shown above with Whitney) in September, 1981, a few weeks after she turned 18, but didn’t sign a record deal until April, 1983. The most important element in Houston’s success story is time. Houston was given the time to develop, both personally and professionally, before she was thrust into the limelight.” This, from L.A. Times writer, Paul Grein, in June 1986.
“Harvey’s plan,” according to Grein, “was to have Houston develop her studio technique through background vocal sessions and a few jingles, and to develop confidence in front of the camera by doing commercials. At the same time, she pursued her modeling career, took acting and dancing lessons and performed as a background vocalist in her mother’s show.”
When Harvey was satisfied that Houston was ready for a record deal, he staged a series of showcases in New York.
Offers came in from Epic, Elektra and Arista. Harvey said he signed with Arista because of Davis’ reputation for “picking hits.”
Back to today, with her first two #1s: We’ll just concentrate on her #1 hits (in chronological order), which numbered 7 straight chart-toppers from August 1985’s “Saving All My Love For You” all the way through to February 1988’s “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”!
Her 1st #1: “Saving All My Love For You,” 1985
(Highlighted song titles have YouTube links to original music videos). Written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, it was originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. in 1978 (click here for their music video).
After the success of her previous single, “You Give Good Love,” just a few months earlier, Arista initially didn’t think about releasing “Saving All My Love for You” as the next single. When Masser heard that another single besides his was being considered for the next single, he made a friendly wager with Davis during one of Houston’s performances at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood.
He proposed that if all the women get on their feet when Houston sings, “Saving All My Love for You,” then Davis would agree that it should be the next single. Well, they must have: Ultimately, the song was released as the second single in the States, with Masser producing.
Our Fave Male Cover: Mateo Oxley, 2022
Honorable Mention: The 2012 Cast of Glee, with a guy/gal duet (the Joe Hart character sung by Samuel Larsen, and the Quinn Fabray character sung by Dianna Agron):
Second #1: “How Will I Know,” Nov. 1985
Initially, husband-and-wife songwriters, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam (aka Boy Meets Girl, shown above), had written the song’s demo in 1984 for Janet Jackson, who was managed by A&M Records A&R veep, John McClain (shown below, with the “A” in A&M, label co-founder, Herb Alpert in blue shirt).
All this, according to a 2003 interview with noted chart expert and writer, Fred Bronson. However, after hearing the song, McClain and Jackson’s management team passed on it, feeling it was not a compatible fit with material already in development for her.
In that Bronson interview, Merrill expressed his feelings after learning of Jackson’s decision: “We were pretty upset because we thought it was perfect for her at the time. We had written it with her completely in mind.” During this period, Merrill and Rubicam’s publisher played the song for Gerry Griffith, Arista vice-president of R&B.
Griffith, who was then compiling material for Houston’s debut album, felt the song perfectly matched her musical style. He soon contacted the publisher and the song’s two writers and suggested that they give the song to him for Houston’s debut album. Griffith described his discovery of the song and what he and Clive Davis thought of it:
“We had a lot of R&B-based tunes, we had a few ballads, but we didn’t have a pop crossover song. So when I heard ‘How Will I Know,’ I said, ‘this is absolutely perfect.’ I played it for Clive, and he fell in love with it. I wasn’t very familiar with her family background; I didn’t realize that, even at that time, there was a pretty big industry buzz about her future.”
Bronson: After receiving permission from Merrill to use the song, Griffith quickly turned to Narada Michael Walden, who at the time [October 1984] was producing material for Aretha Franklin’s album for Arista, Who’s Zoomin’ Who?.
Griffith implored him to produce it, describing how important the song would be for Houston’s upcoming [debut] album. After hearing the demo, Walden agreed to fly to San Rafael, CA to arrange it. He was not very impressed with the demo, and requested permission to change some of the lyrics and chord progression, inducing Merrill and Rubicam to deny him the right to their song[!]
After a lot of back-and-forth with Griffith, they compromised and allowed Walden to de-construct the song and change the key and tempo (Walden shares songwriting credit with Merrill and Rubicam). After completing the song, Houston came in to the studio to record her vocal in late 1984. Her mother Cissy Houston joined her on background vocals. Griffith stated:
“I asked Whitney to sing on the background session. She was reluctant because she wanted to enjoy hearing her mother sing. I said, ‘No, get out there and sing,’ so she did. The background sounded incredible! Clive Davis heard the mix and immediately gave it a 10, which is outrageous for him, because he doesn’t like anything!”
Well, it’s not the 1984 demo the duo recorded for publishers and labels to audition, but, would a 2011 Merrill solo turn do the trick? It’s doubtful the demo heard in ‘84 differed much, if at all, from what we hear 27 years later:
Professor of Rock’s interview with “How Will I Know” co-songwriter and producer, Narada Michael Walden, on how the song came about and was originally recorded:
Fave Male Cover: The Fatal Flaw, 2021
(Available on Bandcamp by clicking here)
‘Twas
and his recent interview on his Remember the Lightning (click box below) that first turned me on to The Fatal Flaw’s Whitney cover, and thus, the inspiration behind getting this article off the ground! Thanks, Steve!
it's interesting, how willing female artists have always been to cover songs by male songwriters/artists, but how very little of the time it goes the other way.
So now I must note the enthusiastic embrace of 50s girl groups by the Beatles, from Boys to Please Mr. Postman. Ahead of their time, once again.
Amazing!