FEATURE:
Groovelines
Whitney Houston – How Will I Know
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THERE is a reason why…
I am covering this song, other than the fact that it is a classic! The penultimate single from her eponymous debut album, Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know is one of her great songs. It was released as a single on 22nd November, 1985, so I want to mark its fortieth anniversary. Among the iconic singles from a much-missed icon, I will explore the song a little bit for this Groovelines. Reaching number one on the U.S. chart, How Will I Know was written by George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam and Narada Michael Walden. In interviews, Whitney Houston revealed her scepticism about releasing the song as a single. How Will I Know was recorded in one take and perhaps was not seen as a natural single. In 2020, Billboard celebrated Whitney Houston's self-titled debut and gave their opinions about the tracks. This is what they said about How Will I Know:
“How Will I Know”: Where “Someone Like Me” faltered, “How Will I Know” succeeds. The spunky pop track slinks with charm as a shy Houston obsesses over how to discover if a lover shares her feelings. What makes “Know” work is, as with Houston’s other classic uptempo records, producer Narada Michael Walden‘s skill in blending a bubbly personality and the dynamic voice. It’s hardly a surprise that Walden and the songwriting team, George Merill and Shannon Rubicam, later teamed for another smash record in “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” Houston may not sing the most original lyrics here, but with every burst and run up the octave ladder, she reminds listeners, “Oh yeah, I’m the real deal.” And unlike, well, any other Houston song, “How Will I Know” is linked to its music video. That hair. That dress”.
It is interesting what Medium wrote about How Will I Know in 2017. The song was originally meant to be for Janet Jackson. Although Whitney Houston was not that eager to record the song, her mother, Cissy Houston, sang backing vocals. It is an amazing blend where mother and daughter provide this incredible energy and spirit to a dazzling and timeless song! One that I feel Houston came to peace with and performed live quite a bit. We sadly lost her in 2012, though songs like How Will I Know demonstrate why she was a seismic talent and one of the greatest artists who has ever lived:
“In 1985, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam were signed to A & M records as the group Boy Meets Girl. Although they would have their own hit “Waiting For A Star To Fall” in 1988, their first major break came in 1985 when A & M executive John McCain sought their songwriting talent. McCain — a key player in pairing Janet Jackson with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — asked the duo to write a song for Jackson’s Control album.
After completing “How Will I Know” they were confident they’d written a flawless record for Jackson and were optimistic when they handed a demo recording of the song to McCain. Unfortunately, Janet and her team decided to go in a different direction. “Janet and her management passed on the song. We were pretty upset because we thought it was perfect for her at the time,” Merrill said in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.
Despite their disappointment, a second chance came when Gerry Griffith entered the picture. Griffith, who worked in the A & R department of Arista Records at the time, was searching for a hit record that fused pop and R & B together. “We had a lot of R & B-based tunes, we had a few ballads, but we didn’t have a pop crossover song, Griffith said.
As Griffith sought out potential songs for his new artist Whitney Houston, Merrill and Rubicam’s publishing company sent him “How Will I Know”. “Our publishing company played it for Gerry Griffith when he was in Los Angeles gathering material for the unknown Whitney Houston. He loved it, sent it to Clive (Davis), and Clive said, ‘We must have it,’” Rubicam told the website Songfacts.
Eager to find the right person to pair with his newfound potential hit, Griffith sought the services of super producer Narada Michael Walden, who would later produce Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. Walden, who was hard at work on Aretha Franklin’s Who’s Zoomin’ Who? album, was hesitant to take on a project with the then unknown Houston. “I had no idea who Whitney Houston was; none of us knew who Whitney Houston was,” he later admitted to Billboard.
Despite his initial hesitation, Walden decided to give it a shot. But it wasn’t long before the song hit another snag when Merrill and Rubicam refused to let Walden make changes to their song. Frustrated by their refusal and still unsure of what a massive success Houston would become, Walden came very close to calling off the whole project. “We didn’t know Narada and we had never spoken to him before. We weren’t used to the idea of someone changing our song,” Rubicam said. “Now it’s easier to let go, but at that time it was hard to be flexible.”
“Clive Davis heard the mix and immediately proclaimed it a 10, which is outrageous for him, because he doesn’t like anything!” — Narada Michael Walden
Eventually a compromise was reached and Walden agreed to produce the song, earning himself a songwriting credit in the process. Once they were in the studio together, Walden was stunned by Houston’s efficiency. “She did ‘How Will I Know’ in one take. Maybe I’d fix one thing here and one thing there, but the majority of it is one take,” he explained to Songfacts.
Merrill and Rubicam’s friends happened to be recording Walden and Houston’s session and gave the songwriting duo a preview of the magic that was taking place over the phone. “They said, ‘Guys, you’ve got to hear this.’ They played it over the phone, and I swear, her voice, hearing the first take of ‘How Will I Know’ on the phone we knew we were on to something special, too,” Merrill recalled”.
I will wrap up soon. However, Stereogum shared their thoughts about How Will I Know for The Number Ones series. Awarding it nine out of ten, I thought it was important to source most of what they wrote, as they make some interesting observations about a huge Whitney Houston single still played frequently to this day. Insatiable and something that has not aged at all, it almost didn’t reach her. Songwriters George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam did not want to give the song to Houston a s they had not heard of her, and it seemed like a risk. The more established Janet Jackson seemed like a more natural and safer choice. She had released her debut album three years before Houston and I don’t think anyone could have sold the song like Whitney Houston. It is among the all-time great vocal performances:
“Ultimately, though, “How Will I Know” probably does a better job showing off Houston’s voice than anything else on that first album. Houston just goes off on this thing. It’s amazing to behold. Houston sells the emotion of the song, sounding like she’s utterly caught up in this dazzling, exciting, world-ending crush. She also nails every little melodic turn. Singers with Houston’s insane gifts sometimes get so caught up in their voices that they can lose the thread of the song. Houston even does that sometimes. On “How Will I Know,” though, she nails it.
But even in the context of a song as fast and bubbly as this one, you can still hear the power and control in her voice. There’s a lot of gospel in her delivery, in the unearthly joyous yelps and whoops and out-of-nowhere high notes. (There’s a whole lot of gospel in those backing vocals, too.) And while Houston never fully cuts loose on “How Will I Know,” she also keeps her abilities in full view. You can hear that voice bursting its way out of the song, ready to dive and curl and soar. The biggest note — the “how will I knoooooow” just as the sax solo kicks in — is enough to give a motherfucker goosebumps.
For the “How Will I Know” video, Houston worked with director Brian Grant, who’d already made videos for hits like M’s “Pop Muzik” and Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.” Grant’s “How Will I Know” video is ludicrous, with Houston roaming around a psychedelic-pastel hall of mirrors and looking genuinely taken aback everytime the ridiculous ’80s dancers pop out at her. (Arlene Phillips, a future host on various UK dance-competition shows, did the choreography.) It’s pure, overwhelming ’80s cheese, but Houston’s movie-star smile does a whole lot to make it work.
“How Will I Know” had a job to do, and it accomplished its mission. Houston had already landed her first #1 pop hit with the ballad “Saving All My Love For You,” but “How Will I Know” is her first true crossover moment — the point where it becomes obvious that she’s an unstoppable no-shit pop phenomenon. I can’t help but admire the meticulous logic of Arista’s whole project with that first Houston audience. First, they made sure R&B fans knew what Houston could do. Then, with “Saving All My Love For You,” they turned her into an adult-contempo titan. Finally, Arista made kids love Whitney Houston, too. Those kids embraced “How Will I Know,” and the track knocked “That’s What Friends Are For,” the big hit from Houston’s cousin Dionne Warwick, out of the #1 spot. (If Warwick had made “That’s What Friends Are For” six months later, Houston absolutely would’ve been on it, and the song might have been even bigger.)”.
Whitney Houston's How Will I Know cemented her legacy as a global Pop phenomenon and, in the process, making history as the first music video by a Black female artist to receive heavy rotation on MTV. On 22nd November, this globe-straddling chart success turns forty. Perhaps the defining song from her 1985 debut album, I wanted to investigate and dive into How Will I Know. It is a song I first heard when I was a child and I have loved it ever since. One of the greatest things, the legendary Whitney Houston…
EVER recorded.